Podcasts about icivics

Generations of Americans were not taught how to live in a democracy. That, ultimately, is what civic education is about. So what happens when we lose that knowledge? Where are we today and why should we care? Where do we go from here?In partnership with iCivics we're bringing you conversations with the people who are paying attention and doing something about it. Civics can have a future in this democracy -- in fact, civics is how this democracy will have a future.  CLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more!To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!

Two years ago today, we attended Civic Learning Week and produced an episode on the state of civics education in the US. We heard some good things and some frustrating things. Today we're getting an update on civics education with Emma Humphries from iCivics, hearing some student audio submissions from our friends at the Youth Media Challenge, and getting advice on how students can make change with Cheryl Cook-Kallio.Click here to livestream the National Forum for Civics Learning Week.Click here to listen to our episodes on civics education in the US.Click here to read the full State of Young People report published by America's Promise Alliance.And finally, click here to check out the work students are producing (and submit your own!) for KQED's Youth Media Challenge. Want our new "Civics is my cup of tea" mug? CLICK HERE TO DONATE AND GET YOURS!CLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro.Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it!

In this episode, IADC Speaks Host Chris Drewry (IADC Foundation Board Member; Drewry Simmons Vornehm, LLP) is joined by Ed Sledge IV (IADC Foundation President; Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP), Mya Baker (Chief Learning Services Officer, iCivics), and Natacha Scott (Director of Educator Engagement, iCivics) to shine a light on iCivics, a non-profit founded by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in 2009. iCivics has transformed the landscape of civic education by providing innovative games and rich lesson plans that engage more than 9 million students annually.The IADC Foundation has been proud to support iCivics in its mission to improve access to quality civic education and promote advocacy. Tune in as we explore iCivics' impactful resources and discuss an exciting opportunity at our Midyear Meeting: a hands-on training session where attendees can learn how to bring these tools back to their communities and continue fostering a strong understanding of the rule of law.

As the weather heats up, so does the pace of Supreme Court decisions. On our season 5 finale of Respecting Religion, Amanda and Holly recap some recent decisions and discuss what we can expect in the next month. Religion is still at play in several cases, even if religious legal statutes aren't the questions being considered. Plus, they look at some recent statements from Supreme Court justices during extracurricular activities and share what those reveal about the justices themselves and the work at the Court, including a rare – and surprising – statement one justice gave directly to the media.    SHOW NOTES Segment 1 (starting at 00:51): Recent Supreme Court actions Amanda and Holly discussed the two Supreme Court cases dealing with abortion rights in episode 28 of this season: Conscience protections in SCOTUS abortion cases Click here to read the Washington Post article tracking big cases this Supreme Court term. The case upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is called Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, Limited. Amanda and Holly mentioned two articles about it: Amy Howe's piece for SCOTUSblog: Supreme Court lets CFPB funding stand Steve Vladeck's piece for One First: How to describe *this* Court The Louisiana voting map decision comes from the consolidated cases of Robinson v. Callais and Landry v. Callais.  Read Amy Howe's coverage for SCOTUSblog: Court allows Louisiana to move forward with two majority-Black districts Read Steve Vladeck's piece for One First: Louisiana's Congressional Map Comes Back to the Court   Segment 2 (starting at 09:07): Justices on the stump: Shocking statements and unlikely pairings Amanda and Holly mentioned recent reporting on appearances by justices of the Supreme Court. The articles they  referred to are: Justice Kavanaugh on the Presidency, the Court and Taylor Swift by Adam Liptak for The New York Times Justice Thomas Denounces ‘the Nastiness and the Lies' Faced by His Family by Abbie VanSickle for The New York Times Justice Alito Warns of Threats to Freedom of Speech and Religion by Adam Liptak for The New York Times The Supreme Court seems bitterly divided. Two justices say otherwise. by Ann E. Marimow for The Washington Post According to reports discussed in this show, Justice Kavanaugh mentioned that the school prayer cases are settled law. School District of Abington Township v. Schempp (1963) and Engel v. Vitale (1962) are commonly called the “school prayer cases,” with the decisions in those cases finding government-sponsored religious exercises unconstitutional in public schools, providing protection for the religious liberty rights of all students. Learn more in this 2013 piece by Holly Hollman.  Amanda and Holly discussed this New York Times story by Jodi Kantor that the American flag outside of Justice Samuel Alito's home was flown upside down in the days before the inauguration of President Joe Biden. After we recorded this episode, new reporting revealed Justice Alito's summer house displayed the “Appeal to Heaven” flag in 2023. Read more in this New York Times story by Jodi Kantor, Aric Toler, and Julie Tate: Another Provocative Flag Was Flown at Another Alito Home To watch the iCivics event featuring Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, visit this C-SPAN link.   Segment 3 (starting 26:58): A reading recommendation Amanda's book is called How to End Christian Nationalism, and it will be released October 22 from Broadleaf Books. Click here for links to pre-order the book. Learn more about the work of the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign by visiting the website. Respecting Religion is made possible by BJC's generous donors. You can support these conversations with a gift to BJC.

Listen to our full, two-part series from 2023 on the history of civics education, and the current legal and ideological debates around social studies happening in across the country today.  Walking us through the past, present, and future of social studies and civic education are Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, and Adam Laats, Historian and Professor of Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership at Binghamton University.  We also hear from Louise Dube, Executive Director of iCivics and member of the Implementation Consortium at Educating for American Democracy, Justin Reich, Director at MIT Teaching Systems Lab and host of the TeachLab podcast, and CherylAnne Amendola,  Department Chair and teacher at Montclair Kimberly Academy and host of the podcast Teaching History Her Way.

What's on my Mind: The end of evolution: News: It's the culture stupid:https://thehill.com/opinion/4445662-for-maga-its-the-culture-stupid/ Conversations with an Atheist: Undeniable correlation:https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-secular-life/201411/why-education-corrodes-religious-faithClosing:   Black pays: https://www.blackenterprise.com/hbcus-highest-financial-payoffs-for-black-graduates/Feedback: Marcia: I talk to people everywhere I go and ask them to vote but they're all shaking their heads but in case anyone wants to encourage their children or themselves there's some video games one can play that teach you about voting and other Civic duties Icivics.org it's geared for every state so every state will get a little bit different thing

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the founder of iCivics, said, "The practice of democracy is not passed down through the gene pool. It must be taught and learned by each new generation." It is the continuing mission of the iCivics organization and its current Chief Executive Officer, Louise Dubé, to ensure that future generations of Americans receive meaningful, high-quality, non-partisan civics education through the 145,000 educators and 9 million students in all 50 states served through this free-to-the-public program. Civics education is a cornerstone of learning in the United States. It is the curriculum mortar that helps to hold our democracy together. Students learn the principles of collaboration to form a more perfect union from a very early age in the school system. As they advance in other skills, so should their skills in civics responsibilities and their participatory understanding of the rights and healthy influence within a democratic society. By the time a young person is of voting age in America, we hope that they feel capable of being actively engaged in the formation of societal order. Our nation's continuation and ongoing commitment to its founding principles depends on the learnings of each successive generation. Join us in this very important interview to insure our future! Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julie Silverbrook - Senior Director of Partnerships and Constitutional Scholar in Residence at iCivics - Talks with Us about iCivics, the Importance of Civics Education, & National Civics Day. This is episode 632 of Teaching Learning Leading K12. Julie serves as Senior Director of Partnerships and Constitutional Scholar in Residence at iCivics. She served as Executive Director of The Constitutional Sources Project (ConSource) in Washington, DC, from 2012-2020. She regularly writes and lectures on the United States Constitution and its history, and the importance of civic education to the health of the American republic. Julie has nearly a decade of experience in growth projects for non-profit organizations, cultivating partnerships, fundraising, coalition-building, and business development and management. She holds a J.D. from the William & Mary Law School, where she received the National Association of Women Lawyers Award and the Thurgood Marshall Award and served as a Senior Articles Editor on the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal. She graduated Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa from The George Washington University with a B.A. in Political Science. Upon graduation, she was awarded the GW Columbian College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Scholar Award, the highest academic award given to a student in the arts and sciences college.   About iCivics: iCivics is a nonprofit organization working to inspire lifelong civic engagement by providing high-quality and engaging civics resources and advocating for civic education through its CivXNow Coalition of 295 organizational members. Founded by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to develop free educational video games and lessons that teach young Americans to be knowledgeable, curious, and engaged in civic life, iCivics is the country's largest provider of civic education content and is currently used by up to 145,000 educators and 9 million students annually. All of its resources are free, nonpartisan, and available online at icivics.org. What an awesome conversation! So much to learn and celebrate! Before you go... Could you do me a favor? Please go to my website at https://www.stevenmiletto.com/reviews/ or open the podcast app that you are listening to me on, and would you rate and review the podcast? That would be so cool. Thanks! If you are listening on Apple Podcasts on your phone, go to the logo - click so that you are on the main page with a listing of the episodes for my podcast and scroll to the bottom. There you will see a place to rate and review. Could you review me? That would be so cool. Thank you! Hey, I've got another favor...could you share the podcast with one of your friends, colleagues, and family members? Hmmm? What do you think? Thank you! You are AWESOME! Thanks so much! Connect & Learn More: https://www.icivics.org/ https://civxnow.org/ https://www.facebook.com/icivics https://twitter.com/icivics https://www.youtube.com/user/icivics https://www.linkedin.com/company/icivics/ https://nationalcivicsday.info/ https://www.facebook.com/NationalCivicsDay/ https://www.instagram.com/nationalcivicsday Length - 38:04

As the nation grieves the passing of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, she is remembered not just for her groundbreaking work within the Court, but also as a dedicated and passionate civic educator. This week host Elisa is joined by Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker and Suzanne Spaulding to discuss Justice O'Connor's legacy, her impact on civics education, and how her influence inside and outside of the Court has shaped American society. Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker is former General Counsel of the National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency: https://www.csis.org/people/elizabeth-rindskopf-parker Suzanne Spaulding is former Undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security: https://www.csis.org/people/suzanne-spaulding References: The O'Connor Institute page on Civics Education: https://oconnorinstitute.org/civics-education/ iCivics website: https://www.icivics.org/our-founder Treisman, Rachel. “Sandra Day O'Connor's Legacy Extends Far beyond the Supreme Court, Her Son Says.” NPR, NPR, 19 Dec. 2023: www.npr.org/2023/12/19/1220093787/sandra-day-oconnor-funeral-legacy.

On this day in legal history, December 4th, in 1969, a significant and controversial event in the history of law enforcement and civil rights occurred in Chicago, Illinois. Fred Hampton, a charismatic leader of the Black Panther Party, and fellow Panther Mark Clark were tragically killed during a predawn raid by a special tactical unit of the Cook County, Illinois, State's Attorney's Office, alongside the Chicago Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This incident not only sparked widespread outrage but also raised profound legal and ethical questions about law enforcement practices.The raid was ostensibly conducted to search for illegal weapons. However, it later emerged that the FBI, under J. Edgar Hoover's COINTELPRO operation, had specifically targeted the Black Panther Party as part of a broader effort to disrupt and discredit radical political organizations. The details of the raid revealed a deeply troubling scenario: most of the nearly 100 shots fired came from law enforcement, while evidence suggested that only one shot was fired by the Panthers.Fred Hampton, who was only 21 years old, had been rapidly rising as a prominent and influential figure in the Black Panther Party. Known for his powerful oratory and organizing skills, Hampton was instrumental in brokering a nonaggression pact among Chicago's powerful street gangs and was actively involved in developing community service programs.The deaths of Hampton and Clark led to numerous lawsuits and legal actions. In 1970, a federal grand jury concluded that the raid was "ill-conceived" and resulted in "unjustified use of excessive force." Subsequent civil suits led to a settlement in 1982, where the City of Chicago, Cook County, and the federal government agreed to pay $1.85 million to the survivors and the families of Hampton and Clark.This incident remains a stark reminder of the tensions between law enforcement and civil rights, highlighting issues of police brutality, racial injustice, and the limits of lawful governmental action. It has since become a significant case study in law schools and criminal justice programs, examining the balance between law enforcement objectives and the protection of civil liberties.Sandra Day O'Connor, a towering figure in American jurisprudence, passed away at 93 on December 1, 2023. Born on March 26, 1930, O'Connor grew up on her family's Arizona ranch, a challenging environment that instilled in her a strong work ethic. Graduating high school at 16, she attended Stanford University, and at the age of 19, entered Stanford Law School, where she was one of only five women in her class. Despite graduating near the top of her class, O'Connor faced gender-based employment barriers, eventually finding work in the San Mateo County, California, county attorney's office.Her legal career was marked by several firsts: she was the first woman to lead a state senate as Arizona Senate majority leader in 1973, and in 1981, she broke centuries-old barriers as the first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan, she was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. During her tenure, O'Connor was known for her pragmatic approach and became a pivotal vote on contentious issues, including preserving a woman's right to abortion and upholding affirmative action on college campuses. Her philosophy was one of incremental change, avoiding sweeping pronouncements in favor of building consensus. Over time, her views evolved, reflecting a growing liberal inclination, especially evident in her critical alliance to affirm Roe v. Wade's central holding in 1992.O'Connor's impact went beyond court rulings. She was an advocate for breast cancer awareness and Alzheimer's research, the latter influenced by her husband's diagnosis. Post-retirement, she focused on civics education, founding iCivics to provide free online resources. In 2009, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.Justice O'Connor's legacy is profound. She demonstrated that the judiciary is not just a place for legal acumen but also for humanity, empathy, and a deep understanding of the evolving societal landscape. Her passing marks the end of an era, but her influence on the legal profession and the lives of Americans will endure for generations.Former US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor dead at 93 | ReutersThe U.S. Supreme Court is set to review the legality of Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy settlement, which has been challenged by President Joe Biden's administration. The settlement involves Purdue's wealthy Sackler family owners, who would receive legal immunity in exchange for paying up to $6 billion to settle lawsuits related to the opioid crisis. This deal was initially upheld by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but the Biden administration contends it could set a precedent for wealthy individuals and corporations to evade mass-tort liability through bankruptcy.The central legal question is whether U.S. bankruptcy law allows for Purdue's restructuring to include legal protections for the Sacklers, who haven't filed for personal bankruptcy. Purdue filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019, largely due to lawsuits alleging that its OxyContin medication fueled the opioid epidemic, causing over half a million U.S. overdose deaths in two decades. The proposed settlement, approved by a U.S. bankruptcy judge in 2021, is estimated to provide $10 billion in value to creditors, including governments, hospitals, and individual victims.While the Biden administration and eight states initially challenged the settlement, all states dropped their opposition after the Sacklers increased their contribution to the settlement fund. The 2nd Circuit ruled that allowing lawsuits against the Sacklers would undermine Purdue's bankruptcy settlement. The Sackler family, while denying wrongdoing, expressed regret about OxyContin's role in the opioid crisis. The administration argues that the settlement is an abuse of bankruptcy protections and alleges that the Sacklers withdrew $11 billion from Purdue before agreeing to the $6 billion settlement. Despite opposition from the administration, over 60,000 personal injury claimants support the settlement and the Sacklers' legal immunity, emphasizing the need for the funds in addressing the opioid crisis.US Supreme Court set to review Purdue Pharma bankruptcy settlementBayer is currently facing heightened scrutiny as the U.S. Supreme Court reviews a significant case involving its Roundup weedkiller, amid mounting legal challenges and investor pressure. This attention comes after a series of recent trial losses, where plaintiffs successfully argued that Roundup causes cancer, overturning Bayer's previous nine-trial winning streak. The ongoing Philadelphia trial, involving Pennsylvania resident Kelly Martel's claim of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma from Roundup use, is particularly critical in determining the trend of these litigations.Key factors influencing the trial outcomes include judicial decisions allowing jurors to consider regulatory issues and a shift in plaintiffs' strategy focusing on chemicals in Roundup besides glyphosate, its active ingredient. Bayer, which acquired Roundup through its $63 billion purchase of Monsanto in 2018, maintains the product's safety but faces about 50,000 lawsuits. In 2020, Bayer agreed to a $9.6 billion settlement for existing lawsuits but couldn't cover future claims.Bayer's recent losses include a $1.56 billion verdict, which it plans to appeal. The company attributes these losses to what it perceives as improper evidence presented in court, particularly concerning regulatory rulings on glyphosate. However, plaintiffs' lawyers argue that new studies support the cancer link and have recently emphasized the presence of other toxins in Roundup, enhancing its cancer-causing potential.As more trials are expected in 2024, Bayer remains selective in settlements, reassuring investors of its financial reserves for litigation. The outcome of Martel's case, expected to be decided soon, could further influence the legal landscape for Bayer and its handling of Roundup-related lawsuits.As Bayer confronts mounting Roundup losses, all eyes on Philadelphia trial | ReutersThe U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to hear oral arguments in Moore v. United States, a pivotal tax-law case with potentially wide-ranging implications. The case centers on the constitutionality of the mandatory repatriation tax imposed by the 2017 tax law, which taxes companies' past foreign earnings. Charles and Kathleen Moore, a retired couple, are challenging this tax over a $14,729 tax bill related to their investment in an Indian company. Their case raises the question of whether income must be "realized" to be taxed, a decision that could impact future wealth taxes and existing tax provisions.Tax experts, including academics and practitioners, are concerned that a ruling in the Moores' favor could undermine large sections of the U.S. tax code, potentially affecting taxes based on unrealized income. This includes international taxes designed to combat profit-shifting and taxes on sophisticated investments. At the state level, such a ruling could erode tax bases, as many states use federal adjusted gross income as a starting point for their tax calculations.The case's outcome could necessitate new legislation and regulation, provoke a surge in litigation, and destabilize state tax systems. Additionally, the case is being closely watched for its potential impact on the U.S.'s participation in the OECD's new 15% global minimum tax. With the Supreme Court's decision expected by June, the tax world is bracing for the potential consequences of this landmark case.Tax World Is Nervous as Court Arguments in Moore Case Approach Get full access to Minimum Competence - Daily Legal News Podcast at www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

I welcome Jennifer Javornik, the Chief Partnerships Officer at Filament Games on this 60th episode. Learn about her current role, the company's connection with UW Madison, and how she transitioned from a traditional IT role into the game industry. Hear about being in improv comedy, learning to be less formal, and how the industry embraces being yourself. We then share advice about starting out, having content to show, testing, and being able to hit the ground running.  Hear about the intricacies of doing client work, opportunities to work in marketing, and the importance of being flexible in this industry. We then get into teamwork, communication skills, and one of her favorite projects, iCivics.org. Learn about industry consolidation concerns, questions about the future, supporting VR/AR/MR, and hype cycles. Our discussion then pivots to a funny story about Minecraft, the NY Times Spelling Bee, and spending time away from games outside of work. As we wrap up, hear about some unusual projects she's worked on for dairy farmers and pediatric MRIs to help kids, taking care of yourself, keeping your skills current, and the upcoming M+DEV 2023 conference in Madison, WI. Bio: Jennifer Javornik is a video game executive who specializes in partnerships, business development, revenue growth, and entrepreneurship. She is currently the Chief Partnerships Officer for Filament Games, a video game studio that specializes in digital games, simulations, VR and AR experiences for positive impact. She is also a founding member and former Executive Director of the Wisconsin Games Alliance and currently serves on the Unity Global Education Board. Show Links: * What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy - Amazon * iCivics.org - website * Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard - The Verge * Magic Leap - website * M+DEV 2023: Nov. 10, 2023 - website Connect with Links: * Jennifer Javornik - LinkedIn * Filament Games - website Game Dev Advice Links:  * Patreon - please support the the show if you find it useful or interesting so new episodes can keep coming out * website * Twitter * email: info@gamedevadvice.com * Game Dev Advice hotline: (224) 484-7733 * Level Ex Careers website * Subscribe and go to the website for full show notes with links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today is the second part in our series about the state of civic education in the US. We talk about how teachers choose what to teach, so-called "divisive concepts laws," and how we can approach disagreements without falling prey to "division actors."This episode features Louise Dube, Executive Director of iCivics and member of the Implementation Consortium at Educating for American DemocracyJustin Reich, Director at MIT Teaching Systems Lab and host of the TeachLab podcastCherylAnne Amendola,  Department Chair and teacher at Montclair Kimberly Academy and host of the podcast Teaching History Her Way Click here to see a map of all the states that have passed legislation limiting what teachers can say regarding race, sex, gender, etc. Click here to see the Interactive Roadmap by Educating for American Democracy.And while we're throwing out links, click here to support our show, it means the world to us. 

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Ashley Berner about the importance of pluralism in education, how different countries think about pluralism in education, and more. Dr. Ashley Rogers Berner Ashley Berner is Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and Associate Professor of Education. She served previously as the Deputy Director of the CUNY Institute for Education Policy and as an administrator at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia. Palgrave MacMillan released Pluralism and American Public Education: No One Way to School (2017), and Dr. Berner has published articles, book chapters, and op-eds on citizenship formation, academic outcomes, pluralism, and the political theories of education in different national contexts. She led the design of the Institute's School Culture 360™ and ELA and Social Studies Knowledge Maps™. Her earlier teaching experience took place in a Jewish pre-school, an Episcopal secondary school, and an open university in Louisiana; she currently advises doctoral students and teaches in the master's program at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Berner represents the Institute's work across the country and consults regularly with international, federal, and state-level agencies, non-governmental organizations, and school systems. She held a five-year fellowship at the Center for the Study of Law & Religion at Emory University School of Law and currently serves as an advisor to iCivics and the Educating for American Democracy project. Dr. Berner holds degrees from Davidson College (Honors A.B.) and from Oxford University (M.Litt. and D.Phil. in Modern History). Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

In this episode, your hosts Brandon and Dan have a conversation with Carrie Ray-Hill, the Senior Director of Digital Learning at iCivics. If you've been keeping up with Filament Games since the beginning, you'll know our work and friendship with the folks at iCivics goes way back! Listen on to learn how the pandemic and recent trends in civics learning have informed iCivics' approach, the strategy behind iCivics games, and so much more.

How do we teach students about civics and generate excitement around civic engagement in the 21st century?  Like our ever-evolving American experiment, we try new tools.  iCivics leverages a suite of interactive video games that put students at the center of the educational action. By the time Justice O'Connor retired from the Supreme Court, she had grown increasingly concerned about the lack of understanding, awareness, and appreciation of the basic tenets of democracy and civic engagement during her time on the Court.  In 2009, she founded iCivics and worked with a team of educators and engineers to reimagine and reinvigorate civics education through gaming.  iCivics has become the nation's premier non-profit civic education provider of high-quality, non-partisan, engaging, and FREE resources to more than 9 million students annually in all 50 states. Today, we are honored to speak with Louise Dubé, the Executive Director of iCivics.  Louise was born and raised in Quebec, Canada.  After earning a law degree from McGill University in Montreal, she came to the US and earned an MBA from Yale.  She became a US citizen.  Working in the criminal justice system in New York in the 1990s, Louise co-founded CASES, a mentoring and skills program for young offenders that offered an alternative to incarceration.  This experience ignited in Louise a passion for the transformative power of education, particularly the use of rapidly evolving technology to deliver memorable content.  She and her team at iCivics are committed to activating our young citizens, preparing them to solve problems and engage in challenging but respectful debate in their communities.   Episode Links and Resources:iCivicsLouise Dube BioCivXNow CoalitionCivics Secures Democracy ActA Supreme Court Pioneer, Now Making Her Mark on Video Games, New York Times, March 27, 2016New Poll Shows Strong Support for Civic Education Across Party Lines, Cision PR Newswire, October 27, 2022Support this podcast by subscribing and reviewing!Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Audio Blocks.Technical Podcast Support by: Jon Keur at Wayfare Recording Co.© 2023 Silver Linings Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Judge Michael Warren has been focused on the state of America even before he and his ten-year-old daughter founded Patriot Week. The author of America's Survival Guide and the host of the podcast Patriot Lessons, Judge Warren ventures to the ranch to talk about where America might be headed, why learning civics is crucial to our country's future, and how we can renew and reclaim our spirit while preserving our democracy. 

Hi Friends. It's Tim Villegas, and for this week, we are switching things up a bit with a feed drop. What's a feed drop, you ask? Well, let me tell you. It's where we share a podcast episode made by someone else that we think is great with you right here in our podcast feed. As Think Inclusive listeners, we know that building bridges is important to you, and that is why we think you are going to appreciate this episode. This week we are featuring the Democracy Works podcast, and in this episode, they are talking about civics education in the US. Chris Beem, Candis Watts Smith and Jenna Spinelle discuss the importance of civic learning with Emma Humphreys of iCivics and Ashley Berner of Johns Hopkins. They think that civics education is important because it teaches students about how government works and how they can participate in decision-making. They also believe that schools should teach controversial topics and provide students with the skills to handle them. The episode also discusses the knowledge and skills needed for civic learning, such as history, political theory, economics, and geography. Emma and Ashley suggest that schools need more resources and flexibility to teach civic learning effectively. And now, please enjoy the Democracy Works Podcast.Episode show notes + transcript: https://www.democracyworkspodcast.com/civic-learning-week/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPTSpeaker1: [00:00:09] Elle and Miriam are two Black homeschooling moms embarking on a self-defining journey. Listen in on conversations that will encourage you to be your authentic self while uplifting your spirit and motivating your inherent potential. They're defining what culture is for their families and want you to do the same. Bring your children along too, so they can meet the cleverly cultured kids. They're all for teaching the babies while they're young, adapting to the challenges of parenting, homeschooling, and being willing to learn the lessons that the children have to offer. It's all about uplifting one another and reclaiming your innate greatness.Speaker2: [00:01:10] Hello. Hello. Hello. Welcome back to another episode of the cleverly changing podcast. I am one of your co-hosts, Miriam. I am an urban farmer, a homeschooling mom of four. And an all-around creative genius. Okay. I don't know about genius, but that's okay. I'm going to do my best to try to stay focused. Elle usually keeps me on track. And now today, it's my job to keep myself on track. Let's see how this goes. Today I'm going to take you all on a short hop, skip and a jump through using free resources. Every homeschooler loves a good free resource. I mean, anything from YouTube to worksheets to things that are outside the house. Museums and things. Why? Because they're free. And who doesn't appreciate free?Speaker2: [00:02:31] Now, let's go ahead and think about how we can best utilize things that are free. Now, it's very, very, very important to understand that we get what you pay for.Speaker2: [00:02:52] Or don't pay for.Speaker2: [00:02:55] In some instances. So, when we're thinking about what resources that we want to use that are free. It would be in our best interest to see how that free resource would fit into our plan, whether it's a lesson plan, whether it's a broad plan for learning something, or even if it's supposed to be something. Just fun. Right? There's a way to weave it into what we're doing. And just because it's free doesn't mean it's going to be good. And just because it's free doesn't mean it's going to be helpful. So we have to think about these. Types of things when we're making use of the freebies. Now, I know that when I first started, I was like, I'm going to use everything free. I'm not paying for anything. I mean, it's possible it's doable, but you kind of miss out on certain things. So like around here in the Maryland, DC, Virginia areas, there are lots of things to do. There are lots of free things to do. But there are also discounted things to do too. Don't forget about the discounted things, folks. I know we're talking about free resources, but I just wanted to throw that in there. You know, a $15 homeschool day at the Baltimore Aquarium, that's a great deal. Let's not skip out on that. Well, I mean, you know, you don't want to skip out on some things that don't fall under the overarching theme of I'm going to homeschool for free guys, so, you know, do what you want to do. Do what works for you and your family.Speaker2: [00:04:58] Do what feels comfortable, what feels good, and what's going to further your educational goals for your family. That's the most important thing here. So let's get back to Free 99. See what I'm saying when I say I tend to go off a little bit. I'm trying, I'm trying. I'm trying to follow my notes, but that's no fun. Okay, so where are we with our free resources? I know we've talked about some of these before, but for those who are new who have not listened to Elle and I before, or who haven't gotten back to some of those previous episodes where we discussed things that you can utilize for free, I want to take you back. I'm also going to give you some newbies. I hope that newbies, maybe you've heard of them before, I don't know, but I'm going to share them to remind you or to put you on any hook. So let's talk about things that are outside the house first. Museums. Now, not every museum is free, but tons of them are. And even some of the ones that were not free are now offering free virtual visits. And that's great. That's one of the I guess I'll say cool things about the pandemic, right? A lot of things. A lot of entities, a lot of places, organizations, what have you. They've made this shift to being available virtually so you can peruse some of these museum collections online in the comfort of your home and the comfort of your car wherever, and see all of the cool things you can still get the little blurb that goes with it about whatever the piece is, who created it, how it got to be in the museum, all that kind of stuff.Speaker2: [00:07:19] So museums are, you know, easily one of the coolest. I'm a nerd—one of the coolest freebies you can find. The Smithsonian, I believe, has a free virtual learning center. I believe it's called Smithsonian Learning Center. You can check that out. And you can find a large range of topics from history to art too, you know, the Smithsonian. They got it all. You could also check with your National Park Service. So in addition to the national parks, you've got your regional parks. And within regional parks, there's often a lot more than one would think would be available. You can find wildlife preserves, nature refuges, and nature refuges. You can find themed playgrounds. You can find fishing opportunities. There's lots of things in the parks. Botanical gardens. And a lot of times, they're free or very, very minimally priced. There's a place in Maryland. It's called Brookside Gardens. My parents used to take me there all the time when I was a kid, and it was so much fun. So many flowers, so many open spaces, so many trees, so many shrubs. It's nice. And I don't think Brookside Garden charges. So you could find loads of places like these around the country, wherever you are, that have these sorts of offerings.Speaker2: [00:09:44] Now, the other suggestion that is no way. Last place, ask around. There are tons of hidden gems right under your nose. Ask around. What are you all do for fun? Where have you been that you thought was really interesting? You know, you could post these kinds of questions on your social media feed for your friends and family, and you'd be surprised at some of the responses, things you didn't even know existed. So don't be afraid to leverage your own personal network to find out what kinds of things are going on, where you can go, what you can do—the newspapers, you know, those little stands that are near the exit of your grocery store. There you go. They're free. Pick them up, and flip through those pages. You'll probably find a couple of events that are going on in your area that you can get to that are free, low cost, and full cost. But you're going to find some things that you and your family just might be interested in. Let's see. Oh, volunteer work. Not only is it a good chance for you to help out and learn things, but it's also a great free resource. It's free. Nobody charges you to volunteer. They're charging you your time. I guess. There are so many places that accept volunteers, like an urban farm. Farms need volunteers. There are tons of places you'll find animal rights groups, like pet shelters and things like that. You'll also find other environmental groups like taking care of watersheds and rivers to volunteer at.Speaker2: [00:12:06] Frankly, you can volunteer everywhere in churches and schools. There's a lot of volunteer work around soup kitchens. I'm trying to think of one that's a little maybe off the beaten path but that's plenty of things that you can volunteer to do. And not only are you helping your community, but you're gaining some experience or some knowledge in whatever the area of volunteering is. So that's fun. With COVID going on, I don't know if some of these options are still available, but I have heard of families taking their children to like a post office or a bakery. Glass blowing shops, places of business where they will, you know, let your children see how this works, how it gets done. So you can check that out. A local bakery or something. They want to know how you guys pump out 500 donuts a day and things like that. You'd be surprised at how open some places are, especially when they feel like you're really interested in what they do. So I'm going to move into the online space. Now, the Internet is a wonderful and vast place. Cue the Star Wars music. But you got to be careful out there. These Internet streets are not for the faint of heart. You put in your search query, and in a Google second, boom, you've got thousands of listings. To prove it can be a little overwhelming sometimes.Speaker3: [00:14:25] Huh? I know.Speaker2: [00:14:28] However. There are some that are really, really good and really worth your time and looking at. So Khan Academy. I used to use it a lot. Not so much anymore because, we go with the flow around here. But Khan Academy has a large variety of topics, subjects, course material for all ages, even for you, Mamas and Babas. Okay. They've got a lot of stuff. So even if you're just wanting to graze the top of a particular interest. That's the spot to be. Let's see. Who else? Oh, there's something called iCivics. So for your history needs, social study needs. Legislation needs. That's a good place to check out some free items on IE6. Now, I haven't checked this place out personally. However, I've heard good things about. It's called The Good and the Beautiful. And I do believe it is a curriculum that I would pay for. But I have heard tell that they have free worksheets and resources and that I think it's divided by topic. Even so, you can check them out if you're looking for a couple of free things to add to your repertoire. Now, some of these things, as I said before, you get what you pay for. You also want to make sure that it fits into what you're doing. You don't want to just grab something because it's free. Just for the free of it. Yeah. Have a plan. Try to integrate it into what you're already doing. Easy peasy. Lemon squeezy. It's just called easy peasy. All around home school, I believe they have a free All-in-One curriculum, as it says in the name. During homeschool vacation is a great time to try them out. Look into them. Next, the library. Oh, my God. I can't say enough about the library. The library is my jam. The library is where you want to be. Library should probably be your starting point. The library has more dangerous books around these parts. The libraries have tons of events beyond reading Circle Time. You can. See live events from authors. You can see live events on STEM subjects tailored just for kids, and they get to leave with their own little STEM item that they have created. We'll see—animal events. I remember we went one time, and we got to see a tarantula and this huge turtle and a bearded dragon.Speaker3: [00:17:59] It was kind of cool.Speaker2: [00:18:00] Will you see an African drumming shows there? I'm telling you, the library is one of your communities—brightest diamonds of so amazing. You may also be surprised that your library has access to some of these paid-for sites. Kind of our library gives you access to places like ancestry.com. I do believe you have to be on library grounds or on library Wi-Fi to access that particular one. But there are others that you can from home, like mango languages, ABC maps, and things like that.Speaker3: [00:18:46] So look into.Speaker2: [00:18:49] Your local library if you don't want to do it online. Feel free to walk into your local branch and get to ask questions. Some libraries even have seed banks. Now I have a problem with seeds. I'm a little obsessed. I've got hundreds. I've got thousands. I've got seeds for dates. But your library may also have seeds for dates, and they give them away for free. They do like it when you bring seeds back. And not that you would be returning seeds you planted, as that isn't impossible. You would save the seeds from the crops you planted to give back to the seed bank so they could be passed on to other growers. I think that's so amazing. I love saving seeds. I love seeds. Okay. I said that already, but I love seeds a lot. Now your library is one of your best places. I cannot say that enough. You can find so many, many things. Things that I'm sure I have even discovered yet. But they're there.Speaker3: [00:20:17] Oh, yeah, they are there. You too.Speaker2: [00:20:21] Blessing and a curse. You got to. You gotta kiss a few frogs before you find the prince. That's how YouTube works. Now I'm going to give you a couple of channels that I find helpful. I'm certain there are many, many, many more.Speaker3: [00:20:45] There are.Speaker2: [00:20:48] Some things aren't so child friendly, but there are some things that are older, child friendly, and there's just craziness. So once again.Speaker2: [00:21:00] So again, use at your own risk.Speaker2: [00:21:01] But where are these channels? So, kids, black history. I really enjoy Little Miss Raya. She's so much fun, and she's so full of excitement in life. It's great—Gracie's Corner. Now, Gracie's Corner is a vibe. She's got little bop, her little jams. If you're trying to teach him, skip counting, counting 200, all kinds of things.Speaker2: [00:21:31] We also have Crash Course Kids. That is a lot of science. And I think I've seen a couple of historical things in there. But crash course kids, there's also a crash course for adults or the older audience outside. Uh, Jewels TV. They're fun entertainment, black children's books read aloud.Speaker3: [00:22:06] Um. That's more.Speaker2: [00:22:10] There are not leaving out that I use personally, but there's plenty of things. So type in your topic. I wouldn't suggest you do it with the kids present. YouTube takes a little planning because you come across a lot of junk before you come across what you actually want. So to, you know, kind of quell the disappointment if you starting a video and then being like, oh, nope, and and looking for something else, go ahead and do that beforehand. Research what you want to play. So then you could be playing the right things and not having to go through all the crap over. Uh, let's see what else we got. What else we got? Oh, the Boys and Girls Club. So a lot of times their programming is free now. Everything's not going to be free, but a lot of things will be. You can do like open gym night, things like that. If you're going to play a sport, you're probably going to have to pay something. But you can even ask them, you know, of opportunities for things. And hey, you never know what the answer is going to be. So Boys and Girls Club, is an excellent choice. And there's also a prodigy. It's a little math game with little kids are these wizards and they're zooming through the forest and countering all these obstacles. And in order to win and fight these obstacles, you kind of answer these math questions. It's fun. There is also a paid version, but the only difference between the paid and free versions is the. The points, the rewards, or whatever it's called. You just get like different little, little items for the avatar. It's whatever. It's the same thing. But Prodigy is really good. It's great. It's fun. They're answering math questions. There's a couple other little extra things in there that make it feel a little more gamey, but they're getting those mathematical practices and.Speaker3: [00:24:29] Worksheet works.Speaker2: [00:24:32] I like worksheet works. You can print worksheets that have already been created. You can create your own. I particularly like them for handwriting practice. I can create, you know, worksheets that say paper. You are amazing. And he can write that, you know, things. That go with what you're doing specifically so you can create your own who doesn't like a create your own. But I guess if you're looking for something quick, fast and in a hurry, you might want to use one of the pre-done worksheets. But they have more than handwriting. They have math, they have grammar. They've got a couple of things in there. There's also. A local homeschool group. Some of them there is like a yearly fee or something like that, but a lot of them are free. And where you would pay would be if you were. Participating in certain events, classes, what have you.Speaker3: [00:25:42] But if you link up with a Homeschool group. Keep in mind, you're probably not going to like everything about it or everyone in it. But it is a resource that can definitely do you very well. I love my homeschool group. I'm not even going to lie. It's amazing. I don't think there's anything about it that I don't care for.Speaker3: [00:26:11] Yeah. I can't.Speaker2: [00:26:13] Yeah. Thank God for homeschool groups. Check it out, y'all. I'm teaching a class. It's called Anansi's Corner African. Mr. Kids. And we're going through. Yes. Shameless plug. Coming your way already in your face. And we're going through stories and we are identifying the parts of the story. We go into oral tradition. We go into all the elements of literary devices that make a good story. And then on our final class, we sit down together and create our own myth. It's so much fun. So head on over to Sankofa Homeschool Collective and register your brown baby today. Um. Class starts.Speaker3: [00:27:02] Next, Funbrain.Speaker2: [00:27:17] That's online. I'm kind of jumping around here. That one just popped into my head.Speaker2: [00:27:24] Thonburi. That's what it's called. Now you will find a plethora of things that are free if you join a homeschool group. Why? Because every homeschooler, as I've already said, loves a good freebie.[00:27:47] We love them. Why not? It's free.Speaker2: [00:27:53] So ask those in the homeschool groups what things do y'all find for free, and share those resources with us so we can share them with others. So by joining a network and joining a community, you are leveraging their knowledge as well. You'll be surprised at how many hidden gems are right under your nose. So I think I'm going to go ahead and wrap this up. And thanks so much for sitting with me, sitting through me. I love you all. I do. I hope you all are having a wonderful, wonderful day week. Whatever time of the year you find this, I hope these resources have been helpful. I would encourage you to go to the cleverly changing podcast website and check out our homeschool planner. That's excellent. I'm one of the designers. No, but seriously, I did design this with you all in mind to help you better organize your thoughts, your goals, your record keeping, and things so that you can have a successful homeschooling journey so that you would be able to make the best use of resources like the ones I just shared their partner, like the ones that I just shared with you. So please check that out. We've also got some other merch, some t-shirts, and things. Sweatshirts. They're great. I wear it. I have it. I'm going to have to take a picture for you guys one day. However, I'm going to wrap it up. I hope you all enjoyed this episode, and I can't wait to hear more from you and I can't wait to share more.[00:30:14] Did you know we sell merchandise to keep our podcast going? Order a hoodie, t-shirt, mugs, and more today!Speaker1: [00:30:32] Visit cleverly changing.com and click on the shop tab to place your order. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

More than ever, civic learning is needed to ensure each and every person across this country has the necessary tools to engage as members of our self-governing society. However, schools are also a growing part of the culture wars. According to a 2022 National Education Association Survey, nearly half of schools reported challenges teaching about race and racism and practices related to LGBTQ students in the classroom. As we've discussed before on the show, book bans, funding cuts, and teacher shortages are also making teaching anything — let alone civics — more difficult.At this critical juncture, Civic Learning Week unites students, educators, policymakers, and private sector leaders to energize the movement for civic education across the nation. This week's episode includes two experts who talk about the theory and practice of strengthening civics education in these polarizing times.Emma Humphries is Chief Education Officer and Deputy Director of Field Building for iCivics, the non-profit founded by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to reinvigorate civics through free, interactive learning resources. Emma serves as iCivics' pedagogical expert, ensures its resources evolve to a place of greater equity and deeper learning for all students, and advocates for more and better civic education across the country.Ashley Berner is Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and Associate Professor of Education. She served previously as the Deputy Director of the CUNY Institute for Education Policy and as an administrator at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. Her most recent book is Pluralism and American Public Education: No One Way to School.Civic Learning WeekiCivics poling on bipartisan support for civic educationDiffusing the History Wars: Finding Common Ground in Teaching America's National StoryAdditional InformationDemocracy Works PodcastMore shows from The Democracy Group

Dr. Haass, author of the New York Times best seller The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens, discusses how to reenvision citizenship if American democracy is to thrive or even survive. His guide is particularly relevant for college students who are learning how to navigate and participate fully in life on campus and in civic society. FASKIANOS: Thank you. Welcome to today's Educators Webinar. I'm Irina Faskianos, vice president of the National Program and Outreach here at CFR. Today's discussion is on the record and the video and transcript will be available on our website, CFR.org/Academic. As always, CFR takes no institutional positions on matters of policy. We're delighted to have CFR President Richard Haass with us to discuss the themes in his new book, The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens. Dr. Haass needs no introduction, but of course I will say a few words. He is in his twentieth year as president of CFR. He has served as special assistant and senior Middle East advisor to President George H.W. Bush, served in the U.S. State Department as a director of policy planning under Secretary of State Colin Powell, and held various positions in the Defense and State Departments during the Carter and Reagan administrations. He is the author or editor of fourteen books on U.S. foreign policy, one book on management and, of course, this one on American democracy. So, Richard, thank you very much for being with us today to discuss this book. I thought we could begin with you giving us an overview of your book, why you wrote it and, more specifically, why the focus on obligations rather than on rights. HAASS: Well, thank you, Irina. Thank you all for giving us some of your time. So really two separate questions—why the book and why the focus on obligations. Why the book is, look, I'm a foreign policy guy, for better and for worse. But increasingly, when I thought about all the challenges this country faced in the world, they all presume that we would have a functioning democracy that others in the world might want to emulate, others in the world would feel comfortable depending on, relying on. Our foes in the world might be deterred by. That we would generate the resources we needed and the political unity we needed to act in the world. Increasingly all that came under—has come under question. So I don't see how you can talk about American national security and just talk about the sort of stuff that the Pentagon or State Department do, but increasingly our ability to have a working democracy, to have a society that has the bandwidth and the unity to carry out our foreign policy. That's in question. And that's one of the lessons of the last few years. We assume these things are just fine at our peril. So, you know, that's what led me to write this book. And I actually have come to see the state of American democracy as, in many ways, the biggest threat to our national security. More than China, or Russia, or climate change, or anything else, because this is the foundation of our ability to contend with all these external threats. Moving to the question of “why obligations,” look, no one should get me wrong here. Rights are central to this American experiment, as I expect all of you know. You know, the Bill of Rights was politically essential in order to get several states that were holding out to ratify the new Constitution. A lot of people understood that the Articles of Confederation were woefully inadequate, but it was something very different to say they were prepared to sign on for a much stronger federal government and a much stronger executive. And the condition that several states set then was, hey, we need this Bill of Rights which protects states and individuals from the reach of the federal government. Over the last nearly two and a half centuries, we've lived with the reality that there's often a gap between our political realities and the Bill of Rights, you know, what Lincoln called the “unfinished work” of this country remains unfinished. I fully appreciate that. But just try a thought experiment: Just imagine that somehow we managed to close the gap between our reality and the Declaration of Independence, and suddenly rights were 100 percent what they ought to be. Then the question you have to ask yourself, if we were to reach that point, would American foreign policy be on safe, firm ground? And the answer is no. Because what would happen is someone would say, hey, the mother has an absolute right to choose. And someone else would say, no, the unborn, they have absolute rights. Or someone would say, I have all sorts of rights under the Second Amendment to bear arms and someone else would say, oh, hold on a minute, I've got rights to public safety, to physical safety, and so on and so forth. You know, it wasn't by accident that Justice Steve Breyer said that the toughest cases before the court are right versus wrong, but rights versus rights. So what do we do? How do we avoid the clash of rights which, at a minimum, would mean gridlock, and worse yet, in all sorts of situations, one could imagine things descending into violence. If people felt that adamantly about their rights, and if their rights were not adequately recognized, from their point of view, what's holding them back from political violence? And that's what led me to this book. And that's what led me to obligations. Obligation is the other side of the citizenship coin. Rights are essential. To use the political science idea, they are necessary, but they're not sufficient. We need obligations. We need to complement rights, supplement rights with—we need obligations to one another—you to me, me to you, Irina, me to everybody on this Zoom—and vice versa. And then, second of all, we all need to think about our obligations to the country. What do we—in the spirit of John F. Kennedy—what do we owe this country? Only if we balance or complement rights with obligations do I think this experiment of American democracy has a good chance of surviving another two and a half centuries. FASKIANOS: So when you were writing this book, Richard—clearly we all need to read it—but what was your target audience? HAASS: It's a good question. Let me give you a couple of answers. One is, and it's something you and I know from our work here, I'm always interested in finding multipliers in American society. So in this case, it's a lot of the kinds of people on this call, educators, because they all have students. So whether they're administrators, classroom teachers, you know, university, four-year schools, two-year schools, colleges, at the high school level, what have you. So educators are my principal—if not THE principal audience, as the principal multiplier. Obviously, students as well because, you know, particularly if you think about it, college students by—well, we can talk about this more—but they're a perfect audience for this. I'm also, though, interested in other multipliers in this society. One is journalists. They have tremendous reach. They have obligations. Religious authorities, the people who give the sermons. You know, tens if not even more than a hundred million Americans hear sermons every week. Well, why can't religious authorities do things like discourage political violence, say nothing justifies violence, or civility is always called for, or compromise ought to always be considered. Or, how about this, you are your brother's and sister's keeper. You have an obligation to look out for the common good. Who better than a religious authority to do that? I think parents have certain special opportunities, if you will, to carry out these obligations, to model certain behavior. So I'm interested in all of them. And what I found is a lot of—you know, and the good news is I think it's resonating. Particularly a lot of older people know there's something amiss in this country. And what they want to make sure is that younger people get a chance to take this in. FASKIANOS: Right. So in your book, you have laid out ten principles. And under the ten principles— HAASS: We call them obligations, Irina. FASKIANOS: Ten obligations, yes. So what are the key insights that you would want, or the obligations that you would want educators and students to take away from reading this book, and that you would want educators to promote or to share with their students? HAASS: Well, first of all, all ten I think are valuable. You know, if we were in a religious context and you say which of the commandments would you jettison, you know, we all might have our favorite for jettisoning, but—Mel Brooks had his ideas in one of his movies. But I think all ten are necessary, in this case. I'd begin with being informed, which I think is particularly relevant to this kind of a group. You know, Jefferson's notion of the informed citizen is basic to a democracy. And then I think it immediately then calls for a conversation on exactly what is it we mean by being informed in terms of the basics. What do we mean in terms of current issues that come and go? How then do you get informed? How do you avoid being misinformed? I think it's a really rich conversation. Again, with students, we want to urge them, once they are informed, to get involved. To use an old quote of Ronald Reagan's, we don't just want patriotism we want informed patriotism. So we want people to be involved, but we want them to be involved once they are informed. You know, we can go through all of them, just things like behaviors, civility, compromise, observation of norms. Those are all important. Just kind of attitudes and behaviors become important. Then there's more specific things. I'd love for younger people to get involved in public service. Several states have instituted, like California, a large public service program. I think it's great. I think too many of us in this country are now leading very separate lives defined by geography, educational attainment, wealth, race, religion, gender, what have you. I love things that produce a bit of common experience, I think would be good. I'm obviously big, and we'll probably get to this, about teaching civics. I think it's simply wrong that anybody should leave a campus without having been exposed to civics. We wouldn't let them leave the campus if they couldn't read or write. Why would we want them to leave a campus if they didn't have—if they weren't, essentially, literate about citizenship, given how important that is. So, you know, I thought hard about the obligations. And I just think that this is what is required if American democracy is going to prosper. FASKIANOS: We've talked a lot about how this book is a perfect fit for the first-year experience and for incoming students to college campuses. And I thought you could talk a little bit about the connection of this book, and why it would be such a perfect fit. HAASS: Couple of things. One is, the average freshman is pretty close to eighteen. So what a perfect time to be doing this, because they're going to have the right to vote. And we want them to vote. And we want them to be informed voters. So that's one thing. But this is—the timing is perfect for people stepping onto campus. Second of all, in addition to voting, campuses, like any other, if you will, environment are political environments. And so over the course of their two, three, four, however many years on campus, students are going to be in all sorts of formal and informal, structured and unstructured, settings in which politics are going to come up. So I believe they need some help in navigating what they're going to experience on a—in classrooms, over drinks, over coffee, study groups, what have you. I think it's really essential there. I also like the idea of first-year experiences—and first principles—I love the idea that people read something and have it in common and they can talk about it. So whether you're a flute major, or a physics major, or a computer sciences major, I love the fact that everybody's reading something. And this is something with real, I think, practical payoffs, again, for the years on campus, and for life afterwards. So I actually think it's a good thing. And, just to be clear, the book doesn't tell them about what's the, quote/unquote, “right” or “wrong” policy on any issue. It's simply about how one approaches political life, whether it's on campus or beyond. And I just think it's—for eighteen-year-olds about to embark on a college experience and on a life experience, I think the timing's pretty good. FASKIANOS: So we have a written question from Jim Zaffiro, who is a professor of political science at Central College. And he asks along the same lines— HAASS: Central College in Iowa? FASKIANOS: Yes. HAASS: I got a—I was lucky enough to get an honorary degree from Central College in Iowa. It's a wonderful, wonderful place. FASKIANOS: So he would like to know, how would you present the nature and significance of this as a common reading for eighteen-year-olds? Like, how would pitch it to an incoming freshman about why they should read it? So from the student's perspective? HAASS: It's a good question. Like it or not, government is essential to our lives. And indeed, both whether you like it or not, that makes the case for learning about it. It's going to affect you. But, more important, government is not some impersonal force. Government is affected by citizens. So I want students to understand that government is what we make of it. And it's who we vote for. It's who we reward or penalize politically. It's who they work for. I'd love them to get involved themselves. Not just in campaigns, one day some of them may choose that as a career—I did for a long time—in public service. And it could be—in my case it was working on the policy side. It could be the military. It could be intelligence. I've got a daughter who works for the Department of Sanitation here in the City of New York. There's all sorts of ways to have a public service kind of career. But even if you don't, we still, as citizens, have the right—and I would say, the obligation—to vote. And if they don't, well, that's just another way of saying you're going to let this other person decide what your future is. Why would anybody want to abdicate the chance to influence their own future and lets the person sitting in the seat next to them make choices that would affect them? So I would want students—I would want to remind them that government is responsive. That we've made enormous changes. I think a lot of young people have a really negative view of government. They see what's happened in recent years—whether it's the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, or economic crises, or pandemics, or climate. And a lot of them are very down on government. And I get it. I get it. But government also, over the decades, has delivered in important ways. And even when it's failed, the failure wasn't inevitable. So I want to give students a sense of possibility. And that government is really important. And the good news, in a non-authoritarian, democratic system, is governments are potentially responsive, and that there are real opportunities to make an impact that will affect their future and the futures of others they care about. And, you know, as I've learned in life, for better and for worse, not acting—you know, if you will, omissions—are just as important as acting in commission. And so I want students to understand that it's consequential not to get involved. And it's probably consequential and bad in ways that are most – more likely than not, not to be good for them. FASKIANOS: Wonderful. So I'm just going to—people are already writing questions in the Q&A box. Love to see that. So if you do that, please also include your affiliation or I will try to pull out your affiliation. You can always also raise your hand on the screen to ask a question. And on an iPad and tablet, you can click the “more” button. For those of you who have written your question, if you want to ask it yourself please do raise your hand because we love to hear your voices. The first person, Miriam Kerzner, wants to know what you mean by “civics.” And I think that's a good jumping off point for you to talk about civics and why it needs to be—how you think about it. HAASS: No, it's a great—yeah, in a funny sort of way, everyone—well, not everyone—but almost everyone is in favor of civics until you drill down a little bit. (Laughs.) And then they go, oh, I didn't mean that. So it's not enough to be in favor of it in principle, but you've also got to be in favor of it in practice. So it seems to me, and it's complicated, I get it. It ain't going to be easy. I get it. But I think there's certain things about our history, about certain documents people should be exposed to, certain, you know, dates and events that people should be exposed to, certain understandings about how government works at the national, the state, and then the local level people should be exposed to. Certain behaviors and attitudes that are consistent with a democracy that people should be exposed to. I think civics has got to do all of that. And I also think modern civics has to also take into account or include what is increasingly known as information literacy, to teach students to be critical consumers of this flood of information that's coming at them. And it's ironic. It's almost strange that in an age in which we're deluged with information, it's also harder than ever to be informed. But there you have it. So I think modern civics has to teach elements of history, teach some of the elements or basics of the American political system. Probably teach some basic elements of American society, the economy, and so forth, foreign policy. Talk about attitudes, behaviors, almost the culture of democracy, get into things about rights and obligations, talk about information literacy. And it's demanding. It's going to be very hard to—it's going to be impossible to satisfy not just everybody, probably anybody. This has now become a politicized terrain, probably a minefield's a better metaphor. Again, I'm not naïve about that. But I don't think we can throw up our hands and say it's too hard. It's probably impossible to get anything done at the national level just now, but not at the state level. I've already talked to several governors who are willing to take a try. I see certain schools are willing to take a try. I mean, Stanford's going to introduce a civics module for all of its freshmen starting next winter term. Other schools have some things like it. The service academies have been doing work in this area for quite a while. I don't mean to leave anybody out, but I know that schools like Purdue and Virginia, some others, have elements of this. Johns Hopkins is debating it. And so I just think it's also that universities have far more flexibility because, you know, I think it's tougher for public high schools, given the roles of state legislatures and politics. It's probably somewhat tough also, obviously, for public universities, given the way they're funded and the oversight. I think private colleges and universities have enormous discretion. There's nothing stopping them. They could do it tomorrow. There are resource issues. I get it. And not everybody has the, shall we say, resource advantages of a Stanford. So I think, you know, for a lot of schools, they're going to have to look at what's not just desirable, but you've always got to ask what's doable, what's feasible. I get it. But I think every—I think this is a conversation faculties, administrators, boards, students, and others need to have. Which is, one, whether civics? I would say the answer to that is yes. And then, OK, then let's have a follow-on conversation. What should go into it? And we can talk more about it, but I think particularly when it comes to history, which is probably the most controversial area, my own advice is to simply say there's got to be certain things about history which are not terribly controversial. There are certain documents that are essential, certain Supreme Court decisions, certain speeches, certain commentaries. Certain things happen. There's the factual spine of American history. Then there's interpretations of what caused certain things, what are the consequences of certain things. OK. Well, there, I think the lesson is not to teach a single history, not to impose a vision of history, but to expose students to a range of responsible historical analyses and interpretations. And then maybe in the classroom provide mechanisms for debating them in a civics course. And, indeed, I could imagine lots of other ideas—and there's teaching notes we just produced. One could imagine all sorts of model or mock legislatures where people—students would introduce certain legislation. One of the ideas I proposed was a model constitutional convention, and students would have a chance to propose amendments to the current Constitution and debate it out. So I think things like that. I think there's all sorts of participatory things that one could introduce or incorporate into a civics curriculum without imposing a single vision or interpretation of history, which would obviously be unacceptable to, you know, significant constituencies. FASKIANOS: Great. Thank you. And Miriam's at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Washington. So I'm going to go next to Larry Mead, who has raised his hand. And if you could identify yourself and accept the unmute prompt, that would be fantastic. HAASS: Or not. FASKIANOS: Larry, you still need to unmute, or not. All right, I will go next to Laura Tedesco, and we'll come back to Larry. Or, we'll try. Laura. There you go, Laura first, OK. Laura, you just muted yourself again. Q: OK, now? FASKIANOS: You've got it. Q: OK. Thank you very much. My name is Laura Tedesco. I'm working from Madrid, Spain, working at St. Louis University, in the campus that they have here in Madrid. And my question is basically how we are going to—I agree with you about, you know, the education of citizenship here. But how are we going to really make people understand—not only students in universities, but everybody else, you know—about the right and the need to act as citizens? For instance, in a country like the United States, where your vote is not obligatory, yeah? You know, how can we make people understand that, you know, democracy should not be taken for granted, and we should all work to improve democracy from the different positions we are? Thank you. HAASS: No, it's a great question. How do we incentivize people not to take democracy for granted? One is to teach them in a civics curriculum a little bit about what are the structural strengths and advantages for democracy in terms of everything from the freedoms and rights they tend to provide and protect, to democracy's ability to adapt and innovate. We also got a pretty good historical record. I mean, yes, this democracy and other democracies have made serious mistakes, and they're imperfect to say the least, but there's a lot that they have accomplished and a lot that they have provided and delivered. So I think we need to remind people about the record of democracies to—and to also—I'd be more than comfortable pointing out some of the shortcomings of the alternatives, because obviously the alternatives do have, shall we say, more than their share of flaws. And I—again, to encourage, you know, informed participation—I think you have to make the case that democracies are responsive, that individuals and groups can make a difference. There's almost nothing that's inevitable. And history is, in many ways, what we make it. And that's what I want students to come away with, the sense of possibility and empowerment. I mean, what I came to conclude in writing this is if we wait for democracies to be delivered, if you will, or saved by someone at the top, it's going to be a long wait. And what we really need to think about is empowerment, whether it's young people or, again, these critical constituencies in American society from business to religious leaders, to teachers, to journalists, officials, and so forth. You know, we all have a chance to make a difference. And I want students to get excited about both why democracies are worth saving and the difference that individuals can make. And I think if we do that, we can generate some greater political involvement. And what the last two elections show is even minute amounts—you know, 1 percent here or there—of greater political involvement can have enormous impact. And that's what I want, again, students to come away with. The, yeah, well my vote won't matter. Well, probably not, if you're talking about one vote. But it doesn't take a whole lot of people getting involved in order to tip the scales. And so I want students to get a sense of empowerment. FASKIANOS: So you can build on—that starts to answer Robert McCoy's question, who is at the University of Montana, in the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center in Missoula, Montana. He says: Read the book. Think it ought to be mandatory reading for all, not just students. However, your opening chapters paint such a dire picture that I fail to see how today's issues can be rectified. Can you speak to that? HAASS: Hmm. I'll have to go back and reread the opening chapters. I thought the first chapter was kind of about the— is really neutral. It's kind of the march of American history—American political history. It's kind of how we got to where we are. You know, the second chapter is on backsliding. And the reason it's that way is if things weren't in a bad way, I wouldn't have needed to write the book and I could have focused on my golf game and lowering my handicap. But because democratic backsliding in this country—and, by the way, in others—is a reality, I felt compelled to write this book. So I didn't have confidence that it would just sort itself out by itself. I actually think very few things just sort themselves out by themselves, whether we're talking about domestic political systems or international systems. I think it takes agency. And but again, small numbers could have really large impact. I mean, we just had a midterm here where roughly, I don't know, 45 percent of the eligible voters voted. And which was, you know, slightly higher than traditional midterms. Still disappointing. But some of the outcomes were pretty impressive. And in terms of stabilizing American democracy. Very easily, though, there could have been other outcomes. And think of the consequences there. So the whole argument for making—you know, for obligations is that nothing's baked into the cake, for better and for worse. So we shouldn't assume that everything's just going to turn out just fine. And we shouldn't assume that it won't. And I think, again, small numbers could have real impact. And, again, it's an empowerment argument. And I think there's a lot—there's a lot of distributed authority—obligation, or authority, or potential for various groups within the society, various constituencies, as well as with individuals writ large. And I think possibly reminding people about how government over the years has adapted, I think people need to, in some ways, rediscover a bit of respect and admiration for government. And I look at some of the changes we've had over the course of, say, the last—take my last seventy-five years, or even, you know, from on domestic things. Civil rights, you know, extension of the vote to eighteen-year-olds, what we've recently done on gay marriage, and so forth. The degree of adaptability and change, government turns out to be quite flexible in this society. So I want students to get jazzed about the potential here, about the possibility, but to remind them it just doesn't happen by itself. And people have to get involved. And politics is not dirty. It's a calling. And so I want the best and brightest to do this. You know, I've had a career that's been in and out of government, and I wouldn't trade it for just about anything. And it's really satisfying. I talk to them about careers and other things also. So I mean, not just people that are going to become doctors, and lawyers, and plumbers, and electricians, and whatever. And I want them to be involved, informed citizens. But I would love a chunk of the best and brightest to go into government and choose that as a calling. So again, one of the reasons I love the idea of a public service experience, say, for a year or two years after high school, before college, or during college, or after college, not only do would I think a lot of people come into contact with one another who ordinarily wouldn't meet where people grow up, but I think they would see what government could do. They would see that public service can actually accomplish some things that are good for the public. So I think students need to realize that. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I'm going to go next back to Larry Mead. And let's see if we can get your technology—there we go. Q: Can you hear me now? OK. Thank you. FASKIANOS: Yes, we can. And identify yourself, please. Q: What I wrote was, I thought I was the only political scientist to write about obligation. I wrote a book about that back in the 1960s. It was about domestic policy, mainly. I think your book is—I think the second book to really focus on obligation. And my question is this: In fact, our system presumes a very high level of civic obligation. We are, in fact, one of the most civic countries in the world, one of the best governed in the world. And that all depends on that civic culture. So why then do we talk only about rights? HAASS: Great question. First of all, what's your book? My research was inadequate. Tell me about your book. Q: (Laughs.) OK. It was called Beyond Entitlement: The Social Obligations of Citizenship. It's about welfare, poverty, and reform of welfare. It makes a case for work requirements. And later on, I became the theorist of welfare reform. But the general argument is that freedom depends on obligation. And actually, freedom is a form of obligation. But people aren't thoughtful about that. They somehow think that freedom is simply liberation from all sets of outside expectations. No. Our heaviest obligations are the obligations we set for ourselves in our own lives. We work very hard to achieve those things. So freedom isn't free, and yet we don't talk about it. HAASS: I agree. And good for you. Thank you. I will now make up for my impoverished scholarship and researching skills. Q: Well, I'm going to read your book, and I will write you a reaction, I promise you. HAASS: Thank you. Be kind. Look, there's a lot of—in the course of writing this, I read some religious and political philosophers. And that was their argument, that freedom without obligation is dangerous. It actually leads you to anarchy. And but obligation and the rest without freedom denies you basic rights. And you've got to—you got to get both. Find it infused in religious and philosophical literature. I found it in some educational literature after World War II. So I've asked myself, to your question, how did we kind of lose the balance? Because if you go to early American history, there was such an emphasis on rights, and my hunch is people were much more conscious of rights because the entire context was not reimposing tyranny after getting out from under the yoke of Britain. I also think our culture was different. That a lot of obligations, or the notion of obligations, was assumed. It was implicit. It wasn't missing. It was there. And when you go back—when I went back and read de Tocqueville, and Bryce, and others, you re-read a lot of this—even the Federalist Papers, they didn't spend a lot of time hammering away on obligations. I think they saw it all around them. I think what's happened, and it's probably beyond my paygrade, or at least beyond my intellectual understanding—because I'm not an anthropologist or a sociologist—was somehow this notion of the balance between rights and obligations in American society, to use a technical phrase, has gotten out of whack. We've become much more rights focused, almost rights obsessed. What are we owed? Whether they're political rights or economic rights. And we've lost a sense of what do we owe in turn. And, you know, how that happened is an interesting conversation. And it's something I've been meditating about and thinking about. But however it happened, it happened. And that's why I think we need something of a corrective. And I'm no longer confident it'll just happen. The ship won't right itself. And I think that we have to now be conscious about advocating for obligations, because they have the coin of citizenship has lost its balance there. And it's gone way too much in one direction. So what I'm trying to do is by talking so much about obligations, decades after you did—is in some ways resurrect the idea and strengthen a recognition that we've somewhat lost our way. And, by the way, I think people know that. I got to tell you, I've been on the road a lot the last six weeks, talking about this book to all sorts of citizen groups. I did one last night about fifty miles from here. And people know it. I got to tell you, particularly people who are middle-aged and older, they look out their window, they get up and they look out at this society, and they go: This isn't the American I remember. There is something amiss. There is something wrong. I'm not saying the old America was perfect. It was obviously flawed in some significant ways. But there is something wrong about our culture. I think if de Tocqueville were to come back, he would not be happy, in some ways. He would see things that were missing a little bit from the relationship between individuals and society, and particularly the obligation I have, say, about the common good. I think there's a degree now of selfishness and individualism. And I think it's gotten out of hand in American society. We saw a lot of that during the pandemic. And that, to me, was yet another message that we've got some work here to do. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I'm going to go next to Louis Caldera, who is a professor of law at American University. Can you talk about our democracy as an example to the world that is foundational to achieving our foreign policy and national security goals? Do you agree? Do we undermine our leadership in the world if our own democracy is undermined by things like gerrymandering, vote suppressing laws, unchecked special interest money, and so on? HAASS: In a word, yes, we do. We certainly undermine the appeal of democracy. It's very hard to talk the talk if you don't walk the walk. And January 6 was probably the low point. But again, when people look at American democracy or look not just at democracy but American society, I think our ability—and, how do I put this—we're not quite the shining city on the hill we should be or could be. So, we can have—we can arm every diplomat with talking points about preaching democratic reform, but it's not going to have any traction if it's done against the backdrop of what we now have in this country. So I think that's just a fact of life. So you're spot on. And I also think the divisions in our society and the lurches, increasingly, in our politics have made us much less influential in the world, because we're no longer seen as predictable or reliable. And allies, by definition, what have they done? They have essentially made a security choice to put a big chunk of their security in our hands. If our hands are no longer seen as reliable, predictable, or safe, they're either going to put security in their own hands—and that's a world of much more proliferation or something like that—or they're going to defer to some powerful neighbors. That is not a pretty world. I also worry that our—my own guess, I can't prove it—but Vladimir Putin was somewhat encouraged to do what did in Ukraine because he didn't think the United States had the will to come together to resist. And so I take these things seriously. So, yeah. So I think, again, this is directly—what's going on here, you know, to use the old line about Las Vegas, it doesn't stay here. This isn't Las Vegas. And it's—if anybody's on this from Nevada, I apologize. But it does have real foreign policy consequences. So I think you're spot on. FASKIANOS: Thank you. I'm going to go next to Collette Mazzucelli, who has raised her hand. Q: Hello. Good afternoon, Dr. Haass. And I just wanted to ask you if you think that there's a need for a new model of citizenship because of the evolution of the internet, the next phase that's coming, the prevalence and, you know, omnipresent nature of misinformation, disinformation in our society, and also across the world. Thank you. HAASS: It's a really thoughtful question. It was about, what, two weeks ago the Supreme Court had two days of oral hearings—or arguments on Section 230 of the 1996 law, the Communications Decency Act. I think we're struggling with the internet, because these companies, or the pipes that they operate, are carrying millions and millions of messages from millions and millions of people. So the question is, can we—and if so, how, and the rest—can we in any way regulate the content? So I think there's real issues. And social media is, in many cases, inflaming divisions within a society. It is encouraging some bad behaviors in many cases. But it's not quite clear to me what the remedies are, what's practical, and what's desirable. Some things are simply impractical given the number of users, the volume of messaging. And some things may not be desirable because where do you draw the line on First Amendment rights, free speech, and so forth. And who does the drawing? Who's in charge of line drawing? And do we want to necessarily delegate the ability to draw certain lines to some individuals who may be working for Twitter, or Facebook, or Instagram, or what have you? So I think these are really tough issues. My guess is the Supreme Court will probably punt to Congress. Congress will not pick up the ball, would be my guess. There might be some movement. If you look at one of the cases heard before the court now, I think they'll issue their decision in, say, June or so. Where it's one thing for the companies to say they're neutral, they can't be expected to regulate content. OK. I think it's different, though, when they highlight, or accelerate, or intensify certain content through algorithms or what have you. So I think there might be some pushback there, that they can't necessarily police or regulate all the content. But they can be held accountable for not—or, regulator-required, not to highlight certain content. I think it might get at their business model, but I can live with that, to say the least. And then the other half of the coin is how do we make ourselves more critical consumers? And that gets at the whole information literacy movement that we're seeing in New Jersey at the high school level, and other places. But I would think, again, on university campuses, the idea—if I had my way, there would be a mandatory civics course. And, again, one dimension of it would be information literacy. So even if we'll never succeed in totally regulating what goes on social media, in whatever form. But I do think we can improve our ability to be critical consumers of it. And I think that is out there. But, look, when I look at democratic backsliding around the world, not just in the United States. We're seeing it in Mexico, we're seeing it in India, we're seeing it in Israel. We're seeing it in lots of places. The proliferation of media, social media, you know, my word for it is narrowcasting. We now live in an era of narrowcasting. And people are no longer exposed to common things, and they increasingly go into various social and regular media outlets, which tend to either confirm certain views or prejudices, what have you. I think it's a real challenge for democracy. FASKIANOS: So we have a written question from Victoria Powers, who's at Capital University in Ohio. I agree with you that teaching civics is critical, and I understand that it's complex in the current environment for some high schools to teach civics. Although I hate to give up requiring civics in K-12 schools. Do you have ideas about what we could do to help provide an education in civics for all those young people who will not be headed to two- or four-year college or universities or community colleges, obviously. And, sorry, she is an adjunct at the Capital University Law School in Ohio. HAASS: Well, I think the takeaway I take from that question, and it's a good one, is what we do on two- and four-year college and university campuses is part of the answer, it's not the totality of it. And we've got to get to citizens younger. So that gets at what you do at high school, junior high school, even middle school. I mean, iCivics has been active in middle schools for a long time. And it also raises questions of what we do away from school. And that's where, again, I think that those who give the sermons have a certain responsibility, media has a larger responsibility than it is often willing to carry out. Businesses, corporations have a responsibility. I think there's got to be distributed obligations here. And I believe each one of these segments of society has obligations and should be pressured by citizens to carry it out. But I do think, yes, we ought to be pushing civics down younger, but we also—we need—as important as classrooms are, we've also got to do things beyond—outside the classroom. But the basic point is right, particularly since the only thing most Americans have to do is attend school through the age of sixteen. So we can't afford to miss that opportunity. Irina, you're on mute. FASKIANOS: Right. How long have I been doing this? OK. (Laughs.) HAASS: For about half an hour, but we've been waiting for you. (Laughter.) FASKIANOS: I'm going to go next to Jody McBrien, who is a professor of social sciences at the University of South Florida. I understand why young people feel powerless, especially when you consider gerrymandering voting and using misinformation. You mentioned state level, she lives in Florida, enough said. How do you suggest getting students engaged in spite of these issues that understandably cause a feeling of helplessness. HAASS: Well, again, you know, the people who are in power passing certain laws now, or redrawing lines, they weren't always in those positions. They got there. So my view is if one disagrees with them, then one has to get them out of there and put other people in there. And that's what political involvement is all about. There's nothing inevitable. There's nothing permanent. These things go in cycles and so forth. So I would tell students, yeah, channel your frustration. Channel your anger. But channel it in ways that will change the political realities. Don't just protest. Don't just get—certainly don't give up. I mean, I think the worst thing is to walk away from it and saying it's hopeless. That becomes self-fulfilling, because then, again, you leave your political future in the hands of others who are unlikely to have your best interests at heart. So I think the best thing is to sit down with students and talk about how politics have changed American time, and time, and time again. And they ought to essentially think about collective action. And that's the history of American political life. FASKIANOS: I will take the next written question from Ali Abootalebi, who is a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. Would you comment on implications of your civic education argument for U.S. foreign policy? The American public is fundamentally divorced from U.S. foreign relations, leaving the foreign policy establishment free from certain obligations and in pursuit of narrowed interests. HAASS: Well, the latter we can have a debate about, to what extent does American foreign policy always served American interests. And I would say, at times it has and at times it hasn't. I'm often a critic of what we do in the name of the national interest, which at times to me seems to be anything but. But that's almost a case-by-case type thing. But, look, I would say that one part of being an informed citizen is understanding the world and understanding foreign policy. It's one of the reasons about a decade ago here, at the Council on Foreign Relations, we made it a real priority to promote literacy in matters of the world and matters of foreign policy. And we've got an entire curriculum. We've got simulation resources. We've got resources aimed at younger students. We do now all sorts of public fora on our website, CFR.org. The most trafficked items tend to be the explainers of these complicated issues to give people a basic understanding of these issues. I think it's part of being an informed citizen. So my own view is we want to have what we call global literacy, in addition to having what I would call civics literacy. I think they are both—since we live in a global world, where everything we do or don't do affects the world and vice versa, everything that goes on the world affects us, for better and for worse, we want citizens to be aware of that loop, and to think about the consequences of certain policies or actions for that. So I think that as an extension of informed civic involvement. It's just the content, in some cases, has to involve things international, and not just things domestic. FASKIANOS: All right. I'm going to take the next question from David Cheney. And I'm trying to pull up affiliation. While I am: How can young people stay accurately informed, given their reliance on social media? And how would you have them balance right-wing with left-wing media sources to arrive at a closer approximation of the truth? And he is at NYU. HAASS: I've heard of NYU. Look, a couple things. Yeah, I know what is not in my answer. TikTok is not the answer. Let me say that. A couple of things. One is, and in the book I have a whole section on where to go for more. And I also think—you know, because there are certain quality publications. Certain newspapers just tend to be good, or better than others. They're not perfect, but they're better. Certain magazines, certain television and radio shows, certain websites. So there are quality places to steer people to. I think as a rule of thumb we ought to encourage multi-sourcing, not to put all your—not to depend on a single source. It's almost like a journalist. A journalist would never write a story based on a single source. They have to double-source it. And I almost feel as citizens we ought to double-source our information, and not just depend on one. I used to have a rule when I went to the gym in my pre-COVID life, when I went on the elliptical, I would divide my time among Fox, MSNBC, and CNN. And I'll admit, I did cheat and ESPN would get a chunk of it as well. But the whole idea was the be exposed. It was just—it was interesting just to see the different “realities,” quote/unquote, that were put forward. But I think it's important to—if you read a national newspaper, then read a local newspaper, maybe. Or if you do something of the left, do something of the right. Or if you read this book, as a professor or teacher, you'd encourage someone to read something else to—so you're not, again, single sourcing. And I think that's the—if I had a single rule of thumb, it would probably be that, to protect yourself from the structural biases. Because all authors or publications have a bias either in what they cover or how they cover it. I take that for granted. So the only way—the best way to protect yourself from it is a degree of multiple exposure. FASKIANOS: OK. I think we have time for one more. Dana Radcliffe at Syracuse University. President Obama in his farewell address referred to the citizen as “the most important office in a democracy.” The philosopher Joseph Tussman in 1960 offered an insightful characterization of “the office of the citizen.” Might the suggestion that citizen is a public office help advance the thesis that citizenship entails obligations as well as rights? HAASS: An interesting construct. I like it. It kind of adds a bit of heft, because we tend to sort of just talk about citizenship, almost dismiss it at times. Well, he's just an ordinary person. But I like the idea of an office, that it's—that you're—because that suggests a degree of empowerment and a degree, again, of obligation. So I like the idea. I think it kind of—kind of it gets people to take the potential to make a difference a little bit more seriously. And I really like it. So that's a useful construct. So thank you for that. FASKIANOS: OK. We have a few more minutes. Richard, is there anything you want to leave the group with that we haven't covered? HAASS: I know I'm always supposed to say yes at this point, but no. It's been a really wide-ranging conversation. No, and I think what I'm hoping is that people on a call such as this will think about how to promote—you know, particularly on campuses and schools—the teaching of civics. Both to create a mandate for it, and then we can debate the content. But the idea that—you know, one of the arguments often used that I encounter—I'm not in a position to judge its accuracy—is that too many of the constituencies on campus oppose this, particularly it's often said to me, you know, faculty, or whatever. And I think the faculty could make an important difference by basically saying: Actually, no. We don't oppose this. We think this is a swell idea. And we're prepared to work with administrators, students, and the rest, to make it happen. And I think that would be fantastic. So, again, you're the multipliers. And I think you're in a special position to do this. So, again, I think freshman year experience is a good place to get the kids going, the students going with this. But I do think, whether it's a course or a module at some point, it needs—but we need advocates for it. So I hope some of you on this call will be advocates, because I just think we're missing not just an opportunity but, if you'll pardon the expression, we're missing an obligation to see that—to make sure that our students are prepared to do their bit, to do their share, for upholding democracy in this country. And so I just think universities and colleges have, again, a special opportunity and obligation both. And you're all so instrumental to do that. So Godspeed in that effort. FASKIANOS: Well, with that, thank you very much, Richard. Thank you for writing, authoring, this book, The Bill of Obligations. Richard has also written teaching notes to go with the book that we will be posting on the website alter this week. If you're interested in an exam copy, either digital or print, we can—we can honor that request. And if you want to try to make—put his book on the common reading list or incorporate it into your first-year experience, we can also think about having Richard address the incoming class virtually or perhaps in person. We appreciate all that you have done, Richard. He has really transformed CFR into an educational institution. You should check out Model Diplomacy and World 101. You can follow Richard on Twitter at @richardhaass, subscribe to his Substack newsletter which he just launched, called Home and Away, by going to richardhaass.substack.com. We'll include those links in our follow-up note with the link to this video and transcript. We will include the teaching notes as well. And I also encourage you to follow @CFR_Academic, visit CFR.org, ForeignAffairs.com, and ThinkGlobalHealth.org for research and analysis on global issues. Again, thank you all for being with us today, for the work that you do on your college campuses. And, Richard Haass, again, thank you for being with us. HAASS: Thank you, Irina. Thank you, all. I appreciate it. (END)

More than ever, civic learning is needed to ensure each and every person across this country has the necessary tools to engage as members of our self-governing society. However, schools are also a growing part of the culture wars. According to a 2022 National Education Association Survey, nearly half of schools reported challenges teaching about race and racism and practices related to LGBTQ students in the classroom. As we've discussed before on the show, book bans, funding cuts, and teacher shortages are also making teaching anything — let alone civics — more difficult.At this critical juncture, Civic Learning Week unites students, educators, policymakers, and private sector leaders to energize the movement for civic education across the nation. This week's episode includes two experts who talk about the theory and practice of strengthening civics education in these polarizing times.Emma Humphries is Chief Education Officer and Deputy Director of Field Building for iCivics, the non-profit founded by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to reinvigorate civics through free, interactive learning resources. Emma serves as iCivics' pedagogical expert, ensures its resources evolve to a place of greater equity and deeper learning for all students, and advocates for more and better civic education across the country.Ashley Berner is Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and Associate Professor of Education. She served previously as the Deputy Director of the CUNY Institute for Education Policy and as an administrator at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. Her most recent book is Pluralism and American Public Education: No One Way to School.Civic Learning WeekiCivics poling on bipartisan support for civic educationDiffusing the History Wars: Finding Common Ground in Teaching America's National Story

The episode is in Honor of Civic Education Week, March 6 through 10 During our interview with Jessica Culver, we discuss Civics Week and the types of programming around Civic Engagement in Rural Education. Jessica works with grades 10 through 12. The cohosts discuss how civics education has been neglected in many programs. Dr. Bigham discussed how some states have a Civics Education requirement in many states. Jessica discussed some of the programs currently going on in her school. This includes voting registration with students, volunteering by students to help with early voting initiatives in the community, and the role of student engagement in the community. Jessica has also encouraged students to volunteer in their community, including teaching assistantships for elementary students, planting flowers in community spaces, and painting buildings in disrepair. Jessica discusses how her students have gone on to visit Washington D.C. funded by sponsors. This included meeting congressmen and senators for their state and district. Some students expressed interest in working in government, including summer volunteering to assist with local government. Others former students worked in the U.S. Congress, developing further interest in going into government. Jessica discusses finding funding to give rural students trips to Washington DC as an experiential learning opportunity. Jessica shares that learning can be fun, and plenty of ways to engage students in experiential learning. Jessica Culver's Bio Jessica Culver teaches Civics/Economics and concurrent college credit history courses at Ozark High School in Ozark, Arkansas, and is in her twentieth year of teaching. She is a Bill of Rights Institute Teacher, a Fulbright Teacher for Global Classrooms, a U.S. Institute of Peace Teacher, a National Constitution Center Constitutional Fellow, an ARTeacher Fellow, a member of the Educating for American Democracy Educator Task Force, a National History Day Teacher, a Sacrifice for Freedom NHD program participant for 2023 with a student partner, an iCivics teacher, an Economics Arkansas Master Economics Teacher, a member of NCSS, a member of the ACSS (Arkansas Council for the Social Studies) Board, and a National Geographic Educator. Jessica enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, podcasts, and doing yoga. https://www.facebook.com/jessica.culver.39 Sponsors for today's episode My credential https://www.mycredential.com/ WinLearning https://www.winlearning.com/

Feedback & Shout Outs (1:34) I am thrilled to welcome Tech Tools for Teachers and Speaking with Students to the Education Podcast Network! These two new shows bring valuable perspectives and insights to the education community. Tech Tools for Teachers, hosted by Shanna Martin, offers practical advice and recommendations for integrating technology into the classroom. Meanwhile, Speaking with Students, hosted by Will Andresen, provides a platform for students to share their experiences and perspectives on education. Congratulations to Mike Dodge, Sam Fecich, Chris Stuchko, Dan Gallagher, and Steve Chisnell for winning a t-shirt! I hope they enjoy wearing their shirts and spreading the word about the House of #EdTech. Thank you for your support and for being part of this community. EdTech Thought (6:00) My thought is a satirical critique of replacing human teachers with ChatGPT. I point out the absurdity of relying on a cold algorithm that spits out answers like a vending machine and can make witty jokes and puns. I used quotes from supposedly satisfied users of ChatGPT to highlight the negative consequences of using such a program, such as the lack of original thought and critical thinking. I end by mocking the idea of upgrading the personality of ChatGPT, implying that it is ridiculous to think that a machine can replace human teachers who can provide a personal connection and expertise. Featured Content (8:32) Mobile devices have become increasingly popular in education due to their ability to provide students with access to educational resources and tools anytime and anywhere. With the rise of mobile technology, students can now use their smartphones and tablets to access educational apps, e-books, online courses, and educational videos, among other resources. Mobile devices also offer teachers and professors the opportunity to provide personalized learning experiences and interactive activities that enhance student engagement. One of the biggest advantages of mobile devices in education is their ability to promote digital literacy and 21st-century skills. Through the use of mobile technology, students can develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills, which are essential for success in today's workforce. Additionally, mobile devices can help bridge the digital divide by providing equal access to educational resources for students in remote or underprivileged areas. However, it is important to note that the integration of mobile devices in education should be done strategically and with proper planning to ensure that it aligns with the learning objectives and goals of the curriculum. CLICK HERE TO GET A FREE CELL PHONE EXPECTATIONS POSTER EdTech Recommendation (28:01) For Elementary School: Duolingo - (https://www.duolingo.com/) Epic! - (https://www.getepic.com/) Prodigy Math Game - (https://www.prodigygame.com/) ScratchJr - (https://www.scratchjr.org/) Khan Academy Kids - (https://learn.khanacademy.org/khan-academy-kids/) For Middle School: Quizlet - (https://quizlet.com/) Google Classroom - (https://classroom.google.com/) Photomath - (https://photomath.app/) iCivics - (https://www.icivics.org/) Grammarly Keyboard - (https://www.grammarly.com/mobile/keyboard) For High School: Khan Academy - (https://www.khanacademy.org/) WolframAlpha - (https://www.wolframalpha.com/) Evernote - (https://evernote.com/) StudyBlue - (https://www.studyblue.com/) Forest - (https://www.forestapp.cc/)  

Erin Lewis joined the Center for Innovation & Change in June 2015 as a program director, became interim director in 2019, and was appointed executive director in 2021. Prior to joining the Center, she served as former United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's Director of Outreach at iCivics, directing its national field networks, communications and partnerships. She also served as a Research Assistant at the Indiana University Public Policy Institute, Indiana's Director of Civic Education for six years, and is a former United States Marine, having completed Officer Candidate School in Quantico. She obtained her Masters of Public Affairs in Policy Analysis with Honors from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI. While there, she helped create the Center for Civic Literacy, and completed IU's rigorous Oxford University comparative climate change summer program in England. In 2013, she was one of only three graduate students to receive the William M. Plater Civic Engagement Medallion for service to the community. She also serves as advisor to UE's Dance Company and the Alpha Phi Omega co-ed service fraternity, and is a proud UE alumna - having received her B.S. in Political Science and Psychology from the University of Evansville in 2001. In 2018-2019, she was named UE's Administrator of the Year.) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bigedidea/message

Sphere Education Initiatives and iCivics are excited to invite you to a free professional development webinar on “Students, Teachers, and Free Speech”to be held over Zoom from 7:30 – 9:00 pm Eastern on December 13th. As we approach Bill of Rights Day, join educators from across the country and leading experts on the Constitution and the Supreme Court to learn more about the history of free speech cases and the impact they have on you as an educator.Our featured panelists include Thomas A. Berry, a research fellow in the Cato Institute's Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and managing editor of the Cato Supreme Court Review, Linda R. Monk, constitutional scholar and author of The Bill of Rights: A User's Guide, and Julie Silverbrook, Senior Director of Partnerships and Constitutional Scholar in Residence at iCivics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time to test how well you know the U.S. Constitution. Julie Silverbrook, constitutional scholar in residence at iCivics, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss 35 new short-form videos designed to engage children about the basics of American democracy. And while the program is designed for kids, we'll also talk about gaps in what adults understand about the law of the land. The series is called “The Constitution Explained.”

"In order for a system of self-government to work, it required an informed and engaged citizenry," says Julie Silverbrook, a constitutional scholar who works for iCivics, a platform that provides civic education resources for teachers and students. She explains how civic education fosters a public perceptive to current affairs, how iCivics reaches its audience effectively, and how schools can incorporate civics curriculums. She also gives us a bite-size civics lesson, giving insight into the Constitution, the courts, and the breakdown of deliberation in government.

How should young children learn about their social world? How should elementary educators prepare students for life in a democratic society? What is Kid Citizen, and what can children learn from it?In this episode, Brett talks to Professors Ilene and Michael Berson from the University of South Florida.  They discuss their online civic education site, Kid Citizen, which includes activities and curricula to strengthen young children's civic learning. In addition, they share  their ideas and research on how elementary school children learn about their social world. You'll also hear a bit about how the Bersons met, got married, and ended up working together. Thanks for listening, subscribing, and sharing! Links Related to KidCitizenKidCitizen  Library of Congress Teachers  TPS Teachers Network  iCivics Exploring Primary Sources  Educating for American Democracy  Social Studies Innovation Network  About this Episode's GuestsIlene R. Berson Michael J. Berson ESD Podcast Resources:Education for Sustainable Democracy HomepageBrett Levy's Open-Access Research ArticlesEducation for Sustainable Democracy Facebook Page (Please Like!)ESD Episode on iCivics, with CEO Emma HumphriesSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/esdpodcast)

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Civics education is truly a critical piece of participation in democracy. But many argue that civics has taken a back seat, and traditional ways of teaching civics have not done enough to get students and the electorate excited about civics. Dr. Emma Humphries joins us to share more about why the nationwide organization iCivics is dedicated to not only bringing back civics in classrooms, but also making them more educational and fun for people of all ages.Learn more about iCivics at www.icivics.org and the Educating for American Democracy Initiative at www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org!Follow Emma on Twitter!@GatorCitizenTo learn more about this podcast and subscribe, visit shermantylawsky.com now for more!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/friendsfellowcitizens)

The kids in the opening of our last episode, “I Want My FYI,” were in need of civics all the back in 1990. Today, Civics is absent from the national curriculum, now when we need it so much, Lauren sits down with Carrie Ray-Hill, Director of Digital Learning at iCivics, “founded by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in 2009 to ensure that all Americans have the knowledge and will to participate in our unique experiment in self-government,' A non-profit civic non-partisan, free to more than “7.6 million students annually, in all 50 states” in Middle School and High School.” Lauren talks with Carrie about ICivics' use of Video Games to help kids (and us!) learn how our country works. And yes, we also talk about Murphy Brown!

Today's show rundown: Chuck learned about John Adams getting censored for saying "Slavery" Abraham Lincoln carried John Adams body off the floor of Congress when he passed The Left Can never survuive on the Truth The White House is celebrating that it is cheaper to have a BBQ this year than last (16 Cents cheaper) 94 people shot in Chicago over the weekend Can we get a "Patriotic Week" over here? How Canada got its name - a joke from Dr. Young lol Canada is passing a law making it a 20K fine for the use of Hate Speech We meet the guest Steve Toth The Dark Heart of the Left, being projected onto us Steve went to the border with Pres. Trump The Federales are completely hands off with the Northern States in Mexico Kamala Harris went to El Paso where we have a "Big, Beautiful Wall" - but she wouldn't go to the Rio Grand Valley Thousands of these "ID bracelets" all along both sides of the river We had the Border Problem FIXED under Pres. Trump Did the Democrats WANT the border states to get a Higher COVID Rate? Texans have a sense of love for their land and their State Did The Alamo drive the cost of freedom and liberty to Texans? Teachers being told that you can teach CRT so long as you don't teach History Steve's Bill started as a social studies Bill - been looked at by the Attorney General Action Civics, or iCivics, protest Civics - renaming CRT Marxism is Bigotry - reducing everyone to the lowest common denominator The Black people that are attacking Asian's are doing so due to White Supremacy Why does the Left want to separate us? Chuck talks about his old Pastor Our Rights come from God https://twitter.com/Toth_4_Texas About Steve Steve Toth is a former Texas State Representative, an ordained minister and a local small business owner. Having, once again, heard the call to serve, Steve believes it is imperative to defend our Constitution. Babette and I have decided it's time to step up and fight to reverse the progressive trend in Texas. This is our time to answer the call and we do so with a great deal of excitement. Steve has a proven and verifiable conservative record. My candidacy will flow from deeply held conservative principles and a belief that government is overreaching, inefficient, and all too involved in our affairs. Career Steve Toth is an entrepreneur located in Montgomery County. He owns two small businesses, Acclaim Pools, a local design and build firm, and My PoolXpert, a pool maintenance company. The Houston Chronicle has featured Steve Toth in the Business Section and his firm, Acclaim Pools, has been highlighted in several industry trade publications. Texas State Representative While a member of the Texas House, Representative Steve Toth gained a reputation as a firebrand conservative. He authored and successfully passed several pieces of legislation, most notably the Federal Firearms Protection Act, making it a Class A misdemeanor to interfere with a Texan's Second Amendment right, and the CSCOPE Transparency Act, which brought the liberal indoctrination curriculum known as Common Core under the oversight and approval of the State Board of Education. Representative Toth earned the title “Taxpayer Champion” and garnered an 'A' score from Texans For Fiscal Responsibility. He was also named “Courageous Conservative” by the Texas Conservative Coalition. Among other distinctions, Toth was honored as "Top Rated Conservative in the Texas House" by the Texas Eagle Forum and received a 100% rating from the Texas chapter of Concerned Women for America. In addition, he obtained the second highest score in the Texas legislature from Young Conservative...

On deck in this episode, we do Yelp-style reviews of: Explode the Code, Exploring Nature with Children, Memoria Press Latin, Galore Park, Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting, Italics: Beautiful Handwriting for Children, Getting Started with Latin (etc), Guest Hollow, Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind, Hake Grammar, First Language Lessons, Hey, Andrew! Teach Me: Some Greek, Henle Latin, Pandia Press, History Odyssey, Human Odyssey, History Quest by Pandia Press, Handwriting Without Tears, iCivics, IEW, Institute for Excellence in Writing, Jump Math, Killgallon, Kumon, Life of Fred, Lingua Latina, Book of Lively Latin, Living Memory, Logic of English, Lost Tools of Writing

SUBSCRIBE HERE TO BIGTENTUSALearn More About ICIVICSBigTentUSA: United For Democracy This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigtentnews.substack.com

In honor of Law Day on May 1, our latest Rule of Law Talk conversation focuses on an exciting new civics education effort, the Educating for American Democracy (EAD) initiative, spearheaded by iCivics and dozens of other organizations and institutions, including the American Bar Association. WJP's Elizabeth Andersen is joined by the Executive Director of iCivics, Louise Dubé; the President-Elect of the American Bar Association, Reginald Turner; and an experienced high school civics educator from Nevada, Averill Kelley, who in addition to his work on the civics front lines, has worked with both the ABA and iCivics to support their work.

A healthy constitutional democracy requires a citizenry that has the knowledge, skills and desire to participate in it. The United States is incredibly polarized, and we now have a citizenry and electorate that are poorly trained to meet the modern challenges we are facing. One major reason? The country has disinvested in history and civic education. For example, at the federal level, we spend approximately $50 per student per year on STEM fields and approximately 5 cents per student per year on civics. A lack of consensus about the substance of history and civics education—what and how to teach—has been a major obstacle to maintaining excellence in history and civics education in recent decades. In response to this critical moment, The Commonwealth Club is pleased to support a new effort, Educating for American Democracy, a significant new initiative to provide tools to make civics and history a priority so we as a country can rebuild our civic strength. This education-based special program will focus on this new effort with three participants who participated in the development of the project. Educating for American Democracy is an unprecedented, cross-ideological effort to provide guidance for excellence in civic and history education for all K–12 students—and to enhance the way in which the subjects are taught in schools so they generate prepared, informed and engaged citizens. The project was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the U.S. Department of Education through a grant to iCivics, Harvard University, Tufts University and Arizona State University. A national network of more than 300 scholars, educators and practitioners from ideologically and demographically diverse backgrounds have collaborated to create a roadmap and accompanying documents that provide suggested educational strategies and content for history and civics at every grade level—along with strategies for implementation in schools—so every state and district can fit the needs of their own, different communities. States and local school districts can use the roadmap to transform the way they teach civics and history so it meets the needs of today’s diverse 21st century K–12 student body. The roadmap is not a national curriculum, nor is it a mandate. It is a series of guidelines that states and districts may opt to use. It is committed to providing instructional strategies and content for all learners to ensure that excellent history and civic learning opportunities are delivered equitably throughout the country. Last year, at the beginning of the pandemic, The Commonwealth Club launched its own civics education effort, Creating Citizens, with founding support from the Koret Foundation. This program is part of that growing effort. NOTES Part of The Commonwealth Club's Creating Citizens initiative. SPEAKERS Paul Carrese Founding Director, School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership, Arizona State University Michelle Herczog Coordinator III, History-Social Science, Los Angeles County Office of Education Kent McGuire Program Director, Education, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Emma Humphries Ph.D., Chief Education Officer, iCivics; Deputy Director, CivXNow—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on March 5th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A healthy constitutional democracy requires a citizenry that has the knowledge, skills and desire to participate in it. The United States is incredibly polarized, and we now have a citizenry and electorate that are poorly trained to meet the modern challenges we are facing. One major reason? The country has disinvested in history and civic education. For example, at the federal level, we spend approximately $50 per student per year on STEM fields and approximately 5 cents per student per year on civics. A lack of consensus about the substance of history and civics education—what and how to teach—has been a major obstacle to maintaining excellence in history and civics education in recent decades. In response to this critical moment, The Commonwealth Club is pleased to support a new effort, Educating for American Democracy, a significant new initiative to provide tools to make civics and history a priority so we as a country can rebuild our civic strength. This education-based special program will focus on this new effort with three participants who participated in the development of the project. Educating for American Democracy is an unprecedented, cross-ideological effort to provide guidance for excellence in civic and history education for all K–12 students—and to enhance the way in which the subjects are taught in schools so they generate prepared, informed and engaged citizens. The project was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the U.S. Department of Education through a grant to iCivics, Harvard University, Tufts University and Arizona State University. A national network of more than 300 scholars, educators and practitioners from ideologically and demographically diverse backgrounds have collaborated to create a roadmap and accompanying documents that provide suggested educational strategies and content for history and civics at every grade level—along with strategies for implementation in schools—so every state and district can fit the needs of their own, different communities. States and local school districts can use the roadmap to transform the way they teach civics and history so it meets the needs of today's diverse 21st century K–12 student body. The roadmap is not a national curriculum, nor is it a mandate. It is a series of guidelines that states and districts may opt to use. It is committed to providing instructional strategies and content for all learners to ensure that excellent history and civic learning opportunities are delivered equitably throughout the country. Last year, at the beginning of the pandemic, The Commonwealth Club launched its own civics education effort, Creating Citizens, with founding support from the Koret Foundation. This program is part of that growing effort. NOTES Part of The Commonwealth Club's Creating Citizens initiative. SPEAKERS Paul Carrese Founding Director, School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership, Arizona State University Michelle Herczog Coordinator III, History-Social Science, Los Angeles County Office of Education Kent McGuire Program Director, Education, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Emma Humphries Ph.D., Chief Education Officer, iCivics; Deputy Director, CivXNow—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on March 5th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Passionate about bringing awareness and knowledge to systemic racism, Laura & Ashley couldn't let Black History Month go by without discussing the need to do better. Watching the movie “American Skin” prompted them to have a vulnerable but real discussion regarding race and what they are doing daily to become catalysts of change. As a white mother to a Black child, Laura discusses what she's doing, to the best of her ability, to prepare her child for the unfortunate world we live in. Ashley discusses what it's like to raise her white child to be an ally to our Black community and part of the solution rather than part of the problem. They may not always get it right but they will never stop trying and they will never stop learning because people they love depend on all of us doing better. We hope all of you will join us and not be afraid to have the tough conversations that so desperately need to be had. Below you will find some resources to help navigate this very real issue. Please utilize these links and continue to have the conversations within your own circles. iCivics - https://www.icivics.org/news/blog-post/black-history-month-lesson-plans-and-resources-classroom-0?emci=94f141cd-a864-eb11-9889-00155d43c992&emdi=6865c89d-5665-eb11-9889-00155d43c992&ceid=9541833&fbclid=IwAR1Uy3ob5a4yg8j4fnbxzBvnQEf99Ywap-uOhA6Wp0g6W47Rn2CEDksjvXUASCA Anti-Racism Resources - https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Publications-Research/Publications/Free-ASCA-Resources/Anti-Racism-ResourcesBlack History Month Library (Google Drive) - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0Bz011IF2Pu9TUWIxVWxybGJ1Ync

Just two weeks after the Capitol attack that resulted in five deaths, delayed the official counting of the Electoral College votes, and led to the second impeachment of a president of the United States for the first time in American history, a new president has been inaugurated in a Washington, D.C. that was on near lockdown due to the threat of domestic terrorism. Education leaders, civic advocates and public officials recognize that one of the most important ways the country can respond to this challenging moment is through an embrace of civics education, along with a significant boost in efforts that enable all U.S. citizens to understand the civic structures of the country, as well as the roles and responsibilities of its citizens and its elected officials. Just days after the Capitol attack, the Washington, D.C.-based The Hill published a powerful editorial about the urgent need for a renewed push for civics education. In it, Lauren Leader and Mark K. Updegrove noted, . . . Like the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that pulled the U.S. directly into World War II, the siege on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 by a violent mob will be remembered as a “day which will live in infamy.” Much will be written about the circumstances that led to the desecration of the Capitol….but as we move forward, it's just as urgent to consider how we can build the foundations of a more unified nation with a deeper common understanding of what it really means to be American. . . . Part of the answer lies in civics education." Please join us for a special program as Leader and Updegrove are joined by the heads of iCivics, Louise Dube, and Generation Citizen, Elizabeth Clay Roy, to discuss why an urgent call to action for civics education is so important for the country. NOTES The program is part of The Commonwealth Club's "Creating Citizens" initiative, created with generous support from the Koret Foundation and others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Perhaps the greatest legacy of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is her creation of iCivics, the nonprofit that uses digital games to educate American school children about democracy and civic engagement. In this episode of our special series, 10 Days of Giving Back, we talk to executive director Louise Dube to learn why iCivics has been more crucial than ever this year and how you can help. Learn more at icivics.org. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

This mini-episode provides an overview of a new site that Brett Levy designed to help educators teach about the election: www.teachingelections.orgThe site includes downloadable lesson plans, research articles, and links to various other resources, with new content added every few days until Election Day. The lesson plans featured on the site were designed to be interactive, engaging, inquiry-oriented, and content-rich. For example, one lesson is framed with the simple but important question – Which Candidate Should We Elect and Why? – and has students explore their own political identities, the candidates' positions on issues, and then which candidate better matches their own issue preferences. The site also contains a set of inquiry-based lessons related to the financing of political campaigns and a brand new lesson on how to have a fair election during a period of social distancing.   In addition to these lessons, the site has a page full of links to other great materials for learning about elections, including online election games from iCivics, lessons on voting rights from Generation Citizen, guidance on how to maintain a positive classroom environment during discussions of controversial issues, and an interactive electoral college map from the New York Times. And for those who love research, the site also has a page containing free, downloadable papers on what researchers have learned about teaching elections.  This is all available for free at www.teachingelections.org Young people are hearing all sorts of things about the election, and this site provides materials to help them explore the facts in an engaging way.  If you're an educator, please check it out, and if you like what you see, remember to share it with a colleague. The election's right around the corner, and this is a great time to generate young people's interest in public issues. Thanks!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/esdpodcast)

MTT046| iCivics, Building Civic Knowledge in a fun way - Neil Wrona Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, we will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. It’s an election year!  Do your students understand the complexities of our government workings?  What a great time to learn about how our system works, while the subject is in the news every day!  Join us as we speak with Neil Wrona, a 7th grade teacher at an alternative school tasked with teaching these young people how their government works and how they can make a difference.  All in a very easy to understand and fun way! Neil Wrona is a 7th year teacher who has taught at every level in the school system and every subject other than English. Neil’s undergrad was in Communications and Rhetorical Studies, and it wasn’t until his junior year, and a class that doubled as community service, that he realized he wanted to teach. Of course, by then he thought it was far too late, so he floated around for a few years after graduation, looking for jobs where I could teach, until he finally decided to get the credits he needed and enrolled in a Masters in the Arts of Teaching program. Over the years, Neil has fallen in love with civics education and everything it can provide for students: a way to understand how decisions are made, an avenue to understand how power is wielded, and, most importantly, something that can make his students feel powerful. Once students understand that the government works FOR them, they realize that if they want change, they can make it happen. With the population Neil teaches, it’s not always easy to convince them of that, but iCivics has helped with ⅔ of that goal.    Contact: Neil Wrona Twitter: @neilwrona Email: lnwrona@gmail.com   Items mentioned in Episode 46: iCivics Website I’m just a Bill - School House Rock My Tech Toolbelt - Nearpod Episode Example Lesson Plan from Neil Wrona The Firm, Fair, Facinating Facilitator by Robert Ward   #remotelearning #distancelearning #icivics #podcastedu #podcasting #government If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend, and SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE TO THE SHOW!  Please share this podcast with someone you think might benefit.   Email us! Shannon@MyTechToolbelt.com Brenda@MyTechToolbelt.com   We would love to hear from you!  Let us know if you find our podcast helpful!  Is there technology out there that you would like us to cover in one of our episodes?  Contact us!   What’s in your Tech Toolbelt? www.mytechtoolbelt.com Twitter: @mytechtoolbelt   Instagram: My Tech Toolbelt   You can listen to our podcast on: Apple Podcasts Google Play Spotify or listen here Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music  

In honor of National Voter Registration Day, the team sat down with two nonprofit leaders to hear how they are using cloud technology to educate and encourage civic engagement. First, we checked in with chief education officer of iCivics, Dr. Emma Humphries. Emma explained how iCivics began and how they have used the AWS Cloud to create a platform dedicated to teaching K12 students what it means to be actively involved in our nation’s democratic process. Next, the team heard from #iVoted founder, Emily White. She shared how she turned her own music career into a mechanism to drive voter turnout with a data-driven, musical approach, all across the US.

The following is a conversation between Louise Dubé, Executive Director of iCivics, and Denver Frederick, the host of the Business of Giving. In this interview, Louise Dubé, Executive Director of iCivics, shares the following: • Listening to their educational partners allowed them to create for this situation. • Federal support for STEM is $154 per child annually; for Civics, it's 3 cents. • How the education sector will change as a result of COVID-19

Please follow Amber Coleman-Mortley on Twitter @MomOfAllCapes and find the website for iCivics here.  Follow Shelly Vohra onTwitter @raspberryberet3 and her blog at techdiva29.wordpress.com.  Noella Bickel can be found on Twitter at @noellabickelart and her website here. CREDITSMelissa Sidebotham, M.Ed.: Co-creator, Co-host, and Executive Producer. Mom of three. Principal of hundreds, teacher of thousands over the past 25+ years in education, and children's book author for EduMatch Publishing,Nicole Biscotti, M.Ed.: Co-creator, Co-host, and Executive Producer. Mom of four, teacher of thousands over the the past 10 years of education.  ADHD advocate, and author for EduMatch Publishing.Evan Whitehead: Frequent Contributor, Education Consultant, and Friend of the Show

Today's bonus minisode is a follow-up to our last episode about civic education. We're joined by Dr. David Dockterman, a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and host of Shaping the Future, as he talks about how teachers can facilitate difficult classroom discussions, particularly considering questions that may arise about the impeachment inquiry currently in the news. Dr. Emma Humphries, Chief Education Officer at iCivics, is back this week in an interview with Geraldine Stevens, HMH's Senior Director of Social Studies, Science, and World Languages, about social studies best practices and leveraging teachable moments when they arise. Then, Dock chats with Jayson Chang, a high school social science teacher, about how the impeachment conversation went with his students.Read more on our Shaped blog, including a full transcript and research for this episode: https://www.hmhco.com/blog/podcast-teaching-impeachment-and-controversial-issuesInspire your students to become active and informed citizens with HMH Election Connection 2020: https://hmcurrentevents.com/presidential-election-connection/To learn more about iCivics: https://www.icivics.org/

This episode of Shaping the Future is about K-12 education's democratic responsibility to teach civics. Dock is joined by Sylvia Acevedo, Chief Executive Officer of the Girl Scouts of the USA and author of Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist, and Dr. Emma Humphries, Chief Education Officer at iCivics.Read more on our Shaped blog, including a full transcript and research for this episode: https://www.hmhco.com/blog/why-is-civic-education-important-in-schools-podcastInspire your students to become active and informed citizens with HMH Election Connection 2020: https://hmcurrentevents.com/presidential-election-connection/More info about Sylvia Acevedo's book: https://www.hmhbooks.com/shop/books/Path-to-the-Stars/9781328809568To learn more about iCivics: https://www.icivics.org/ 

THE IMPORTANCE OF CIVICS AND CIVIC DISCOURSE IN K-12 EDUCATION with Louise Dube of iCIVICS, Larry Paska of NCSS and Kamy Akhavan of Procon.org

A VISIT WITH iCIVICS.ORG ,  Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's group Executive Director Louis Dube on teaching this election, engaging students with their game "Win The White House" and why teaching Civics is important every year...have we learned that yet?

    CIVICS AS A MISSION OF SOCIAL STUDIES EDUCATION Important topic with I-Civics ( Justice Sandra Day O'Connors group)  Executive Director, my old pal,  Louise Dube and Ted McConnell of NCSS' Civics Initiative and special guest, Dr Emma Humphries, Civic Engagement Co-ordinator at The Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida and a member of the ICivics National Teachers Council www.icivics.org  @icivics Presented by ABC-CLIO www.abc-clio.com  @abc_clio