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Kastberg-Leonard among scholars selected for symposium discussing American Revolution, Constitution

July 10, 2025

A Northwest Missouri State University faculty member was among a select group of scholars and historians who attended America at 250: The American Revolution and the Constitution, a two-day symposium and seminar last month in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Mariliz Kastberg-Leonard

Dr. Mariliz Kastberg-Leonard

Dr. Mariliz Kastberg-Leonard, an assistant professor of political science in Northwest’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences, accepted an invitation to attend the symposium as a result of her affiliation with the Jack Miller Center, which partnered with the American Enterprise Institute to convene its scholarly network.

At the symposium, she was one of 13 scholars who participated in a discussion about the Federalist Papers and the importance the documents hold today.

“Many scholars in the room were political theorists, while there were some historians and a few American institutionalist political science scholars,” Kastberg-Leonard said. “Since many in the room teach some version of Introduction to American Government, we discussed ways to get students and the public to engage with founding documents.” 

In her Introduction to American Government course, Kastberg-Leonard invites students to focus on what they can do to change status quo. Students select an issue, draft a bill and defend it in front of their class. As a final project, students develop ways to teach a course concept to future students, using methods that have included board games, paintings, children’s books and essays.

While Kastberg-Leonard already encourages students to read the U.S. Constitution, she said attending the symposium inspired her to have students reflect on originalist interpretations, in addition to developing a course project related to reading articles comprising The Federalist Papers and arguing their importance to people in the present day.

“This is the perfect time to encourage the reading and discussion of our founding documents with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence,” Kastberg-Leonard said. “There has been a push in the state of Missouri for students to understand the U.S. Constitution, their role as citizens and how our government has developed over time. Attending this symposium encouraged me to highlight these themes more in my classroom.”

Kastberg-Leonard joined the Northwest faculty in 2023 and teaches coursework related to constitutional law and American politics with academic interests in the judicial processes and separation of powers. She holds a doctorate degree from the University of Georgia and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Purdue University, all in political science.



Contact

Dr. Mark Hornickel
Administration Building
Room 215
660.562.1704
mhorn@nwmissouri.edu