John Templeton Foundation Supports 17th JMC Summer Institute
JMC Summer Institutes serve as the entry point for young scholars into the JMC community of professors. Nearly 350 scholars have participated to date. These professors are critical to expanding student access to courses on the American Founding and Western tradition.
JMC’s 17th Summer Institute will be held June 30 – July 11 in Pasadena in partnership with UCLA. The Pasadena institute was uniquely designed to be an integral component of the Commercial Republic Initiative, JMC’s national, interdisciplinary project with the generous support of the John Templeton Foundation.
The Commercial Republic Initiative aims to broaden pre-professional education to include a vital understanding of the sources and ideas that have shaped the American constitutional order.
The institute brings together the directors and postdoctoral fellows from each of the six universities participating in the Commercial Republic Initiative –Yale, Northwestern, University of Wisconsin-Madison, UCLA, Illinois Institute of Technology, and MIT– with professors and young scholars who study the Atlantic Enlightenment from the perspectives of American history, political science, law, and economics.
The theme is “Science, Enterprise, and Law in the Making of the Modern Commercial Republic.” Speakers and participants will discuss the central ideas of capitalism, commerce, law, science, and enterprise from the views of the American founders and the thinkers who influenced them.
“One of the key outcomes of the Commercial Republic Initiative will be the creation of a national working group of scholars who will be able to re-ground pre-professional education in the humanities,” said Dr. Pamela Edwards, JMC director of academic programs.
“Students graduating in science, engineering, business, and law will form the corporate leadership of the 21st century. A deeper understanding of the moral foundations of markets and law tied to a richer conception of innovation and invention will make students not only more creative entrepreneurs and professionals, it will make them more thoughtful and ethically reflective citizens.”