From Text to Artifact: Teaching the Constitution in the Renovated Posner Center
Associate Professor of History Scott Sandage is no stranger to the Carnegie Mellon University Special Collections. For several years now, he’s used the resources in the collections — specifically a rare printing of the U.S. Bill of Rights, one of only five extant copies — as a tool to help students engage more deeply in his course “U.S. Constitution and the Presidency.” Sandage’s class examines specific powers granted to the president by the Constitution, and how presidents like Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt expanded the powers of the presidency. The Bill of Rights is central to the class. But with the reopening of the newly renovated Posner Center in fall 2025, the experience of teaching — and learning — with Special Collections has taken on new depth. The updated space enabled Sandage to build a layered, immersive experience — one that brought students back multiple times to learn from experts, examine rare materials up close, and actively debate the Constitution’s meaning.
Related: Special Collections, Events and Exhibits, Using the Libraries