The Constitution Across the Curriculum
Despite the fact that the U.S. Constitution predates modern academic disciplines by more than a century, connections between disciplinary knowledge and "the general welfare" occur across the Constitution. Further, every discipline or profession is affected in myriad ways by the Constitution and its legacies as well as by contemporary questions about its interpretation.
Below you will find just a few excerpts from the U.S. Constitution that are intended to inspire you to start thinking and talking about how the Constitution relates to specific disciplines and professions. Along with this website as a whole, these excerpts are intended to encourage you to think and talk with others about why you need to know the Constitution more intimately, both as engaged citizens and as members or prospective members of specific disciplines or professions. Remember that you can find the entire Constitution in several different print and digital formats on the "Learn about the Constitution" page of this website.
The excerpts below will help you begin to practice thinking about your major, discipline, or profession in the context of the U.S. Constitution. Doing so will not only help you learn about your prospective career. Keeping the Constitution in mind will also help you become a more active citizen-scholar ... and thus help sustain an educated and engaged citizenry, which is necessary to sustain democracy.
The Preamble
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." (read more)
How does your specific major, discipline, or profession relate to one or more of the general concerns articulated in The Preamble?
The Preamble -- in memory
Have you ever memorized the Preamble to the Constitution? Other documents from U.S. history? Documents from your faith tradition? If you have memorized something in the past and remember it now, think about whether and how memorizing something might make it affect you differently.
Article I, Section 2, Paragraph 2
"No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen." (read more)
Three passages in the Constitution stipulate minimum age for serving in certain capacities of government. The first one is above. Find the other two.
Is there anything in your disciplinary knowledge that might help explain these age stipulations? Why are there no age stipulations for Supreme Court justices?
Article I, Section 8, Paragraphs 1 and 8
"The Congress shall have Power ... To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries...." (read more)
What effect does copyright law have on your discipline or profession? How has it changed over the years? How has the internet changed laws and practices protecting intellectual property?
Article I, Section 9, Paragraph 1
"The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person." (read more)
How does immigration affect your prospective profession? How does your discipline help you understand and explain how humans could have been -- and still can be -- "imported" for certain purposes? How does your area of study provide topics for you to understand, discuss, and come to informed opinions about immigration?
Article II, Section 3
The President "shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient...." (read more)
Read a current or historical State of the Union Address, and find issues that relate to your major, discipline, or profession. If those issues are subject to public controversy, research the issue and write a commentary for your local or hometown newspaper as a citizen-scholar.
Article III, Section 2, Paragraph 3
"The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed." (read more)
What concepts or practices in your discipline or profession speak to "trial by jury" or to other kinds of trials? What in your area of study might help explain the idea that trials be held where alleged crimes were committed?
Article V
"The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof...." (read more)
In specifying a process for amending the Constitution, the Constitutional Convention suggested that knowledge and practices change over time. What concepts and practices in your discipline or profession suggest most powerfully the need for a process of "amendment"? How does that process work in your area of expertise?
Article VI, Paragraph 3
"The Senators of Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." (read more)
What in your prospective discipline or profession -- or about higher education itself -- might help explain the specific prohibition of a "religious test" for serving in a public office in the U.S.?
Again, these prompts cover just a few excerpts from the original text of the ratified Constitution ... without even touching on the Amendments. As you learn more about the living legacy of the constitution consider how it relates to your general education and the ideas and practices of your discipline or profession.