AFT Book Club: A Conversation with Danielle Allen
webinar
December 13, 2026 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM EST

AFT Book Club: A Conversation with Danielle Allen

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About This Webinar

What can revisiting our country’s founding teach us about our own roles in democracy today?

Join AFT President Randi Weingarten for an AFT Book Club conversation with Danielle Allen, Harvard professor, political philosopher and leader in civic education, about her newest book, Radical Duke: How One Aristocrat—and the American Revolution—Transformed Britain.

Beginning with the discovery of a rare parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence in England, Allen uncovers a surprising story linking the Duke of Richmond, Thomas Paine and struggles over representation, voting rights and freedom across the Atlantic.

As we reflect on America’s 250th anniversary, this conversation invites us to revisit familiar narratives, consider whose perspectives deepen our understanding and reflect on our responsibilities and opportunities as participants in democracy.

Together, Weingarten and Allen will explore:

  • Learning from history: How examining the founding era can sharpen our understanding of power, rights and political change today.
  • Recognizing our own agency: Considering how we participate in civic life through our workplaces, schools and communities.
  • Supporting students’ civic learning: Helping young people examine evidence, discuss different perspectives and develop the knowledge and confidence to participate.

Register for this free, for-credit webinar.

Learn more about the AFT Book Club. Register for all sessions here.

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Speakers

Danielle Allen

James Bryant Conant University Professor, Harvard University 

Danielle Allen is a political philosopher whose current research focuses on democracy renovation: how to reconnect citizens to civic power through education and institutional redesign, how to make political institutions more responsive, accountable, and participatory, and how to make public policy that supports democracy.

Her most recent book, Justice by Means of Democracy (University of Chicago Press, 2023), provides the theoretical foundation for this work. Her forthcoming book, The Radical Duke, a biography of an 18th-century British political reformer, is due out with Liveright/Norton in 2026.

Through the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at the Harvard Kennedy School, she leads applied research on electoral reform, civic infrastructure, institutional design, and democracy-supportive public policy. Through the Democratic Knowledge Project-Learn at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she develops and scales civic education curricula for preK-12 students and higher education.

She is the publisher and founder of The Renovator Substack and a contributing columnist at The Atlantic Magazine.

Profile picture for user Randi Weingarten
President, AFT

RANDI WEINGARTEN is president of the 1.8 million-member AFT, AFL-CIO, which represents teachers; paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; higher education faculty and staff; nurses and other healthcare professionals; local, state and federal government employees; and early childhood educators. The AFT champions fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for students, their families and communities. The AFT and its members advance these principles through community engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism, and especially through members’ work.

Professional Credit

Share My Lesson webinars are available for one-hour of PD credit. A certificate of completion will be available for download at the end of your session that you can submit for your school's or district's approval.

In addition, Share My Lesson has arrangements in place as follows:

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