Thomas Jefferson had views on religion that have long fascinated and perplexed generations of Americans.  Understanding Jefferson's spiritual quest is critical to understanding his conception of American nationhood.  An ardent opponent of institutional religion and exponent of separation between church and state, Jefferson developed his own very personal and enlightened brand of Christianity. 

This program offers you a special opportunity to join a talented faculty to explore and illuminate the history of religion in Jefferson's Virginia, Thomas Jefferson’s complex thoughts on religion and its role in a new nation, and the continuing impact of his thoughts and actions in America today. 

By program's end you will have a richer understanding of Thomas Jefferson, the religious landscape he inhabited, and the audacity and radicalism of Jefferson’s enduring legacy - the wall of separation.

I hope you will come to Charlottesville in June for a fascinating, and timely, examination of Thomas Jefferson and religion.

Tom Dowd, Program Director

PROGRAM FEATURES
During a program designed for instruction and delight you will:

• Explore, with an expert faculty, the religious landscape Thomas Jefferson inhabited, and his concerns about religion, how they evolved, and how they impacted the peoples of a young nation.

• Trace the role religion played in the lives of the Founding Fathers and the interaction of church and state in the founding of the American Republic.

• Examine Anglicanism in the old regime in Virginia, the Great Awakenings, the influences of evangelical Virginia Baptists and Methodists, and how Virginia Christians coped with the problem of slavery.

• Study Jefferson’s work on the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, his thoughts about priestcraft, and his writing about the wall of separation between Church and State.

• Make a private after-hours visit to Thomas Jefferson's beloved mountaintop plantation, Monticello* (1768-1796; 1796-1809), and enjoy a guided tour that will allow you to explore areas not normally open to the public. 

• Tour the Academical Village, the heart of the Jefferson-designed University of Virginia (1817-1826), with a talented architectural historian.

• Enjoy a reception and dinner in U.Va.'s Jefferson-designed Rotunda (1826), a half-scale model of the Pantheon in Rome and the signature landmark of the University.  The site of our dinner, the Dome Room, originally housed the University library.

• Settle into the Jefferson Symposium tradition of relaxing informal evening conversations and discussions as the shadows steal quietly across the beautiful Lawn.

• and much more...

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THE PROGRAM FACULTY
Among the faculty of experts leading the Jefferson Symposium's interactive sessions are:

• Edward L. Ayers, one of the country’s foremost Southern history scholars, is Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Hugh P. Kelly Professor of History at the University of Virginia.  Among his publications are In the Presence of Mine Enemies: War in the Heart of America, 1859-1863 and The Promise of the New South: Life after Reconstruction.
   

  Alan Gibson is an Associate Professor of Political Science at California State University, Chico.  One of his primary research interests is the study of the American Founding.  He has published articles in Polity, History of Political Thought, The Review of Politics, and The Political Science Reviewer.
   

  Kevin R. Hardwick is an Assistant Professor of History at James Madison University where he teaches the history of British colonial America and Virginia history.  His research focuses on the relationship between ethics and authority in early Virginia.  He is co-editor of Virginia Reconsidered: New Histories of the Old Dominion.
   

  Charles Irons, faculty co-director, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Elon University.  His work on the rise of evangelical Protestantism and on the relationship between enslaved and free evangelicals appears in the American Baptist Quarterly, Virginia Cavalcade, and Virginia Magazine of History and Biography.
   

  Janet Moore Lindman is an Associate Professor of History and the Coordinator of Women's Studies Program at Rowan University.  She is the co-editor of A Centre of Wonders: The Body in Early America and  has published articles on the eighteenth-century religion, ritual practice, female spirituality, and gender, race, and masculinity in revolutionary Virginia. Return to top

• Peter S. Onuf, faculty co-director, is Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History at the Corcoran Department of History, University of Virginia.  He is author of Jefferson's Empire: The Language of American Nationalism, editor of Jeffersonian Legacies,  and co-editor of The Revolution of 1800: Democracy, Race, and the New Republic.

• Camille Wells has worked as an architectural historian for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.  She teaches and lectures widely, is the author of several essays on the landscapes and buildings of early Virginia, and was editor of the first two volumes in the Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture series. 

• Program Director: Tom Dowd, Senior Director of Program Development, University of Virginia School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Return to top

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

This program is perfect for anyone who enjoys travel and learning opportunities that provide intellectual stimulation in a welcoming and congenial environment.  The Jefferson Symposium offers unsurpassed value, rich content, and a history of exceptional participant satisfaction.  At program's end you will leave with a richer understanding of Thomas Jefferson, the religious landscape he inhabited, and the audacity and radicalism of Jefferson’s enduring legacy - the wall of separation.

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THE PROGRAM LOCATION

This program will take place on the historic grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.  Founded in 1819, the University of Virginia is the product of the vision and determination of Thomas Jefferson.  Reflecting three of Jefferson’s strongest interests - education, architecture, and gardening - the core of the University is the Jefferson-designed Academical Village.  With its ranges, its terraced green Lawn flanked by colonnaded walkways connecting Pavilions and student rooms, and overseen at its north end by the magnificent Rotunda, the Academical Village has been proclaimed the most significant architectural achievement of the nation’s first 200 years.

Rich in history, architectural treasures, and natural beauty, Charlottesville is nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, 120 miles southwest of Washington, DC, and 70 miles west of Richmond.  Charlottesville (airport code = CHO) has extensive air service provided by US Airways, United Air Lines, Delta Air Lines, and Northwest Airlines. Ground transportation is provided by Amtrak and Greyhound. 

Before you arrive, you will be sent useful program materials and information about the University of Virginia and Charlottesville. 

Need travel assistance and/or trip protection? Our preferred travel provider is Peace Frogs Travel/Outfitters, offering traveler's insurance and deeply discounted travel. 

Check the Charlottesville weather. Return to top

PROGRAM LODGING

During the program you will have the option of staying in the University of Virginia's original Jefferson-designed student rooms on the West Range*, in Mr. Jefferson's Academical Village.  These single occupancy rooms on the West perimeter of the Academical Village, facing McCormick Road, have telephones and are served by centrally located restroom and bath facilities. The Range rooms are not air-conditioned but there is a fan in each Range room and Charlottesville weather is usually very pleasant in June. During the academic year, the Range rooms are reserved for graduate students. 

A limited number of single or double air-conditioned dormitory rooms is available in U.Va.'s Brown College at Monroe Hill, which is located very near the center of the University, just a short walk from the Lawn and Rotunda and the program classroom.

*Due to simultaneous registration via phone, fax, mail, and Internet, it is possible that a Range room may not be available when we receive your registration and payment.  In the event that you have paid for a Range room and none is available, we will notify you, discuss other lodging options, and explain our refund procedure.

We have also reserved limited blocks of rooms at:

the Red Roof Inn at 1309 West Main Street, a five-minute walk from the University of Virginia. These rooms are available at a special reduced rate of $69.99 plus 11% tax per room per night, single or double.  To book one of these rooms call the hotel directly at 1-434-295-4333 or call Red Roof Inns' central reservation number at or 800-733-7663.  The reservation code for the 2005 Jefferson Symposium block of rooms is B246JEFFSY or Jefferson Symposium UVA.
 

the Best Western Cavalier Inn at 105 N. Emmet Street, a five minute walk from the University of Virginia.  These non smoking rooms are available at the special rate of $75.00 plus 11% tax.  To book a room at the Cavalier Inn call the hotel directly at 1-434-296-8111 and ask about rooms in the Jefferson Symposium room block. 

Other nearby hotels offering reasonable room rates are also a lodging option.  From inns and bed and breakfasts to luxury hotels, Charlottesville/Albemarle County provides visitors with comfortable accommodations to suit every need.  Extensive information about local lodging is available at http://www.charlottesvilletourism.org/lodgingIndex.php. Return to top

PROGRAM SCHEDULE 
(subject to change)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15

2:00 pm: Program Check-In
4:00 pm: Program Introduction
4:45pm: Session 1: The Founding Fathers and Religion, Peter Onuf 
7:00 pm: Reception and Dinner, The Rotunda (1826)
8:30 pm: Session 2: Religion and the Old South, Edward Ayers  Return to top

THURSDAY, JUNE 16

7:30 am: Breakfast, Colonnade Hotel (1817)
9:00 am: Session 3: Anglicanism in the Old Regime in Virginia, Kevin Hardwick
10:30 am: Refreshment Break
11:00 am: Session 4: Great Awakenings, Charles Irons
12:45 pm: Lunch
2:15 pm: Session 5: Jefferson: A Spiritual Biography, Janet Lindman
4:15 pm: Depart for tour of Jefferson Library
5:45pm: Depart for Monticello
6:00 pm: Session 6: Special After-Hours Tour of Monticello (1768-96; 1796-1809)
Free Evening Return to top

FRIDAY, JUNE 17

7:30 am: Breakfast, Colonnade Hotel
9:00 am: Session 7: The Statute for Religious Freedom, Kevin Hardwick
10:30 am: Refreshment Break
11:00 am: Session 8: Church, State, and the Founding of the American Republic, Alan Gibson
12:45 pm: Lunch
2:00-4:30 pm: Session 9 A/B: View Jefferson Holdings U.Va. Special Collections - in Two Groups
2:00-4:30 pm: Session 10 A/B: Walking Tours of the Academical Village - in Two Groups, Camille Wells 
Free time or participant-led sessions/discussions
Free evening Return to top

SATURDAY, JUNE 18

7:30 am: Breakfast, Colonnade Hotel
9:00 am: Session 11: Jefferson and Priestcraft, Peter Onuf
10:00 am: Refreshment Break
10:30 am: Session 12: Jefferson and the Wall of Separation, Alan Gibson
12:00 pm: Lunch
1:30 pm: Session 13: Evangelical Virginia Baptists and Methodists Virginia Christians and the Problem of Slavery, Charles Irons and Janet Lindman
3:30 pm: Refreshment Break
4:00-5:30 pm: Session 14: Small Group Discussions with Faculty
Free evening Return to top

SUNDAY, JUNE 19

8:00 am: Breakfast 
9:30 am: Session 15: Concluding Panel Discussion, All Faculty
11:00 am: Program Concludes   Return to top

PER PERSON PROGRAM FEE
(Reserve your place with a $300 deposit.  See details below.)

Your per person program fee includes four nights' lodging (if you chose a lodging option), all program tours, most meals, specially prepared instructional materials, and more.

$1025 in a single Jefferson-designed Range room (subject to availability*)
 

$1075 in a single or double (by mutual request) air-conditioned Brown College dormitory room
 

$875 with no lodging provided

If you register prior to May 13, 2005: please return the registration form with a $300 per person deposit (or the full fee if you choose).  The balance of the registration fee is due by May 13, 2005.

If you register after May 13, 2005: please return the registration form with full payment.

*Due to simultaneous registration via phone, fax, mail, and Internet, it is possible that a Range room may not be available when we receive your registration and payment.  In the event that you have requested a Range room and none is available, we will notify you and discuss other lodging options.

Withdrawal: If you withdraw in writing before May 13, 2005, 80% of the amount you have paid will be refunded.  In the event withdrawal is necessary after May 13, 2005, there will be no refund but you may substitute another person to attend the program in your place.

To recover nonrefundable costs incurred if travel must be postponed on short notice, we strongly encourage you to purchase travel cancellation insurance as soon as you register (to cover pre-existing conditions).  Useful travel insurance information can be found at http://www.people.virginia.edu/~tsd3r/www.tripinsurancestore.com or 888-407-3854.

The University of Virginia School of Continuing and Professional Studies reserves the right to require any participant to withdraw from the program at any time if such action would best serve the health, safety, or general welfare of the individual registrant and/or the other participants in the program.  Return to top

 

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