48th Annual Donald A. Giannella Memorial Lecture, 03/11
Born Equal: Remaking America's Constitution, 1840–1920
The Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy welcomes
Akhil Reed Amar
Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science
Yale Law School
Wednesday, March 11
4:00 p.m.
Laurence E. Hirsch ’71 Classroom (Room 101)
John F. Scarpa Hall
The McCullen welcomes Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, where he teaches constitutional law in both Yale College and Yale Law School. He will discuss his most recent book, Born Equal: Remaking America’s Constitution, 1840–1920, a retrospective account of the four amendments that abolished slavery in the United States and ensured citizenship and voting rights for minorities.
After graduating from Yale College summa cum laude in 1980 and from Yale Law School in 1984, and clerking for Judge (later Justice) Stephen Breyer, Amar joined the Yale faculty in 1985.
Amar’s work has been cited by Supreme Court justices across the spectrum in over 45 cases. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has written widely for popular publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Time and The Atlantic.
Amar is the author of more than a hundred law review articles and several books, most notably The Bill of Rights (1998), America’s Constitution: A Biography (2005), America’s Unwritten Constitution (2012), and The Constitution Today (2016).
In 2022, the McCullen Center hosted Amar for a lecture on his book The Words That Made Us: America’s Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840.
This lecture is approved from the Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board for 1 Substantive In-Person CLE credit. Please note registration is required. A reception and book signing with Amar will take place immediately following the lecture in the Ambassador David F. Girard-diCarlo ’73 and Constance B. Girard-diCarlo ’74 Student Lounge.
About the Donald A. Giannella Memorial Lecture:
Through the generosity of Professor Giannella’s family, colleagues, Villanova Law alumni and other friends, an endowed fund was established to honor the distinguished scholar and beloved educator who died in 1974. The lectureship brings a leading scholar to Villanova each year.
