American Ideology 101

Class Syllabus

About

What is the American Ideology? American Ideology 101 is an interactive online seminar that answers that question and introduces a bold and timely thesis: that America is, and has always been, defined by a coherent—if often unspoken—ideology. Most nations are bound by land, blood, or tradition. But as G.K. Chesterton observed, America is “the only nation...founded on a creed.” This course explores how that creed was not merely an aspirational abstraction, but a working ideology deliberately enacted through constitutional design, civic institutions, and cultural norms. Through short lectures, essays, historical deep-dives, interactive discussions, and curated reading lists, participants will engage with a new analytic framework for understanding the American Ideology as a true ideology: a system that binds moral vision to real-world structure. The question at the heart of the course is both urgent and enduring: Can the ideology that once bound us together still hold?

You can also join this program via the mobile app. Go to the app

Instructors

Bryan Dumont

About Bryan