Date: Sep 12, 2011

Commemorating Constitution Day

Nightlong Read-In and Lecture by History Professor Michael D’Innocenzo on September 15

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY … Constitution Day, a national celebration of the signing of the one of America’s most significant historical documents, will be celebrated at Hofstra University on Thursday, September 15, 2011, with a series of events, the most unique of which will be a nightlong read-in of the book America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s. Preceding that will be a 9:30 a.m. lecture titled “Constitution Day: Defining Government in Partisan America – 1787 and 2011.” These events will be presented by Michael D’Innocenzo, professor of history at Hofstra and the Harry H. Wachtel Distinguished Teaching Professor for the Study of Nonviolent Social Change.

Though the official date of Constitution Day is September 17, Hofstra’s events are being presented two days earlier to honor the 39 brave and visionary delegates to the Constitutional Convention who formed and signed the Constitution in 1787.

The lecture “Constitution Day: Defining Government in Partisan America” is presented by Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in cooperation with the Hofstra Cultural Center and the Center for Civic Engagement. Location is the Guthart Cultural Center Theater, first floor, Axinn Library, South Campus.

Following Professor D’Innocenzo’s lecture, there will be a gathering of students and community at 11 a.m. at 246 East Library Wing to discuss American democracy and how it can be made more effective.

The read-in of America Divided will begin at 7 p.m. with a group of Hofstra freshmen and Professor D’Innocenzo on the top floor of the residential tower Alliance Hall, North Campus. Everyone will take turns reading excerpts, starting at sunset and ending at sunrise on September 16.

Professor D’Innocenzo is in his 51st year of teaching at Hofstra and is the second-longest serving professor in Hofstra’s history. He was the 2008 recipient of the American Historical Association Eugene Asher national Distinguished Teaching Award.

For more information on 2011 Constitution Day events, please visit hofstra.edu/culture or call the Hofstra Cultural Center at 516-463-5669.
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