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School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences

Recap: Leaders & Luminaries featuring Dr. Douglas Bradburn

On Monday, April 24, 2023, Dr. Douglas Bradburn, an award-winning author and well-known scholar of early American history, was the featured speaker at the EPPS Leaders and Luminaries Lecture Series event. The topic was Freedom of Religion: A View from the Founders. 

The panel discussed how the First Amendment (with “establishment” and “free exercise”) has been interpreted through both the freedom of and from religion. Dr. Bradburn focused on how the Founders choose this framing and which aspect was of greater concern to them.

Some current cases regarding freedom of religion that focus on Jefferson’s ideas of religion as strongly held beliefs:

  • Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (Baker refused to sell to same-sex couples; do these beliefs give a constitutional right to discriminate?)
  • Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania (Conscience-based exemption to contraceptive coverage mandate in the ACA.)
  • Current legislative efforts regarding whether tax dollars can be distributed to religious schools for private education.

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Leaders and Luminaries, sponsored by the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, brings leading practitioners and academics to UT Dallas to speak on prominent policy issues. Bradburn is the President and CEO of George Washington’s Mount Vernon, and the former Founding Director of the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon.  

Bradburn is the author of The Citizenship Revolution: Politics and the Creation of the American Union, 1774-1804, and three anthologies, including Early Modern Virginia: Reconsidering the Old Dominion. He is also the co-founder and editor of the award-winning book series, Early American Histories, at the University of Virginia Press, and the winner of numerous awards, grants, and fellowships, including the Gilder Lehrman Research Fellowship at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello.  

In addition, Bradburn is the recipient of five Telly awards for his work on animated documentaries for use in the classroom and a “Thea” award for the popular Be Washington interactive educational game. Dr. Bradburn has appeared on CSPAN, Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning, and was most recently featured in The History Channel’s docudrama, WASHINGTON.  

Before joining Mount Vernon, Bradburn served as Chair of the History Department at Binghamton University, State University of New York. He received his Ph.D. in History from the University of Chicago and his B.A. in history and economics from the University of Virginia.