A big shout-out to Peter Levine and Tufts’ Tisch College for putting on a great event for the Alliance for Civics in the Academy on Friday, Civics in Higher Education: A National Summit.
For a jolt of much-needed inspiration and hope as well as humor, I highly recommend watching this panel from Campus Compact’s recent conference in Chicago:
Hope, Institution Building & Possibilities for Civic Love: How might hope and love guide our civic lives? In this plenary session, Adam Bush, President of College Unbound, explores the Civic Love framework designed by the National Public Housing Museum with Stanley Howard and Renaldo Hudson. Both Stanley and Renaldo survived death row in Illinois and are now on the cusp of graduating from college.
This was also a great panel, featuring two very impressive students:
Advancing Higher Education’s Democratic Promise: Lumina Foundation President and CEO Jamie Merisotis makes the case for higher education’s role as an engine of economic mobility and a cornerstone of democratic life. Following the keynote, Jamie is joined by students Kaylei Voorhies and Morgan Bennett for a panel discussion moderated by Byron White.
Another look back at Civic Learning Week from Danielle Allen and Louise Dubé:
Civic Learning Week 2026: Believe in Bottom-Up Civic Renewal | by Louise Dubé, iCivics, and Danielle Allen, Democratic Knowledge Project
And for my fellow history nerds, a really interesting new look at democratic societies through urban planning (?):
Democracy Was Not Just a Greco-Roman Affair in the Ancient World: Researchers use archaeological-textual tool to uncover global spread of democracies—and autocracies—in early societies, led by Gary Feinman, the MacArthur Curator of Mesoamerican and Central American Anthropology at the Field Museum’s Negaunee Integrative Research Center.
A new look at the state of American democracy affirms the need for more civic education:
The Charles F. Kettering Foundation and Gallup have launched the Democracy for All Project, a landmark national survey and research initiative exploring how Americans perceive and experience democracy. Their new report “The People’s Role in American Democracy” draws from the views of more than 20,000 adults nationwide, examining citizen involvement, barriers to participation, the role of social media and information, and the impact of civic education.
New Report Shows Division in Americans’ Views of Democracy: One-third of Americans believe regular people don’t have power to make change in the country. | By Davi Schulman for US News and World Report
Americans Paying Attention But Struggling to Act, Major Democracy Study Finds | by Stacey Brown for the Washington Informer, April 7, on a study by Gallup and Charles F. Kettering Foundation
The Myth of Youth Apathy | by Jason Vadnos for the Kettering Foundation: “According to Is Democracy Working? the first report from the Kettering-Gallup Democracy for All Project, young adults today are more skeptical of democracy than older generations. But we must not mistake skepticism for apathy. My lived experiences and a wealth of research show that the idea of Gen Z being apathetic about democracy is nothing more than a myth.”
As public comments come in on the NAEP Civic Assessment Framework, Fox News reports that “American students’ lack of basic civics knowledge alarms education advocates: ‘The very republic that we have is at stake if we continue to produce citizens that don’t think critically about these very, very important issues,’ says Terry Stoops.”
Political wrangling over civic learning continues:
Protests and Cancellations Mar Trump Administration’s America 250 Tour: Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s tour marking the nation’s 250th anniversary has been criticized as partisan and divisive. | By Laura Meckler (Washington Post)
Protesters block Education Dept’s ‘History Rocks!’ tour in several states | Fox News video
The Department of Education’s Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization Committee meets this week to review higher education accreditation standards, following Trump’s executive order from last year. They’ll be looking at allegedly discriminatory practices and faculty viewpoint diversity, among other things. Inside Higher Ed covers the proposed changes here, and concerns here, and the Chronicle of Higher Ed reviews potential legal challenges here.
Secretary Linda McMahon - Vertex Partnership Academies - Bronx, NY, 7 March 2025, via Wikimedia Commons How a Civics School With a Conservative Bent Divided Its Supporters: A University of North Carolina program was intended to promote civil discourse and ideological diversity. Some of its early conservative supporters say it is doing the opposite. | By Stephanie Saul for the New York Times
This university’s ‘intellectual freedom’ center creates the problem it claims to solve | By Victor Ray for MS Now
But so do efforts to overcome divisions:
A Tale of Two Cities | by Rabbi Charles Savenor for The Fulcrum:
“At the very same moment in two different cities, two visions of society were unfolding, one seeking to build the civic bonds that hold us together, the other seeking to tear them apart. Watching students who did not know each other at 9 am exchanging their contact information just six hours later emphasized all of the positives Dickens mentions: hope, belief, and possibilities. However, the tsunami of hatred and violence flooding our country makes any advancement of societal cohesion feel illusory.”
Can Ideological Diversity Improve Campus Culture? Professor Eitan Hersh, the inaugural director for Tufts University’s new Center for Expanding Viewpoints in Higher Education, wants create a new campus atmosphere of “robust intellectual life, where norms of curiosity and goodwill reign.” | Terms of Engagement podcast from Harvard’s Ash Center
The Real Crisis on Campus Isn’t Civility, It’s Meaning | By Jed Atkins, Dean of the School of Civic Life and Leadership at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for RealClear Education
Stories of success in civic learning:
Functioning Democracies Requires Participation—Not Just At The Ballot Box, But In The Day-to-day Work Of Community Building | By Paul Adler, Chief Strategy Officer, Rand Commercial, for the Rockland County Business Journal
Children and young people’s assemblies: The next generation of democracy. What happens when young people are given the space, trust, and respect to rise to the occasion of democratic decision making? By Claudia Chwalisz for DemocracyNext
“Can You Tell Me How to Get to Democracy?”: Sesame Street as Civic Education | by the Civic Education Research Lab and Nadya Hayasi
Online democracy education can work, new evidence shows | by Anja Neundorf for Democracy Without Borders
A class project that took years -- and ended up on the President’s desk | By Steve Fennessy: “students in both classrooms rallied around a bold idea – to propose congressional legislation that would expedite the release of records from civil rights cold cases.”
Civic education in the states:
At Rutgers, Students Are Learning About Democracy in a Lab: One of the lab’s flagship initiatives is the Think and Do Tank, a yearlong program that brings together about 25 students from a range of majors and backgrounds to identify issues they care about and develop real-world solutions to address them. The paid program offers academic credit and emphasizes hands-on, applied work. The Lab also supports summer fellowships, projects for graduate students and faculty, dialogue work, a student showcase, and Solving Grand Challenges Month
We must take our civic literacy into our own hands | by philosophy student Tanya Narwekar for the Daily Texan, April 7
Philadelphia School District voter summit gives students hands-on civics lesson ahead of Pa. election: Young Philadelphians showed off their civics projects, participated in workshops about local elections and got hands-on experience with a voting machine. | By Ben Bennett for WHYY
How to Overcome Climate Anxiety: Maine’s youth co-authored legislation and got it passed! | by Kaelin Ferland for The Grassroots Connector about the Maine Youth for Climate Justice (MYCJ) coalition
Students step up for bill that would promote media literacy among the TikTok generation. The initiative is part of a broader voluntary program designed to recognize Minnesota high school students for excellence in civics courses and activities. | By Anais Froberg-Martinez and Justin Parnjan for MinnPost
Civic learning resources and opportunities:
Civic Values: Learning About Them, Living Them. Using Civic Profile, an interactive tool, Americans can better understand themselves and their communities—and perhaps build bridges. An interview with Chester Finn, Jr. from Stanford’s Hoover Institution.
With the support of More Perfect, The Civics Center is expanding its High School Voter Registration Data Portal—transforming it into a tool not just of information, but of action. For the first time, it will offer a clear picture of registration rates among 18-year-olds across all 50 states, with deeper county-level insights in 20 states, alongside demographic and policy context. | by John Bridgeland on Civic Moonshots
Documents of Democracy: Lessons in Liberty for We the People from the Center for Civic Education and the University of Florida’s Hamilton School of Classical and Civic Education:
Through intensive seminars, educators will engage in primary source analysis, dialogue-based inquiry, and model lessons to strengthen students’ understanding of the principles of liberty, limited government, and equality. The project will produce enduring resources—including a Primary Document Toolkit for America’s 250 and new Civics Snapshots video series—to reach teachers and students nationwide. Together, we are preparing the next generation to carry forward the ideals of American democracy.
The Jack Miller Center is hosting online summer reading groups in June as a part of their Founding Civics program: one on Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, one on American founders’ views on education, and one on Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, and a Post-Slavery America. JMC is also co-sponsoring lots of teacher institutes over the summer, for which applications are now open.
Is Your School a Fit for SLICE (Service-Learning in Civic Education)? The National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC) is partnering with public high schools across the U.S. to implement high-quality service-learning in at least three core classes over two school years — with full training and ongoing support provided throughout. A research team from the University of Minnesota will also conduct interviews and focus groups to capture your experience in depth. Sites are now being selected for the 2026–27 school year. Dates and Times: April 16, 9:30 AM or May 6, 12:30 PM
New publications:
What Does Effective Civic Education Look Like? New Evidence from the James Madison Legacy Project Expansion Research, by the Civic Education Research Lab
Forthcoming in May: Teaching America: Reflective Patriotism in Schools, College, and Culture by Paul Carrese for Cambridge University Press.
Upcoming Events:
The Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement (CLDE) Coalition will host a virtual forum on April 13, 2026, 3:30-5:15 PM Eastern to celebrate the release of For ALL College Students: The CLDE Guide for Generative Curriculum Planning.
What It Means to Be an American — and What It Requires of Us at This Moment | ASU+GSV Summit 2026 (San Diego) panel featuring Eboo Patel (Interfaith America), Ellen Dollarhide McCoy (Ronald Reagan Institute), Eric Liu (Citizen University), and Louise Dubé (iCivics), Monday, April 13, 2026, 2:10 pm-2:45 pm
Exploring Civil Rights History teacher workshop: Explore new primary source sets illuminating 19th-century Black civil rights. | Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Tuesdays, April 14 & 28, 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST hosted on Zoom
Political Control of General Education on College Campuses | Alliance for Higher Education, April 14, 1pm ET
Deepening Civic Learning through Community Connections | Civic Learning Institute Workshop, Wednesday, April 15, 7:30-9pm
Surveillance on the Quad: Privacy, Safety, and Protest | PEN America, April 16, 3pm ET
Purpose in Practice: Community-Engaged Teaching Across the Curriculum | California State University online conference, Fri, Apr 17, 2026 2:30 PM - 3:50 PM EDT
Historical Thinking and Democratic Citizenship | Alliance for Civics in the Academy webinar with Suzanne Marchand, Jeffrey Collins, Jonathan Gienapp, and Mary Clark on April 22, 2026, 9:00–10:00 am PT
National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC) Service-Learning Symposium: Uniting for Good: A Virtual Gathering, April 22, 10 AM – 4 PM CDT
Standing Up to Bigotry and Hate: Tools for Young People in a Complex World | Facing History and Ourselves, April 29, 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm EDT
News Deserts and Universities | Campus Compact and The Center for Community News (CCN) webinar, Thursday, May 7th @ 2:00 PM ET
2026 Civic Discourse on Campus Virtual Summit | NASPA—Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, May 8
Jack Miller Center 4th National Summit on Civic Education: Join organizations and philanthropists committed to reinvigorating American civic education with our nation’s founding principles. Pennsylvania, May 18-19