John Ragosta

In the aftermath of the events of January 6, 2021, John Ragosta looks at our nation’s violent history and offers hope. Ragosta is a fellow at Virginia Humanities, author of Religious Freedom: Jefferson’s Legacy, America’s Creed, and lead faculty for Lifetime Learning‘s  Summer Jefferson Symposium at the University of Virginia. We welcome your comments below. […]

John Ragosta, author of Religious Freedom: Jefferson’s Legacy, America’s Creed, states that “…we must never return to a situation where people use their claims of religious freedom to avoid laws against discrimination…” Ragosta is a fellow at Virginia Humanities and lead faculty for Lifetime Learning‘s  Summer Jefferson Symposium at the University of Virginia. We welcome your […]

As we approach Thanksgiving in an unusual November, John Ragosta reflects on the writings of Thomas Jefferson and his words: “…to be thankful for what we have, rather than thoughtful about what we have not.” Ragosta is the lead faculty for Lifetime Learning‘s Summer Jefferson Symposium, a fellow at Virginia Humanities, and author of Religious Freedom: […]

Land ownership was important to Thomas Jefferson’s ideal of “equal citizenship,” and he looked westward for new frontiers. John Ragosta, a historian at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello and lead faculty of the Virtual Summer Jefferson Symposium 2020 presented by the University of Virginia‘s Lifetime Learning, looks at how […]

January 16 is Religious Freedom Day and John Ragosta discusses how Thomas Jefferson offered guidance for today’s difficult questions about religion and the law. Mr. Ragosta is the lead faculty for Lifetime Learning‘s Summer Jefferson Symposium and a historian at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello. The following article by […]

  A conference celebrating the bicentennial of the founding of the University of Virginia was sponsored in May 2018 by the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello in cooperation with the American Philosophical Society. The resulting book of essays, The Founding of Thomas Jefferson’s University (ed. by John A. Ragosta, Peter S. Onuf, Andrew […]

On July 4th we celebrate the birth of a nation based on a principle of equality for its citizens. As John Ragosta details in his piece, the struggle to fulfill this vision is ongoing. Mr. Ragosta is the faculty director of Lifetime Learning‘s Summer Jefferson Symposium at the University of Virginia, historian at Monticello’s Robert […]

What should we think about Thomas Jefferson? John Ragosta will discuss Jefferson’s contributions and contradictions at UVA’s Founder’s Day celebration on Friday, April 12 in Old Cabell Hall at 1:00 pm. Mr. Ragosta holds his PhD and JD from the University of Virginia where he is the faculty leader of Lifetime Learning’s Summer Jefferson Symposium. […]

Summer Jefferson Symposium, hosted by Lifetime Learning in UVA‘s Office of Engagement from June 21-24, was an opportunity for alumni, parents and friends to share in deep conversation about a brilliant and complicated man. John Ragosta, Summer Jefferson Symposium Faculty Leader, historian at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello and […]

Written by John Ragosta, Summer Jefferson Symposium Faculty Leader and historian at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello   Everyone has a first love: wildly impassioned, sometimes reckless, undoubtedly wrapped in dreams of a long life together. But what of last loves? More mature; a deep, abiding warmth for heat; […]

Written by John Ragosta, Lead Faculty, Lifetime Learning Summer Jefferson Symposium; Fellow, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. John Ragosta column: originally published by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Reprinted with permission.   Today is Religious Freedom Day, a chance to remember the critical importance to our nation of Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Establishing Religious Freedom and […]

Written by John Ragosta, Faculty Leader, Summer Jefferson Symposium; Fellow, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities   We remember Thomas Jefferson primarily for his great accomplishments as a statesman, philosopher, and political leader, including the Declaration of Independence, his presidency, and his leadership of a political movement. But Jefferson lived until he was 83 years old, […]

Written by John A. Ragosta, faculty director of the Summer Jefferson Symposium offered by UVA’s Lifetime Learning, authored Patrick Henry: Proclaiming a Revolution (Routledge Press, 2016) and is the lecturer for the Coursera online course Patrick Henry: Forgotten Founder, co-sponsored by the Lifetime Learning and the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation.   Patrick Henry “certainly gave […]

Written by: John Ragosta, Summer Jefferson Symposium Lead Faculty; Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, Fellow Teaching history has changed a great deal in my lifetime. Of course, the fixation on dates, names, battles, and speeches went out many years ago – although it lingers in too  many places like old leftovers in the fridge. And […]