The University of Toledo’s Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership has formalized a collaboration with the University of Oxford in England, opening unique research and study abroad opportunities to students at one of the world’s oldest and most highly regarded universities.
“The Oxford tradition has served as the model for the institute’s educational approach,” said Dr. Michael Gonzalez, senior associate director of the institute. “We are therefore very excited to be bringing UToledo students to Pembroke College at the University of Oxford, where our students will work directly with the university’s prestigious faculty beginning with a constitutional studies symposium this summer and continuing with a collaborative research project to trace the development of Ohio constitutionalism.”
Undergraduates Lauren DeRaedt, left, and Sabina Mikery-Munoz, right, discuss their upcoming constitutional studies symposium with Dr. Deborah O’Malley, an assistant professor in the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership. DeRaedt and Mikery-Munoz are both Civitas Fellows pursuing minors in Constitutional Studies.
Eight undergraduate students are set to participate in the two-week constitutional studies symposium at Oxford beginning in late July, supported by full scholarships covering travel, lodging and other program-related expenses.
Anticipating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in 2026, the symposium is themed “Natural Rights and the Rights of Englishmen.” Students will study foundational texts like the U.S. Declaration of Independence through lectures, seminars and tutorials led by faculty at Oxford and UToledo’s Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership, while partaking in additional cultural and recreational excursions.
Students also will receive an introduction to the Quill Project at Pembroke College, a constituent college of Oxford. The Quill Project facilitates collaborative research into the give-and-take negotiations that go into the drafting of constitutions, legislation and treaties and hosts a substantial body of resources and cutting-edge tools designed to help teachers, lawyers and researchers interpret and teach key historical texts.
Two UToledo students will then begin an ambitious project in support of the Quill Project. Beginning in fall semester and extending into 2026, they will compile and present an unprecedented cache of documents related to Ohio’s fourth and so-far final constitutional convention in 1912, which produced key amendments that continue to shape the state constitution and bill of rights as constituents know it today.
“State constitutions are critically important to the operation of America’s political system. They are the part of the structure that makes politics local, and they have all been written by constitutional conventions — each one every bit as important and complicated as the Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787,” said Dr. Nicholas Cole, director of the Quill Project and senior research fellow in history at Oxford. “In the past, however, they have received little scholarly attention, which is why we are so delighted to be working with faculty and students from Toledo to bring the records of this state’s convention to life by producing a new digital edition of the records and mapping out the progress of the discussions in a modern and detailed way.”
The Oxford collaboration is a highlight among numerous offerings available to the University campus and broader community through UToledo’s Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership, which stands out as the most advanced of five schools of civic thought established at public universities by the Ohio Legislature in 2023.
The institute offers a variety of courses on topics like statesmanship, civic discourse and the liberal and conservative traditions in the United States, which undergraduate students are able to apply toward minors in Constitutional Studies and Science, Technology and Society and a certificate in Civic Thought and Leadership. Scholarships are available to a growing number of students who commit to taking two institute courses each semester as Civitas Fellows.
The institute also facilitates lectures, debates and other public programming, as well as professional development opportunities for primary and secondary teachers across the state including a recent weeklong program for middle and high school teachers to read, discuss and analyze the U.S. Constitution and other primary texts related to the constitutional tradition of the United States.
Dr. Jonathan Culp joined the institute as director in July.
“We’ve made significant strides in trailblazing the revival of civic education and engaging the campus and local community in the ideas, traditions and texts that continue to shape our country,” Gonzalez said. “We look forward to a long-standing relationship with Oxford and the Quill Project, and other ambitious plans are still in the works. This transatlantic collaboration is just the start — and a fitting one at that — of our lineup for America’s 250th anniversary.”
