James Madison Lecture Series
James Madison Lecture Series
James Madison Lecture Series
The Pursuit of Happiness
October 6, 2025
Brown County Central Library, Green Bay, WI
Reception: 5 - 6 PM | Lecture: 6 - 7 PM
October 7, 2025
Wisconsin Historical Society Headquarters, Madison, WI
Reception: 5 - 6 PM | Lecture: 6 - 7 PM
The Wisconsin Historical Society and the Center for the Study of the American Constitution at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are excited to present the 2025 James Madison Lecture featuring Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center. Rosen is also a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic. He was previously the legal affairs editor of The New Republic and a staff writer for the New Yorker.
The Declaration of Independence identified "the pursuit of happiness" as one of our unalienable rights, along with life and liberty. Jeffrey Rosen, the president of the National Constitution Center, profiles six of the most influential founders—Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton—to show what pursuing happiness meant in their lives.
About the James Madison Lecture Series
The James Madison Lecture is an annual lecture series on early American history co-presented by the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Center for the Study of the American Constitution at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The Lectures honor the scholarly work of Dr. Merrill Jensen (1905-1980), an influential scholar of the American Revolution, beloved mentor, and longtime faculty member of the University of Wisconsin Department of History.
Lectures are free with funding generously provided by the Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the James Madison Lectures endowment, which was made possible by a generous bequest from the Estate of John A. Peters and many private donors.
Previous Presentations
To view past presentations, click on the presenter's name below:
- 2024 - Douglas Brinkley - Rice University
- 2022 - Christy S. Coleman - Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
- 2019 - Michael A. McDonnell - University of Sydney
- 2018 - Dr. Andrew J. O’Shaughnessy - Thomas Jefferson Foundation
- 2017 - Professor Annette Gordon-Reed - Harvard University
- 2016 - Dr. Gordon S. Wood - Brown University
- 2015 - Dr. John Kaminski - UW-Madison Center for the Study of the American Constitution