The Alexander Hamilton Forum at Middlebury aims to foster thoughtful engagement with the ideas that have informed the creation and development of the American polity.  The Forum promotes the study of the American political thought and founding principles; their relationship to American institutions, statesmanship, public law, political economy, and foreign policy; and their place in the history of western political philosophy. We seek to offer students an opportunity to think critically about the relevance of political and constitutional theory to a range of contemporary debates in American public life.

Essential to this mission is our aspiration to contribute to a culture of reasoned, civil discussion and debate across political and intellectual differences.

Within our broader mission, the Forum has five special, though by no means exclusive, areas of academic interest. These include:

  • the nature of free institutions and the conditions for their establishment and maintenance;

  • the scope, purposes, and limits of political authority;

  • the foundations and meaning of First Amendment freedoms;

  • the relationship of economic liberty to political liberty, equality, and human flourishing;

  • the relationship between liberal education and civic education.

The focus of our programming is a public lecture and dialogue series and the Hamilton Forum Student Fellows program.  Students interested in the Fellows program should contact Ms. Linda Booska (lbooska@middlebury.edu).

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