A Message to Facilitators

I write this note as a fellow facilitator.  I'm not a history or political science professor.  I'm not even that good at current events.  The only time I read Federalist 10 (and I use the term "read" here, rather loosely) was in a US Government course in my Senior Year at Warwick High School.  Mr. Hayes and his rubber "F" stamp.  I was 16 years old at the time.  That was 20 years ago.

I have only a cursory knowledge of James Madison, of the role he played in the debates and ultimate ratification of the Constitution, of his presidency, of his many contributions to the Federalist Papers, of which Federalist 10 is only one.  I have even less knowledge of the Anti-Federalists, like Brutus, and of the political climate out of which his position was born.

But I'm motivated and excited to be a part of this year's First-Year Reading experience.  All of the things listed before, things that may seem like limitations to someone who has volunteered to discuss Federalist 10 with incoming students, are the very things which fuel my desire to do so. 

Why?

Because a discussion of Federalist 10 is not a discussion of James Madison.  It is not a study of names and dates and places and resolutions.  It is an opportunity.  It is a chance for me to do what I love best about teaching college students: to remind them that history is not something static, and uninteresting, and distant, and unconnected to the present that it is, as Nietzsche might say, the condition of living and thinking in language.  As with so many things, Federalist 10 is not as important as the cultural moment which produced it.  Madison's voice was only one of many.  Take only one of those voices away and we might have a Constitution with no Bill of Rights. 

Talking about how things mean is just as important as talking about what they mean.  Thus Federalist 10 can be approached by someone of any discipline.  You need not think: "I don't know enough about the history to talk to students about this.  I don't know what this text means."  Think instead:  "I know enough to ask how Federalist 10 means."  And you won't be on your own.  This Facilitator's Guide was assembled with a careful eye to those of us, most of us, who are not fluent in Federalist 10, but who are passionate about ideas even more passionate about questions and who understand that the process of making meaning is one that can only take place through dialogue and debate.  This debate is particularly lively right now regarding the theory and practice of democracy worldwide.  Many, many thanks for volunteering for what is sure to be a rich experience.

~ Traci Pipkins, Assistant Professor, Writing and Rhetoric