Providence, RI -- Providence College will host Tavern Talk, a series of three informal lecture/discussion programs exploring historical and political views on the U.S. Constitution in the weeks before after Constitution Day, which is celebrated annually on September 17.

• On Tuesday, September 13, at 7-8 p.m., faculty members from the College's Department of Political Science will address the question "Is the electoral college constitutional?"
• On Thursday, September 15 at 4-5:30 p.m., Rev. Jon Alexander, associate professor of history at Providence College and a constitutional scholar, will discuss "Why Rhode Island originally rejected the Constitution: a historical perspective."
• On Thursday, September 22, at 7-8 p.m., political science faculty members will discuss "God and the Constitution."

All of the programs will be held in McPhail's, the student entertainment facility located in Slavin Center on the Providence College campus. Each program will include a brief lecture, followed by a question and answer period in which participants are encouraged to express their ideas on the selected topic.

The "Tavern Talk" program -- so named as a reminder that the U.S. Constitution was first debated in the taverns of Philadelphia -- was initiated in response to a new federal requirement. Inserted into a 2004 spending bill by Senator Robert Byrd, the West Virginia Democrat who is never without his copy of the Constitution, the measure requires schools receiving federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education to implement an educational program pertaining to the Constitution on Constitution Day. Since this year's date falls on a Saturday, schools are allowed to sponsor programs in the weeks before and after the actual date.

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