Summer Jefferson Symposium

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: […]

  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 […]

Revolutions strain diplomatic relations, and Andrew O’Shaughnessy describes how the American Revolution was no exception. Mr. O’Shaughnessy is a professor in the Corcoran Department of History in the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia and serves as Vice President of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation and Saunders Director of […]

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 […]

Lifetime Learning in UVA’s Office of Engagement hosted Summer Jefferson Symposium from June 21-24 and focused on Thomas Jefferson’s lasting legacies–the University of Virginia and Monticello. Matt Kelly’s article, first printed in UVAToday (6/18/18), takes an interesting look at the original firefighting plan for Jefferson’s Academical Village. Mr. Kelly is a University News Associate, University […]

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 Summer Jefferson Symposium Lead Faculty John Ragosta Mount Vernon, the home of a Virginia president who was not a Jeffersonian, just announced a major initiative to include an exhibit concerning slavery in its museum. The exhibit, scheduled to open in October, will be entitled Lives Bound Together, and will look at the relationship […]

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 […]

  Written by John Ragosta, Summer Jefferson Symposium Lead Faculty; Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, Fellow   The week of March 14 I spoke at several venues in Culpeper and Orange Counties about the development of religious freedom during and immediately after the American Revolution. Of course, Thomas Jefferson played a large part in those […]

Written by Jody Lahendro, UVA Supervisory Historic Preservation Architect On this wintry afternoon in February, construction work at the Rotunda continues in the final push towards completion later this coming summer, 18 months after beginning. Whiting-Turner, the construction management firm, skillfully organized the project to have critical exterior work finished prior to this winter’s weather. […]