America at 250:


How Did We Get Here? Where Are We Headed?

Online class with Clay Jenkinson

March 9–30, 2024
$300 per person

Registration is now closed

America will observe its 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. How can we employ the humanities to think about this important milestone in the history of the United States? 

During four online class sessions with humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson, we will explore the following questions:

  • What did the Founders have in mind and how well are we living that dream?
  • Are we Rome? Is the American republic circling the drain?
  • What are the core American values and principles that we still share?
  • Do we have an agreed-upon national narrative?
  • How did America become a world power and what is the future of our global leadership?
  • What are the challenges the U.S. must overcome as we move into the second 250 years of our national experiment?

Two books will help us explore these questions. Clay has selected an abridged (!) edition of Alexis de Tocqueville’s essential Democracy in America, perhaps the best book ever written about the United States by a foreigner; and Geert Mak’s book In America: Travels with John Steinbeck.

Class Schedule

Sessions will be held via Zoom on Saturday mornings for four weeks:
March 9–30, 2024
11 a.m. Eastern / 8 a.m. Pacific

Optional Zoom office hours will be offered.

What We’ll Be Reading

  • Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville. We recommend the Harper Perennial edition with introduction by Scott Sandage. Note we will be focusing on selections of Tocqueville’s lengthy volume, not the entire text.
  • In America: Travels with John Steinbeck by Geert Mak.
  • Additional excerpts may be provided to the class for further reading and reflection.

How to Get Started

  • Order the books either on your reading device or through your local book seller. Start reading.
  • Take notes.
  • Make lists of your questions and thoughts so that we can make our sessions rich in discussion.

Online courses are conducted by Dakota Sky Education with fees paid to Dakota Sky Education.
The courses are an educational service, enrollment fees are not tax deductible.