Ken Burns and Jeffrey Rosen: Chautauqua Institution Lecture Series

Celebrating the United States semiquincentennial, Chautauqua presents Week Six, “America at 250: In Partnership with the National Constitution Center and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.” The milestone anniversary offers an opportunity to survey the previous quarter millennium – how a collection of British colonies became the world’s pre-eminent constitutional democracy, with major successes, failures and continued struggles along the way – alongside world-renowned leaders in historical education. To begin this weeklong commemoration, Chautauqua welcomes Ken Burns and Jeffrey Rosen back to the Amphitheater stage for a two-day conversation on themes and threads from the pair’s latest projects: for Burns, the November 2025 PBS documentary “The American Revolution,” and for Rosen, his October 2025 book The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton and Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America.