Social studiesFor teachersCivic Life: Aristotle, Machiavelli, and Tocqueville
A free three-day (Friday–Sunday) professional development seminar for K–12 educators exploring civic life and virtue through Aristotle's Politics, Machiavelli's The Prince and Tocqueville's Democracy in America. Led by Dr. Joseph Fornieri of the Rochester Institute of Technology, the program examines citizenship, leadership and the moral foundations of government across classical and modern political thought, with lectures, primary-source discussions and classroom-ready strategies for teaching civics. The weekend also includes a field study visit to the University of Pennsylvania Library Special Collections, the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site — Tocqueville's reason for visiting America in 1831 — or both. Admission is by application; Founding Forward's accredited seminars are provided at no cost to educators.