School of Public Policy Launches Washington, D.C., Summer Seminar

The School of Public Policy launched a new summer seminar, “The Roots of American Order: Thinking Historically About Public Policy,” which was held at Pepperdine’s Pennsylvania Avenue campus in Washington, D.C., from June 21 through July 16.

The seminar, based on one of the School of Public Policy’s James Q. Wilson Core courses, offered students a foundation in America’s founding principles and how they have shaped the government/citizen relationship throughout history. It also enabled students, through a process of discovery, to develop the skills to think historically not only about past events, but about current public policy debates.

The seminar aimed to serve as an introduction to the School of Public Policy’s distinguished approach to preparing public leaders who consider the full scope of factors that determine the success or failure of a public policy. It also offered fast-moving conversations about a series of crisis points in American history—each of which reshaped the relationship between citizens and their government as they reexamined America's founding principles.

The seminar was cotaught by noted American historians Steven Hayward, Ronald Reagan Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine, and Ted McAllister, the Edward L. Gaylord Chair and associate professor of public policy at Pepperdine.