Dr. Brittney Edmonds, assistant professor of African American Studies, has been awarded the inaugural $50,000 Paul Martin Wolff Center seed grant. Edmonds joins a cross-disciplinary UW-Madison research team. Their project, “1776/2026: The Declaration at 250,” will launch a year-long series of campus events and public conversations offering historical, literary, rhetorical, and political-theoretical interpretations of what this document means a quarter millennium after its signing.
Edmonds joins Dr. Russ Castronovo, Dr. Michelle Schwarze, Daniel Kapust, and Dr. Allison Prasch in leading a project that interrogates the contested and evolving meanings and legacies of the Declaration. Programming will be organized around seven keywords drawn directly from the Declaration—tyranny, rights, equal, public good, insurrections, providence, and happiness—each serving as an entry point for examining the Declaration’s influence across law, literature, history, and politics.
Beginning in Fall 2026, “1776/2026” will convene faculty, guest scholars, and community partners for lectures, panels, and workshops. We congratulate Dr. Edmonds and her team.