I am in Washington D.C. participating in the James Madison Graduate Fellowship (JMGF) and I have a little time before today’s lecture so I wanted to take the time to let you know what is going on. The JMGF is being held at the campus of Georgetown University near Washington D.C. The primary purpose of the summer institute is to study the formative period of our country’s history to include of course the Constitution. So far it has been very illuminating but challenging at the same time. I will be honest, the reading load is intence and it has taken a concentrated effort to keep up. We are reading, with few exceptions, primary source documents which present their own set of challenges inregards to understanding the content, what is the saying…”that which does not kill me will only make me stronger.” I am caustiously optimistic of the outcome.
At the beginning of the week fellows had the opportunity to speak with Supreme Court Justice Clarance Thomas at the Supreme Court. That was a very special event in that the Justice was very personable and in his talk stressed the importance of an educated citizenery in regards to the nation’s democractic health. The Justice was very moving in his recalection of his early teachers, which brough some of the fellows visibly to tears. Fellows have a paper due this coming Tuesdy so I will be busy with that but, non the less I will go into Washington to begin seeing the sights.
