I think the upstart GOP presidential candidate would get at least one question wrong. Here is College of the Holy Cross historian Ed O’Donnell: Here is the full context: See our take on Ramaswamy’s recent GOP debate performance here. George […]
civics
“…the only way to reboot civic learning is if we adults can name and shake our addiction: It’s hate, rage and division.”
Here is Harvard political scientist Danielle Allen at The Washington Post: New national educational test results arrived this month — this time for civics — and again the news is bleak. We all know the storyline. The pandemic hit hard. Students lost […]
What is the Civics Secures Democracy Act?
James F. O’Connor, the president of the Ohio Council for the Social Studies, explains in a piece at the Cincinnati Inquirer: A famous tale about Benjamin Franklin goes as follows: Franklin was walking out of Independence Hall after the Constitutional […]
How Hillsdale College, the “champion of American exceptionalism,” is shaping civics education in Tennessee
In November 2020, then president Donald Trump announced his 1776 Commission, a commission charged with delivering a conservative alternative to The New York Times 1619 Project. There were no American historians on the commission, but there was plenty of room […]
For the first time in American history, advocates of patriotic education are claiming their curriculum is based on fact
This is a fascinating essay by Timothy Messer-Kruse of Bowling Green State University. It covers Josh Hawley’s “Love America Act” and Hillsdale College’s 1776 Curriculum. For most of the last two centuries, patriotic schooling was not a partisan issue. Both […]
Museums across the country participate in the “Civic Season”
Lila Thulin of Smithsonianmag.com reports on this new initiative. Here is a taste of her piece: …Civic Season, a three-week period that stretches from Flag Day on June 14 through the Fourth of July, and includes Juneteenth and Pride Month, […]
Department of Education proposes “priorities” for American History and Civics programs
You can read the document here. These priorities may influence who gets federal money for American history and civics programs and who does not. The Department is soliciting comments on these proposed priorities. The American History and Civics Education programs […]
Is it time to bring back “School House Rock?”
I learned the preamble to the United States Constitution from watching School House Rock on Saturday mornings. (I often break into the “The Preamble” song when I cover the Constitution in my lectures). Historian Paul Ringel wants to revise the […]