NORMAN, Okla. The University of Oklahoma's Institute for the American Constitutional Heritage (IACH) marked Constitution Day on Sept. 17 with a public lecture by Stanford University historian Dan Edelstein. The talk, "Revolution, Constitution, and the American Founding," took place at 1:30 p.m. in Meacham Auditorium in the Oklahoma Memorial Union.
The lecture was part of the annual J. Rufus Fears Lectures on Patti and Roger Clapp Constitution Day. Each September, the IACH invites a prominent scholar to OU to reflect on the nation's founding document and the ideas behind it.
Constitution Day falls on Sept. 17, the date in 1787 when the Framers finished their work in Philadelphia and signed the Constitution. Federal law requires institutions that receive federal funding to observe the day. At OU, the observance carries the name of J. Rufus Fears, a beloved Professor of Classics and Letters, thanks to a gift from alumni Roger and Patti Clapp.
Edelstein is the William H. Bonsall Professor of French and Professor of Political Science and History (by courtesy) at Stanford, as well as a Senior Fellow (by courtesy) at the Hoover Institution. He directs COLLEGE, Stanford's first-year general education requirement, and co-leads both the Stanford Civics Initiative and the ePluribus Stanford initiative.
He is a leading voice on European intellectual and political history and the author of four books: "The Terror of Natural Right" (2009), "The Enlightenment: A Genealogy" (2010), "On the Spirit of Rights" (2018) and, most recently, "The Revolution to Come: A History of an Idea from Thucydides to Lenin" (2025). He has also co-edited seven volumes, including "Power and Time: Temporalities in Conflict and the Making of History" (2020). He is currently writing a history of the idea of Western culture.
Edelstein's lecture tied together two forces that shaped the United States: the revolutionary break from Britain and the constitutional framework that followed. His work on revolutions, natural rights and the Enlightenment made him a natural fit for a day devoted to the nation's founding.
The Fears Lectures continue the IACH's mission of bringing students, faculty and the Norman community into conversation with nationally recognized scholars on the history and principles of American constitutional government.
For more information about the IACH and its upcoming events, visit ou.edu/iach, email iach@ou.edu or call (405) 325-7697.
