Coastal Carolina University will hold its sixth annual Constitution Day celebration at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16 in the Recital Hall of the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts.

Paul Peterson, professor of politics and geography at the University, will give a talk titled, “Glenn Beck, The Tea Party Movement and the Continuing Significance of the Constitution.”

“Beck and the Tea Party Movement have brought a public visibility and endurance to the consideration of constitutional principles that are unique in my lifetime,” says Peterson. “Hundreds of thousands of people are discussing the Constitution in gatherings outside of courtrooms and classrooms. Beck and the Tea Party Movement have raised issues of great importance, issues that go back to the earliest days of the American Republic under the Constitution.”

Peterson will attempt to show the connection between recent debates and discussions and those that took place 220 years ago.

Peterson joined the University faculty in 1982 and has taught courses in American government and political philosophy. During the last three decades his writing has focused on the principles of the American founding. He has served on the South Carolina Humanities Council, as president of the South Carolina Political Science Association and was formerly on the Board of directors of the Center for the Study of the Constitution. Also, Peterson currently serves on the Horry County Board of Education.

For more information, contact Peterson in the University's Department of Politics and Geography at 843-349-2627.