Ethics Institute Turns 'Constitution Day' into Four-Day Observation
SUNY Plattsburgh’s Institute for Ethics in Public Life, in conjunction with the Center for Community Engagement and the Department of Political Science, will host four days of events around the nation’s annual Constitution Day beginning Sunday, Sept. 17.
Since its inception in 2004, Constitution Day has been a mandated teaching day for educational institutions receiving federal funds. In the past, the Ethics Institute has hosted discussions during its regular Wednesday colloquy closest to the date.
But this year, according to institute director, Dr. Jonathan Slater, “we are pulling out all the stops with a four-day observance beginning with a film showing of the 1992 political comedy, ‘Dave,’ Sunday, Sept. 17 at 5 p.m. at the Strand Center for the Arts.”
The showing will be followed by a conversation among a multi-disciplinary panel of SUNY Plattsburgh faculty moderated by Dr. Michael Devine, associate professor of English.
Monday’s offering begins at 7 p.m. in the Hermes Conference Room, Au Sable Hall where Dan Lake, political science professor, will moderate “The Constitution at a Time of Political Polarization,” a panel discussion among political science faculty.
On Tuesday, students in the SUNY Plattsburgh chapter Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society, along with members of the political science faculty will host a tabling event, “Ask Me About the Constitution,” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Angell College Center.
And on Wednesday, Sept. 20 from noon to 2 p.m., Dr. Jay Miller, philosophy professor from Warren-Wilson College in North Carolina, will lead the regular weekly Ethics Institute Colloquy in the Mowry Conference Room, Redcay Hall. Miller, who will be visiting campus as keynote speaker at the opening of the “Political Sway” art exhibition at Myers Fine Arts Building Sept. 18, will speak on “Public Art: Which ‘Public?’ Whose ‘Art?’” This event is open only to current and past fellows of the institute and invited guests.
For more information about Constitution Day or the Institute for Ethics in Public Life, contact Slater at 518-564-3018 or email [email protected].