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2023

In celebration of the 236th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution's signing in Philadelphia, Miami is holding its eighth annual Citizenship and Democracy Week.  Coordinated again this year by the University’s Menard Family Center for Democracy, this year’s Citizenship and Democracy Week includes the following events, all free and open to the public:

  • On-Campus Oral Arguments: Ohio Court of Appeals for the 12th District - Monday, Sept. 18, 10-11:30 a.m., Wilks Conference Center, Miami Hamilton. Co-sponsored by the Menard Family Center for Democracy and the Department of Justice and Community Studies, this event provides the Miami community with an opportunity to observe the state judiciary 'in action.'
  • Lunch & Learn:  How Does the Naturalization Process Work?  -- Monday, September 18, 12-1p.m., 222 Mosler Hall, Miami Hamilton.  How would you do on the civics test administered to new U.S. citizens?  Come and find out as we examine the test administered to new citizens and view a brief documentary about the naturalization process.  Lunch provided.
  • U.S. District Court Naturalization Ceremony - Tuesday, Sept. 19, 10 a.m., Miami Hamilton quad and lawn. Co-sponsored by Menard Family Center for Democracy and the Department of Justice and Community Studies, with major support from the College of Liberal Arts and Applied Science, the City of Hamilton, the Butler County Board of Elections, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, the Miami Regionals English Language Center and the Miami Regionals Office of Diversity and Multicultural Services.
  • Rapid Rights Symposium/Discussion -  Wednesday, Sept. 20, 10:30 a.m.-noon, Schwarm Hall Commons, Miami Hamilton. Student research presentations on over a dozen civil liberties issues that face Americans today. Sponsored by the Department of Justice and Community Studies.
  • Free Speech Forum  - Wednesday, Sept. 21, 12:30-1:30 p.m., Jack Rhodes Study, Miami Hamilton. A campus-wide discussion of freedom of expression, moderated by Dr. Daniel Hall, Professor of Political Science and Justice and Community Studies.
  • Civic Career Fair – Day/time TBA, Oxford campus. Representatives of civic organizations and government employers visit Miami to meet with students interested in careers in government, politics, and public service.

2022

In September 2022, Miami will commemorate (commemorated) the 235th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution's signing in Philadelphia by holding its seventh annual Citizenship and Democracy Week, a series of events held in Oxford and at the Regional campuses to promote civic learning and engagement. Coordinated by the University’s Menard Family Center for Democracy, this year’s Citizenship and Democracy Week will include (included) the following events, all free and open to the public:

  • U.S. District Court Naturalization Ceremony - Monday, Sept. 19, 10 a.m., Miami Hamilton quad and lawn. Co-sponsored by Menard Family Center for Democracy and the Department of Justice and Community Studies, with major support from the College of Liberal Arts and Applied Science, the City of Hamilton, the Butler County Board of Elections, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, the Miami Regionals English Language Center and the Miami Regionals Office of Diversity and Multicultural Services.
  • On-Campus Oral Argument Session: Ohio Court of Appeals for the 12th District - Tuesday, Sept. 20, 10 a.m., Wilks Conference Center, Miami Hamilton. Co-sponsored by the Menard Family Center for Democracy and the Department of Justice and Community Studies.
  • Rapid Rights Symposium/Discussion -  Wednesday, Sept. 21, 10 a.m., Schwarm Hall Commons, Miami Hamilton. Student research presentations on over a dozen civil liberties issues that face Americans today. Sponsored by the Department of Justice and Community Studies.
  • Free Speech Forum  - Wednesday, Sept. 21, 12 p.m., Jack Rhodes Study, Miami Hamilton. A campus-wide discussion of freedom of expression, moderated by Dr. Daniel Hall, Professor of Political Science and Justice and Community Studies.
  • Public Lecture: Daniel Ziblatt (Harvard University), "The Life and Death of Democracies" - Wednesday, Sept. 21, 5 p.m., Shriver Center Heritage Room, Oxford campus. Co-author of the New York Times best-seller How Democracies Die (2018) and the Eaton Professor of Government at Harvard, speaking on the challenges facing democracies around the world today. Sponsored by the Humanities Center with support from the Menard Family Center for Democracy.
  • Civic Career Fair – Thursday, Sept. 22, 3 p.m., Oxford campus. Representatives of civic organizations and government employers visit Miami to meet with students interested in careers in government, politics, and public service. Sponsored by the Menard Family Center for Democracy.
Miami’s annual Citizenship and Democracy Week was highlighted in the American Political Science Association’s Teaching Civic Engagement Across the Disciplines (2017) as a model of effective interdisciplinary civics programming within higher education. For more information about Miami’s annual event, please contact Dr. John Forren, Executive Director of the Menard Family Center for Democracy, at forrenjp@MiamiOH.edu.

2021

After a pandemic-related pause in 2020, Miami again commemorated the anniversary of the U.S. Constitution's signing on September 17, 1787, by holding its sixth annual Citizenship and Democracy Week, a broad multi-campus, multi-event program aimed at promoting civic learning and engagement in our local communities. Coordinated and sponsored by the University’s Menard Family Center for Democracy, this year’s Citizenship and Democracy Week included the following events, all free and open to the public:

  • Monday, Sept. 13, 7 p.m., Wilks Conference Center, Miami Hamilton (zoom simulcast) - Keynote lecture by Dr. Kimberly Hamlin, Professor of History and Global and Intercultural Studies, entitled “Are Women Full Citizens?  What the Long History of #MeToo Reveals.” Co-sponsored by the Department of Justice and Community Studies.
  • Monday, Sept. 13, 10 a.m., Wilks Conference Center, Miami Hamilton - A special on-campus public session of the Ohio Court of Appeals for the 12th District.
  • Tuesday, Sept. 14, 4 p.m., Wilks Theater, Oxford campus (zoom simulcast) - The 2021 O’Hara Lecture on Law and Politics, delivered by Mr. Jim Obergefell, entitled "Courts, Law and the Right to Marriage Equality: The Story and Legacy of Obergefell v. Hodges". Co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science.
  • Wednesday, Sept., 12 p.m., Jack Rhodes Study, Miami Hamilton - A campus-wide Free Speech Forum, moderated by Dr. Daniel Hall, Professor of Political Science and Justice and Community Studies. 
  • Wednesday, Sept. 15, 10 a.m., Schwarm Hall Commons, Miami Hamilton - A Rapid Rights public symposium featuring interactive presentations on selected civil liberties issues by over two dozen Miami undergraduates.
  • Thursday, Sept. 16, 10 a.m., Wilks Conference Center, Miami Hamilton - An immersive simulation of the practical challenges faced by formerly incarcerated persons in local communities. Co-sponsored by the Department of Justice and Community Studies.
  • Friday, Sept. 17, 10 a.m., Miami Hamilton quad and lawn - A special Constitution Day on-campus naturalization ceremony for new U.S. citizens, conducted by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Co-sponsored by the Department of Justice and Community Studies with major support from the Office of the President, the College of Liberal Arts and Applied Science, the City of Hamilton, the Miami University Men’s Glee Club, the Butler County Board of Elections, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, the Miami Regionals English Language Center and the Miami Regionals Office of Diversity and Multicultural Services.

Miami’s annual Citizenship and Democracy Week was highlighted in the American Political Science Association’s Teaching Civic Engagement Across the Disciplines (2017) as a model of effective interdisciplinary civics programming within higher education.  For more information about Miami’s annual event, please contact Dr. John Forren, Executive Director of the Menard Family Center for Democracy, at forrenjp@MiamiOH.edu or Dr. Bryan Marshall, Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, at Marshabw@MiamiOh.edu.

2020

Constitution Day 2020’s keynote discussion was The Constitution Needs a Friend Like You Wednesday, presented on September 16, 2:00pm -- via Zoom. Everyone was invited to join Professor Bruce Petrie, adjunct instructor of political science and author of Constitutional Conversation: A New Lens on America's Best Masterpiece (2016), for a lively discussion of the U.S. Constitution's enduring values and its central place in American civic culture. This event was sponsored by the Department of Political Science, the College of Arts & Science, and the Menard Family Center for Democracy and was available to everyone at all Miami campuses.