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United by a Love of Ideas
In the final analysis, the Jefferson Symposium is distinguished both by
the quality of the participants and the community that they create each
summer. Over the years, the symposium has attracted, as program faculty,
some of the foremost Jefferson scholars, historians, and political
scientists in the nation. They have included Annette Gordon-Reed,
the author of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings: An American
Controversy, the book that precipitated a scholarly reexamination of
this controversy and Joseph J. Ellis, whose American Sphinx: The
Character of Thomas Jefferson won the National Book Award for nonfiction
in 1996.
These faculty come here for a number of reasons. They share a common interest and, with
the exception of professional conferences, very rarely have the time or opportunity to get together and talk. Spending four days together
at the Jefferson Symposium offers both faculty
and program participants an enriching experience. “It’s a real treat,” says Onuf.
Even more importantly, this program offers faculty the chance to teach adult students. Participants include individuals passionately
interested in American history, including high school teachers and college professors who want more insight into the Jeffersonian era. “The people who come to the symposium might be using their vacation days to be here. They sign
up because they are interested,” Onuf says. “They are informed amateurs in the best sense
who think it is enormous fun to hear about Jefferson, who are interested in what scholars have to say, and who like to talk about ideas.
What more could a faculty member ask?”
David Konig agrees. A professor of history and law at Washington University who is writing a
book on Jefferson’s legal philosophy, Konig agreed to co-direct the symposium this year because of his experiences last summer. “We had the opportunity to delve deeply and with élan into the Jefferson material because the participants were both prepared and eager to become part of the intellectual free for all,”
he says.
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A Jeffersonian Conversation
The attraction of the symposium for the participants mirrors its appeal
for the faculty. Helene Kriner, a college counselor at a large Ohio high
school, would be the first one to admit that having a passion for
eighteenth-century literature and history is unusual. “Finding kindred
spirits through the seminar is so much fun,” she says. “We arrive here
with a common bond speaking the same language.” Faye Kilpatrick, another
longtime attendee, agrees. “The symposium is an opportunity to get
together with people from other parts of the country who admire
Jefferson and who are seeking to know and understand him better.” Aside
from their admiration for Jefferson, however, there is no generalizing
about the participants. Recent programs have attracted retired
executives, fundraisers, psychologists, college administrators and
engineers.
This group is united in their enthusiasm for the faculty. Kriner has
been thrilled to meet a number of Jefferson’s biographers whose work she
has read. And she is unstinting in her praise for Peter Onuf, whom she
considers “the premier living Jefferson scholar.” In particular, she
appreciates the opposing points of view that Onuf and his colleagues
bring to bear on Jefferson. “It helps you gain a more mature
appreciation of Jefferson,” she comments. “None of us are interested in
putting him on a pedestal.”
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The symposium, by
bringing together a group of people who feel a sense of mutual
admiration and who share a common thirst for knowledge, has a powerful
effect. It has fostered a tight-knit community that persists years after
the participants have returned home. “The relationships we form here are
quite special,” says Kriner, noting that she exchanges email with
someone from the symposium two or three times a day. “It’s an
opportunity to talk about ideas with people who care about them.” It’s a
way of making what Onuf calls “the Jefferson conversation” part of their
daily life.
U.Va. Rotunda and Lawn
Summer on the Lawn
The 20th Jefferson Symposium: Friends and Foes
With Peter Onuf, Thomas Jefferson
Foundation Professor of History at U.Va.,
along with colleagues nationwide.
June 18-22, 2008 • University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Va.
www.virginia.edu/travelandlearn or 1-800-346-3882
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