The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the sponsorship, February 11 and 12, of Dr. John Ragosta, Resident Fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, for a series of discussions at Hamilton College and at the AHI on Thomas Jefferson and the origin of religious liberty.  Ragosta taught at Hamilton College as a visiting professor in history in 2012 and was nominated for a teaching prize. He is the author of Religious Freedom: Jefferson’s Legacy, America’s Creed (2013) and Wellspring of Liberty: How Virginia’s Religious Dissenters Helped Win the American Revolution and Secured Religious Liberty (2010).

John Ragosta

Dr. Ragosta will speak at Hamilton College on Tuesday, February 11 at 1:30 p.m. in room 211, Burke Library, to students in a seminar, “The Early Republic,” taught by AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette.  Ragosta will discuss Thomas Jefferson. That evening, the AHI will hold a special Leadership Dinner for Dr. Ragosta at 6:00 p.m. in the Banquet Room of the AHI in Clinton, New York.  Dr. Ragosta will converse with a select group of students and adults on “Jefferson, Madison, and Adams: Conversations on Religious Liberty.”

On Wednesday, February 12, from 2:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., Ragosta will speak on “The Development of Religious Freedom in Anglican Virginia” to students in a course on “The Old South” co-taught by AHI Charter Fellows Douglas Ambrose and Robert Paquette.  Ragosta’s presentation, which will take place in room 102, Kirner-Johnson Building, Hamilton College, will be open to the public.