In response to a sustained decline in public trust in institutions of higher learning, Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Josiah Ober, with support from the Center for Revitalizing American Institutions (RAI), convened a group of post-secondary civics educators on April 13 to share how they are working to nurture and expand civics education programs on college campuses.
In her welcome to invitees, RAI Director and Maurice R. Greenberg Senior Fellow Brandice Canes-Wrone cited a poll by Gallup that revealed significant declines in trust in higher education: respondents who have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of trust in universities fell from 57 percent in 2015 to 36 per cent in 2023.
Compounding this, RAI staff who polled more than 80 civic education leaders found that fears about polarization and a trend toward moral absolutism often inhibits university teachers, faculty, and students from exploring complicated, values-laden topics (like citizenship) in the classroom.
That’s why RAI has invested in convening civics educators to share best practices about developing rigorous, evidence-based courses for students, where the respectful sharing of opposing viewpoints is supported and encouraged.
Stanford professor of political science and classics , and Hoover Institution Senior Fellow (courtesy), Josiah Ober walked attendees, educators from post-secondary institutions across the US, through how the Stanford Civics Initiative works.
The Stanford Civics Initiative is a university effort to offer undergraduate students a series of courses concerning what it means to be a citizen actively participating in a democracy.
Over and above the critical role universities can play in promoting the value of participatory citizenship, at Stanford, Ober said part of the aim is offer students the chance at entertaining “viewpoint diversity” and highlighting the value of weighing opposing views as a tenet of living in a free society.
One of the courses supported by the initiative, Citizenship in the 21st Century, is taught to approximately two thirds of incoming Stanford freshmen.
Representatives from other universities asked about how the initiative is funded and whether it’s curriculum can be updated year to year.
Ober’s colleague, Brian Coyne, a lecturer in political science at Stanford, responded that the program evolves each year based on student reflections submitted upon completion, instructor feedback, and other adjustments meant to have the students in the course reflect upon current national and global issues.
The Hoover Institution and Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences jointly fund the program.
Representatives from other institutions of higher learning shared information about similar efforts. For example, one participant shared that the University of Denver is preparing to roll out a required civics curriculum in the 2024-25 academic year, consisting of 88 first-year undergraduate seminars, with 10 seminars that will focus on free expression and civic engagement.
Participants also discussed some of the challenges they face. For instance, there was a suggestion that the language describing civics discourse needs a revamp.
Instead of emphasizing terms such as “free speech,” as accurate and fundamental as they are, one participant suggested using the term “open inquiry” instead, as it is less divisive.
Others suggested using alternate terms such as “civic studies” or “civic thought.”
Across many states and various sizes and types of universities, several participants indicated a pervasive lack of civic engagement among the student bodies on their campuses.
One representative from the University of Virginia said after surveying their students, up to 70 per cent of students indicated they aren’t politically active at all.
There is also an emerging trend among some young people who say they are politically active, but that activity might only consist of “doomscrolling” news on social media, and do not include voting, participating in community meetings, or other traditional forms of civic participation. The Civics Initiative and the RAI supported national network of civics educators is dedicated to devising effective strategies for reversing that trend.
Participants in the conference agreed to share more information about efforts afoot at each campus.
To learn more about this and other initiatives of Hoover’s Center for Revitalizing American Institutions (RAI), click here.
