Utah Valley University’s Center for Constitutional Studies hosted its annual Constitution Day conference Sept. 14–15, 2023.
The theme, Framing the Frontier: The Making of Western State Constitutions, explored the distinctive contributions of the American West to the nation’s constitutional tradition.
The conference also marked the completion of a four-year effort, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, to digitize the records of constitutional conventions in five western states—Idaho, Washington, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota—and to produce accessible visual models of their deliberations.
This effort is part of the Quill Project’s 50-in-10 Initiative, an endeavor to make the deliberations of every state’s constitutional convention accessible to citizens, students, scholars, and jurists before the close of this decade. Find more information about the Quill Project and the ongoing collaboration between researchers at UVU and Pembroke College, Oxford at www.quillproject.net.
The conference brought esteemed constitutional scholars from the U.S. and the U.K. into the same room to present and lead panel discussions on topics such as these:
Conference sessions covered these topics, among others:
- Why state constitutions matter as laboratories of democracy
- The current state and future direction of state constitutional studies
- The role of courts in revitalizing interest in state constitutions
- Results of the Quill Project’s NEH-funded Western State Constitution’s project
- Elections and suffrage as they unfolded in the American West
- The role of religion in the development of Western-state constitutions
- Opportunities for partner institutions to advance state constitutional studies and undergraduate research through the Quill Project’s 50-in-10 Initiative
Among the presenters were Dr. John Dinan, Wake Forest University, a leading expert on state constitutions, and Dr. Nicholas Cole, of Oxford University, who founded The Quill Project, a platform that has digitized the records of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and modeled how the negotiations unfolded.
Keynoting the conference Sept. 15 was the Honorable Jeffrey S. Sutton, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, who spoke on the topic of “Why State Constitutions Matter.”
“Recent Supreme Court decisions have remanded a number of constitutional questions back to the states,” said Dr. Matthew Brogdon, senior director of the Center for Constitutional Studies at UVU, “and there is a critical need for dialogue about and understanding of the relationship between federal and state constitutions. This conference was an important forum for advancing that discussion.”
About the UVU Center for Constitutional Studies
Established in 2011, the UVU Center for Constitutional Studies, a nonpartisan academic institute, promotes the instruction, study and research of constitutionalism. The Center engages students, scholars, educators, leaders and the public on constitutional issues where political thought, public policy, religion, law, history, education and economics intersect.
Conference Schedule
Thursday, Sept 14, 2023
10–11:15 a.m. | CB 511 | Session 1: State Constitutions and the Courts
- Hon. Christine Durham, retired Chief Justice, Utah Supreme Court (Moderator)
- Hon. Jeffrey S. Sutton, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit;
- Robert F. Williams, Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Director of the Center for State Constitutional Studies, Rutgers Law School
11:15–11:30 a.m. | Break
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. | CB 511 | Session 2: Elections & Suffrage in Western State Constitutions
- Dr. Nicholas Cole, director of the Quill Project, Pembroke College, Oxford University
- Liné Fourie, Grace Yeager, and Joseph Andersen-Stanley, CCS Wood Research Assistants
12:30–1:30 p.m. | Lunch Break
1:30–2:30 p.m. | CB 511 | Session 3: The Future of State Constitutional Studies
- Dr. John Dinan, professor of Political Science, Wake Forest University
- Dr. Nicholas Cole, director of the Quill Project, Pembroke College, Oxford University (Discussant)
2:30– 2:45 p.m. | Break
2:45–3:55 p.m. | CB 511 | Session 4: State Constitutions in American Political and Constitutional Development
- Dr. Matthew Brogdon, associate professor and senior director, Center for Constitutional Studies, Utah Valley University (Moderator)
- Dr. Adam Brown, associate professor of Political Science, Brigham Young University
- Dr. John Dinan, professor of Political Science, Wake Forest University
- Dr. Brian Phillips Murphy, associate professor of History, Rutgers University
- Dr. Robinson Woodward-Burns, associate professor of Political Science, Howard University
4 p.m. | Conference Adjourns
Friday, Sept 15, 2023
8:45–9:45 a.m. | SC 213 A/B | Session 5: Undergraduate Researchers on the 50-in-10 initiative, Lessons Learned, and Partnership Opportunities
- Dr. Nicholas Cole, director of the Quill Project, Pembroke College, Oxford University
- Scott Paul, executive director, Center for Constitutional Studies, Utah Valley University
- Nic Jensen, Team Lead, NEH Quill Project Team, Utah Valley University
- Elizabeth Green, documentary editor, Quill Project, Pembroke College, Oxford University
10–11 a.m. | SC Ballroom | Session 6: Keynote, Why State Constitutions Matter
- Hon. Jeffrey S. Sutton, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
11–11:05 a.m. | Break
11:05 a.m.–12:05 p.m. | SC Ballroom | Session 7: The NEH Western State Constitution Project, Methodology & Findings
- Dr. Nicholas Cole, director of the Quill Project, Pembroke College, Oxford University
- Nic Jensen, CCS Wood Research Assistant; Cashlyn English, CCS Wood Quill Specialist
12:15–1:20 p.m. | Speaker Lunch (Invitation Only)
1:20–1:30 p.m. | Break
1:30–2:30 p.m. | FL 428 | Session 8: Religion in Western State Constitutions
- Ashlynn Poelman, Caleb Stowell, and Jordan Artigas, CCS Wood Research Assistants
2:30 p.m. | Conference Closes