I am currently in the middle of teaching a super fun graduate seminar on the topic “American Ideas in Conflict” that I could have alternatively titled “Reading Books Written by My Smart Friends.” I briefly describe the course content in the syllabus as follows: What does it mean to be American? What is the idea of America? Questions about American identity have been debated since the nation’s founding. This course will examine the history of this ongoing debate by studying the conflicts over the big ideas that have long dominated American political discourse: democracy, capitalism, and religion. Conflicts over these Read more