Center for Public Service
Armington 427
publicservice@upike.edu
(606) 218-4493

Explore the Great Questions of Democracy and Political Life

A selective, three-week summer seminar hosted at the University of Pikeville for rising high school students.

Dates: July 6 – 24 | Schedule TBA | Location: UPIKE Campus

The Allegheny Civic Fellowship is Eastern Kentucky’s flagship summer civics academy. Students will have the opportunity to spend three weeks strengthening their academic writing and critical thinking skills through reading foundational texts and discussing democracy, justice, and America’s ideals. Led by Yale graduates and UPIKE faculty, the program invites students to UPIKE’s campus for three weeks. Meals, books, and other costs are covered by the Fellowship at no charge for students. During the program, students will grapple with the great questions of Western civilization:

  • How do people live together in political communities? How should they?
  • What are the blessings and limitations of democracy?
  • How has America realized and struggled with the ideals of ancient philosophers?

Our Story: The Fellowship began in 2025 as a partnership between UPIKE’s Center for Public Service and the Yale undergraduate founders. The Fellowship invites students to explore traditions that shaped American democracy through small-group seminar discussions, interactive debate activities like Model Congress, and lectures from guest speakers. The program enables students to engage in college-level discussion, reading, and writing, and the program’s teachers support student fellows and alumni in their college application process. The Center for Public Service, which hosts the Fellowship, has been recognized as an Oasis of Excellence by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni together with civics and humanities programs at Yale, Harvard, and Princeton.

Program Details: The Summer 2026 Fellowship will run from July 6 – 24. Meals, books, and other costs will be provided at no cost to Fellows.

Jeffery Tyler Syck, Ph.D.

Program Director
(606) 218-4493

Jeffery Tyler Syck is an Assistant Professor of Politics and the founding director of the
Center for Public Service.
Dr. Syck’s academic research focuses on the development of American democracy and the
history of political ideologies. He is the editor of the forthcoming book A Republic of Virtue: The Political Essays of John Quincy Adams and is completing a second book manuscript entitled The Untold Origins of American Democracy. Dr. Syck’s essays and articles on politics, philosophy and history have appeared in a variety of publications including Law and Liberty, Persuasion and Pietas. He is also a contributing editor at Providence.
Dr. Syck received a Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Arts in Government from the University of Virginia. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Government and History from Morehead State University, where he graduated with honors. Dr. Syck is a native of Pike County, Kentucky, and is proud to work at a university his family has attended since its first
class of students.

Leo Greenberg

Undergraduate Tutor & Co-Founder

Leo Greenberg is studying History and Philosophy at Yale College and a member of the class of 2026. He completed Yale’s Directed Studies Humanities Intensive, led Yale’s largest organization for politics and public speaking, and has worked as a Sunday school teacher & writing tutor for high school students in New York City.

Brennan Columbia-Walsh

Undergraduate Tutor & Co-Founder

Brennan Columbia-Walsh is studying Political Science and English at Yale College as part of the Class of 2026. He completed Yale’s Directed Studies Humanities Intensive, led Yale’s largest organization for politics and public speaking, worked for the United States Congress, and has mentored high school students in New Jersey.

Our syllabus begins in Ancient Athens, the first democracy known to man, and stretches through
Early Modern England, the Founding, and modern America. Our goal is not to master thinkers or
ideas, but rather to introduce students to fundamental questions present across time and place.
American political culture is our ultimate focus, but we believe that in examining that story one has
much to gain from the traditions which gave rise to it.

Week Two: The American Promise

  • Declaration of Independence
  • Constitution & Bill of Rights
  • Federalist Papers (1, 9-10, 47, 51, 70)
  • Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
TimeMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFriday
9–10:15amLecture: DeclarationLecture: ConstitutionLecture: FederalismLecture: Democracy ChallengesDebate: Was the Revolution Revolutionary?
10:15–11:30amSeminarSeminarSeminarSeminar
11:30–12:15pmLunchLunchLunchLunchLunch
12:15–2pmSpeech LabModel UN SimulationArt DiscussionEssay LabGuest Speaker

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