Wilson to teach at UVU and Oxford in yearlong position
Utah Valley University (UVU) announced today that Dr. Bradford Wilson, Princeton University’s executive director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, will spend one year at Utah Valley University’s Center for Constitutional Studies as its first James Wilson Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Civic Thought. He will start on September 1, 2024.
In this role, Wilson will teach undergraduate courses in American constitutional and political thought and contribute to the center’s scholarly work, including the annual First Amendment Conference and its preparations to play a leading role in the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
He will also teach a one-week course at Oxford University’s Pembroke College as part of UVU’s new master’s degree program in constitutional government, civics, and law.
UVU partners with researchers at Pembroke College on the Quill Project, a groundbreaking research tool that recreates the original context of historic negotiated texts — specifically, constitutions, treaties, and legislation.
“From the moment I learned of UVU’s Center for Constitutional Studies, I was deeply impressed by its excellent leadership, rigorous curriculum, research on constitutionalism, and commitment to expanding civics education at both the higher ed and K-12 levels,” said Wilson. “I am looking forward to being a part of this critical program, where the promotion of civil and nonpartisan constitutional literacy will guide students and teachers alike toward understanding the foundations of our democracy.”
As one of the country’s foremost authorities on American constitutional law and political thought, Wilson brings a wealth of expertise to the center. He is the author of Enforcing the Fourth Amendment: A Jurisprudential History, as well as a coeditor of several major works on American politics and government, including two-volume editions with Cambridge University Press of The Political Writings of Alexander Hamilton and The Political Writings of George Washington. With Carson Holloway, Wilson serves as Cambridge’s Series Editor of The Political Writings of American Statesmen.
In addition to his academic work, he was recently appointed by President Joe Biden to the Board of Trustees of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, a federal agency that supports the teaching of American constitutionalism in secondary schools.
“Brad Wilson is recognized as one the most knowledgeable and well-respected academics in the field of constitutional studies, and we are honored to announce him as our very first distinguished visiting scholar,” said Dr. Matthew Brogdon, senior director of the Center for Constitutional Studies. “The Center for Constitutional Studies will derive enormous benefit from Brad’s deep legal scholarship and academic leadership, and our students will have the privilege of being taught by one of the truly great minds in political institutions, federalism, and civil society.”
About the UVU Center for Constitutional Studies
Utah Valley University (UVU) Center for Constitutional Studies (CCS) is a nonpartisan academic institute that promotes the instruction, study, and research of constitutionalism. Through a multidisciplinary approach, CCS examines important constitutional issues found at the intersections of political thought, public policy, religion, law, history, and economics. Its mandate is to equip a new generation of citizens and leaders with a broad understanding of political thought and economic practices critical to preserving constitutional government, ordered liberty, and the rule of law.
About The Quill Project
Developed at the University of Oxford’s Pembroke College, the Quill Project takes records of constitutional conventions and codes, digitizes, and enters them in the Project’s proprietary software platform. It focuses on what constitutional drafters said and wrote, along with applicable stories about them in period newspapers, timelines, photos, political agendas, policy issues, the accompanying debates, etc.
About Utah Valley University
At Utah Valley University, we believe everyone deserves the transforming benefits of high-quality education — and it needs to be affordable, accessible, and flexible. With opportunities to earn everything from certificates to master’s degrees, our students succeed by gaining real-world experience and developing career-ready skills. We continue to invite people to come as they are — and leave ready and prepared to make a difference in the world.
