Liberty does belong to all Americans as University of Kentucky launches Celebrating 1776 series.

The University of Kentucky Department of History is presenting a Celebrating 1776 series to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, beginning with a free virtual conversation on Jan. 28 between historian Joseph Ellis and Dr. Amy Murrell Taylor about the founding and its contradictions over liberty.

The University of Kentucky's Department of History is organizing a Celebrating 1776 series of talks, lectures and events to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The series opens with a free virtual conversation on January 28 between Joseph Ellis and Dr. Amy Murrell Taylor and is hosted by Dr. Anastasia Curwood. The events aim to place the nation’s founding in historical context and to examine how ideas of liberty and natural rights have been both guiding principles and contested realities. The series will include additional lectures, film clips and courses open to the public. Key details: - The kickoff event on Jan. 28 features Joseph Ellis in conversation with Dr. Amy Murrell Taylor and is offered as a free virtual lecture, according to the article. - Joseph Ellis is described in the article as a leading scholar of the Revolutionary era and author of books including Founding Brothers and American Sphinx. - Hosts and speakers include Dr. Anastasia Curwood, Dr. Amy Murrell Taylor, Patrick Spero, and Dr. Mark Summers, with topics ranging from Kentucky’s Revolutionary-era history to screenings of the PBS film The American Revolution. - The series foregrounds the contrast between founding ideals of liberty and the historical reality that many people were excluded from those rights, a tension discussed in Joseph Ellis’s recent work and by the UK faculty. - The article states that most events are open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. Summary: The series is presented as an opportunity to revisit founding ideas and their global and domestic influence while also addressing the era’s contradictions, such as how slavery coexisted with declarations of natural rights. The next scheduled event is the Jan. 28 virtual conversation with Joseph Ellis and Dr. Amy Murrell Taylor, and further lectures, film screenings and courses are planned as part of the Celebrating 1776 program.