UW’s America 250 Celebration to Feature Pulitzer Prize-Winning Historian Edward J. Larson

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson, the Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law and University Professor of History at Pepperdine University, will speak as part of the University of Wyoming’s America 250 Celebration Friday, March 27, at 4 p.m. in the College of Arts and Sciences auditorium.

America’s 250th anniversary -- also known as the Semiquincentennial -- offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to celebrate the people, places and stories that have shaped our communities and nation.

UW’s America 250 Celebration “may include lectures, exhibits, performances, service projects, classroom activities, oral history projects and community conversations,” says Erin Olsen Pueblitz, director of Community Engagement at UW and coordinator of UW’s America 250 Anniversary team. Campus and community partners are being encouraged to share their upcoming events and 250th celebration activities.

Larson’s talk, titled “Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters,” will draw from his book of the same name and explore why and how the fight for freedom launched in 1776 still matters 250 years later. This event is part of UW’s America 250 Celebration and the second annual Humanities Summit. Sponsors include the Office of the President; UW Libraries; the Malcolm Wallop Civic Engagement Program; the American Heritage Center; the Office of Community Engagement; the Free Expression, Intellectual Freedom and Constructive Dialogue Program; and the College of Arts and Sciences.

“Edward Larson’s book and the upcoming public talk help us celebrate America’s 250th and involve the campus community in a broader discussion about how relevant the ideas that shaped 1776 and the American revolution are for us today,” says Jean Garrison, the Clyde E. and Jerrine N. Stewart Family Professor in Public Service and director of the Wallop Civic Engagement Program at UW.

Garrison will coordinate an on-campus book discussion group ahead of Larson’s keynote, with free books available for the first 10 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. For information on the book group or the keynote event, email wallop@uwyo.edu. For more information about Larson’s talk, visit www.uwyo.edu/wallop/speaker_series.html.

This event is one of several educational programs that will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States. UW Libraries is celebrating America’s 250th anniversary with a visual exhibit on Level 3 of Coe Library from now until July. Additionally, three documentary films about civic life and friendship will be screened this semester: “Undivide Us,” “Public Enemies, Private Friends” and “Join or Die.” More information about these events can be found on the America’s 250th Events website.

About the speaker 

Larson has a Ph.D. in the history of science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a law degree from Harvard. He received the Pulitzer Prize in History for his book “Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion” as well as numerous other awards for writing and teaching. Larson has written 16 books and more than 300 published articles. He has lectured on all seven continents in a single year and taught at Stanford Law School; University of Melbourne; Leiden University; Yale Law School; University of Richmond; and the University of Georgia, where he chaired its history department. Prior to becoming a professor, Larson served as associate counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor and practiced law in Seattle. For Larson’s full biography, go here.

To support coordination and visibility across campus and the community, the Office of Community Engagement has launched an America’s 250th Events webpage highlighting campus and community-led programs. The webpage also can be used to submit events.

For questions about America’s 250th programming or event submission, call Olsen Pueblitz at (307) 766-4129 or email olsenek@uwyo.edu.