Session Dates
Session 01: We-Aug-19-2026 •• Session 02: Mo-Aug-24-2026 •• Session 03: We-Aug-26-2026
Thriving in Uncertainty
Leadership, Teamwork, and Career Readiness
This module presents leadership as the ability to move beyond dependence on rubrics and prescriptive instructions, progressing from merely dwelling in uncertainty to thriving in it. Effective leaders invest their limited “energy budget” where their talents and passions intersect. They also approach group projects constructively by identifying each member’s strengths, interests, and expertise before assigning responsibilities. This enables the team to work harmoniously and efficiently while making full use of its collective abilities. Because contemporary workplaces increasingly rely on project-based teams, career readiness requires students both to succeed within this model and to provide concrete examples of how they have contributed to, strengthened, and helped lead collaborative work.
Declaration of Independence at 250
Declaration of Independence
¶ Declaration of Independence•• Source: National Archives
¶ Thomas Jefferson’s “original Rough draft” of Declaration of Independence •• Source: Library of Congress •• Your focus #1: the two adjectives Jefferson uses to describe “rights” in second paragraph •• Your focus #2: content and fate of paragraph beginning “he has waged cruel war against human nature itself”
¶ Episode of podcast, “The Secret Life of Books,” centered on America’s Declaration of Independence at 250 •• Hosts: Sophie Gee, PhD, professor of English, Princeton University, and Jonty Claypole, MBE, Sydney, Australia-based arts and media consultant •• You can listen and watch on YouTube or listen on many podcast platforms •• Your focus #1: in addition to Thomas Jefferson, which individuals, from political philosophers to state delegates, influenced what was included in — and left out of — the Declaration of Independence
Enlightenment Political Philosopher: Irishman Rev. Dr. Francis Hutcheson
¶ Francis Hutcheson’s biography •• Source: Dictionary of Irish Biography
¶ Francis Hutcheson’s An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue (1725) •• Source: Online Library of Liberty •• Your focus #1: instances of the the word “alien” and words containing “alien” (e.g., “alienable”) •• Your focus #2: instances of the word “happiness”
¶ Francis Hutcheson’s A System of Moral Philosophy in Three Books (1755; published posthumously) •• Source: Online Library of Liberty •• Your focus #1: instances of the the word “alien” and words containing “alien” (e.g., “alienable”) •• Your focus #2: instances of the word “happiness”
¶ Slide deck of Dr. Keeley’s Francis Hutcheson presentation at Ireland’s National 1798 Rebellion Centre (mid-2026)
Keeley’s Written Lecture about the Enlightenment
¶ The Enlightenment and Romanticism: Reason, Feeling, and the Making of the Modern World • Part I: The Enlightenment