National Constitution Center and ASU Debut Online Course on Happiness, Virtue, and the American Founding

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Constitution Center, in partnership with Arizona State University, today officially launched a new online course: What the Founders Meant by Happiness: A Journey Through Virtue and Character. The free, non-credit course guides learners through the philosophical foundations of the American experiment.

The course is self-paced, with no registration required. Use this link to explore the course content on the National Constitution Center's website.

"This course, based on my book The Pursuit of Happiness, invites learners into the moral vision of the American founding, with its emphasis on character, virtue, and self-government," said Jeffrey Rosen, National Constitution Center CEO Emeritus. "Through sustained, close reading of the Founders' own words, together with the classical and Enlightenment texts that shaped their personal and political thinking, the course explores why the Founders believed that personal self-government was necessary for political self-government. My mission at the NCC has been to create opportunities for deep, text-based reading and lifelong constitutional learning and I hope this course inspires people to slow down, read closely and continue to learn and grow."

Developed in collaboration with ASU's Principled Innovation, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and ASU EdPlus, each module explores a classical virtue—such as humility, resolution, temperance, or justice—through the lives of figures like George Washington, Phillis Wheatley, Abigail and John Adams, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln.

"At the National Constitution Center, we meet learners at many entry points, but our courses represent the deepest expression of our educational work, through close engagement with the Constitution and its history," said Julie Silverbook, National Constitution Center Vice President of Civic Education. "This course expands our growing suite of offerings by giving adults a clear and engaging way to explore how the founding generation understood the habits of self-government, virtue formation, and the responsibilities of citizenship. We are especially excited that this work will soon be adapted for middle and high school classrooms as part of the Center's forthcoming Constitution University, which will serve as the home for all lifelong learner, high school, and middle school courses moving forward. Our high school and middle school courses are developed alongside educator cohorts who help shape, pilot, and launch these courses."

"Principled innovation is one of our nine design aspirations or organizational values at ASU," said Ted Cross, Assistant Vice President, Principled Innovation at ASU. "We believe that it is not enough just to innovate, but rather that we must innovate by placing character and values at the center of our decisions and actions. This course brings to life the virtues embodied by the Founders, while acknowledging their many shortcomings. It conveys, an often-misunderstood message, what the writers of the Declaration really meant when they coined the phrase – the pursuit of happiness. Happiness is defined as seeking to be good, not just feel good. The examples of the Founders, both for good and not so good, help learners to see particular values in action and then practice them in their own lives."

About Arizona State University
Arizona State University, ranked the No. 1 "Most Innovative School" in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for 11 years in succession, has forged the model for a New American University by operating on the principles that learning is a personal and original journey for each student; that they thrive on experience and that the process of discovery cannot be bound by traditional academic disciplines. Through innovation and a commitment to accessibility, ASU has drawn pioneering researchers to its faculty even as it expands opportunities for qualified students. asu.edu/about 

About the National Constitution Center
The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia brings together people of all ages and perspectives, across America and around the world, to learn about, debate, and celebrate the greatest vision of human freedom in history, the U.S. Constitution. A private, nonprofit organization, the Center serves as America's leading platform for constitutional education and debate, fulfilling its congressional charter "to disseminate information about the U.S. Constitution on a nonpartisan basis." As the Museum of We the People, the Center brings the Constitution to life for visitors of all ages through interactive programs and exhibits. As America's Town Hall, the Center brings the leading conservative and liberal thought leaders together to debate the Constitution on all media platforms. As a Headquarters for Civic Education, the Center delivers the best educational programs and online resources that inspire citizens and engage all Americans in learning about the U.S. Constitution. For more information, call 215-409-6700 or visit constitutioncenter.org.

SOURCE National Constitution Center