Join the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and leading educators from around the country for a two-day teacher seminar at the VOC Museum to explore how America’s founding document inspired liberty movements and liberty champions across the globe. Participating teachers will receive a travel and lodging stipend, as well as a certificate upon completion of the seminar. For more information, please email Ana Leca at ana.leca@victimsofcommunism.org.
Day 1: Panels
Panel One: Domestic Reverberations (1:00 – 2:00 PM)
What are the claims of the Declaration of Independence, and what differentiates it from other declarations, announcements, and revolutionary claims? Was this the beginning of a ‘revolution’ that violently overthrew the existing social order, or something else? What was uniquely American, rooted in both the thought and practice of the colonial period (1620-1776)? How have the claims of America’s charter been understood by Americans over the past 250 years?
Panelists:
Professor Flagg Taylor, University of Miami
Professor Mark David Hall, Regent University
Panel Two: International Reverberations (2:15 – 3:15 PM)
How has the Declaration of Independence been understood and influential in the Western Hemisphere? This panel specifically looks at contemporary freedom movements, such as in Cuba and Venezuela, and their ties to the ideas of the American “revolution of ideas” rooted in the claims of the Declaration of Independence.
Break
Invitation to VOC’s Captive Nations Summit (4:00 – 5:15 PM)
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Day 2: TEACHERS WORKSHOP AT VOC Museum
Session 1: The Unity and Logic of the Declaration of Independence (9:00 – 9:50 AM)
Presenter: Professor Flagg Taylor, University of Miami
Session 2: The Declaration vs. the Communist Manifesto (10:00 – 10:50 AM)
Session 3: Teaching Liberty vs. Communism: Resources and Methods (11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
Presenter: Catherine O’Connor
Lunch break
Panel: The Declaration and its Global Influence (1:15 – 2:00 PM)
One scholar observes that the Declaration of Independence has been the model for over 200 declarations, not to mention countless other political speeches and statements, over the past 250 years. What are some of the most important contexts for its impact? How and why has this document been so influential in so many contrasting times and places?
Panelists:
Dr. Eric Patterson, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
Session 4: Strength, Sacrifice, & the Future of Freedom (2:10 PM – 3 PM)
Presenter: Ken Pope, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
Session 5: VOC Museum Tour and Educational Resources (3:00 PM)
Keynote Address (4:00 PM)
Professor Mark David Hall, Regent University
