The Totalitarian Epoch: Law and Freedom in the 20th Century and Beyond | May 19–20, 2014 | Princeton University. Conference co-sponsored with Princeton University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. Keynote speaker Dr. Alan Charles Kors, Henry Charles Lea Professor of European History, University of Pennsylvania, received the ASFI’s James Q. Wilson Award for Distinguished Scholarship on the Nature of a Free Society. Conference Program—Conference Video
Milestones in the History of the Free Society and Prospects for Perpetuation | May 20–21, 2013 | Princeton University. Conference co-sponsored with Princeton University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. The conference addressed the broad question of judging progress and decay in free societies. Keynote speaker Harvey Mansfield, William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Government, Harvard University, received the ASFI’s James Q. Wilson Award for Distinguished Scholarship on the Nature of a Free Society. Conference Program—Conference Videos
American Constitutionalism and the Legacy of Progressivism | May 21–22, 2012 | Princeton University. Conference co-sponsored with Princeton University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. The conference addressed the enduring tension between American progressivism and constitutional conservatism. Keynote speaker James W. Ceaser, Harry F. Byrd Professor of Politics, University of Virginia, received the ASFI Award. Conference Program—Conference Videos
Law, Liberty, and Virtue | May 16–17, 2011 | Princeton University. Conference co-sponsored with Princeton University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, and Tthe Bouton Law Lecture Fund. The conference addressed the proper relationship among law, liberty, and virtue. Keynote speaker Hadley P. Arkes, Edward N. Ney Professor in American Institutions, Amherst College received the ASFI Award. Conference Program—Conference Videos
Natural Law, Natural Rights, and the American Republic | May 17–18, 2010 | Princeton University. Conference co-sponsored with Princeton University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and the Bouton Law Lecture Fund. The conference addressed the relationship between the free societies of the modern world and the western tradition of political philosophy. Keynote speaker Michael P. Zuckert, Nancy Reeves Dreux Professor, University of Notre Dame, received the ASFI Award. Conference Program—Biographies—Conference Videos
The Constitution and the Future of the Free Society | April 29, 2010 | Omaha, Nebraska. Keynote address: "Soft Despotism," by Paul Rahe. Panel discussion: "Current Challenges to Constitutional Government." Presenters: Thomas Lindsay, Shimer College; Carson Holloway, University of Nebraska at Omaha; Ben Sasse, Midland Lutheran College.
The Post-Communist Era: Challenges and Opportunities | May 11–12, 2009 | Princeton University. Conference co-sponsored with Princeton University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and The Program in Contemporary Politics and Society, Princeton University. The conference examined the opportunities and challenges that confront free societies in the post-communist era. Keynote speaker, Richard Pipes, Frank B. Baird, Jr., Professor of History Emeritus, Harvard University, received the ASFI Award. Conference Program—Conference Description—Biographies—Conference Videos
Moral Conflict in A Free Society | May 12–13, 2008 | Princeton University. Conference co-sponsored with Princeton University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. The conference examined how free societies cope with moral conflicts and whether freedom must be complemented by a broader conception of virtue and goodness for a polity to receive its citizen’s approbation. Conference Program—Conference Description—Conference Videos
Transatlantic Ideas of the American Founding | March 27, 2008 | The University of Edinburgh. Keynote speakers: Gerald Stourzh, University of Vienna, and David Armitage, Harvard University. Conference Convenors: Paul Kerry, Brigham Young University and James Madison Program, Princeton University; and Matthew Holland, Brigham Young University.
The Free Society: Foundations and Challenges | May 14–15, 2007 | Princeton University. Conference co-sponsored with Princeton University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. The conference considered a variety of questions pertaining to the character of a truly free society, the conditions that allow free societies to flourish, and the challenges that free societies must confront. Conference Program—Conference Videos