| Leading off this week’s curation at RealClear’s American Civics portal is the latest piece in our ongoing civic institutions series. American Civics portal editor Mike Sabo highlights the work of Hadley Arkes and his team at the Virginia-based James Wilson Institute in educating law students, mid-career lawyers, and seasoned judges about the natural law foundations of the Constitution. Through fellowships, debates, podcasts, essays, and more, the Institute strives to bring the principles the Founders appealed to in drafting the Constitution to the forefront of constitutional law. “As the culture becomes more and more deeply entrenched in relativism,” Arkes contends, “we need to recapture the wisdom of the founding generation, which can be found in the luminous writings of our beloved Alexander Hamilton, Chief Justice John Marshall, and our own James Wilson.” Wilfred McClay and Kathleen O’Toole argue that parents showing up in droves at school board meetings across the country demonstrates that civic education is in a state of upheaval. This situation can be ameliorated by adopting a good history and civics curriculum. It should discuss both America’s successes and failures, and, above all, “It means telling the truth about the promise of American life, which is as radiant as ever.” Hillsdale College’s 1776 Curriculum, 1776 Unites Curriculum, which highlights important black leaders, and a curriculum currently being developed by American Achievement Testing that is based on Wilfred McClay’s history textbook, “Land of Hope” are all examples of curricula that get this balance right. In a separate piece at RealClear’s American Civics portal, O’Toole further outlines the virtues of a solid and rich history curriculum. It should discuss American history, warts and all, she argues, and avoid using history as a means to forward contemporary political agendas. “Imagine a classroom where primary source documents, well-researched and engaging textbooks, and educated and talented teachers lead students through the whole story of American history, including its tragedies and triumphs,” she writes. “Imagine asking big questions of students, giving them practice in thinking through complicated questions for themselves. That’s the kind of thing that happens every day in classical schools across the country, and it can be adapted to any curriculum at any school.” Original Posts Kathleen O'Toole, RealClearPublicAffairs As principal of a K-12 public classical school, I learned quickly that teachers and students have something important in common: they hate to be talked down to. Sadly, that’s not th... Mike Sabo, RealClearWire In the News Andrew E. Busch, RealClearPolitics Robert Pondiscio & Tracey Schirra, RealClearPolicy Karlyn Bowman, American Enterprise Institute Rachel Hernandez, College Fix Madison Hahmy, Yale News Peggy Little, Philanthropy Roundtable Luke Gentile, Washington Examiner Michael Lee, Fox News David Randall, National Association of Scholars Michael Anton, American Mind Kelsey Dallas & Asma Uddin, Deseret News Aaron N. Coleman, Law & Liberty William Jacobson, James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal Jonathan Butcher, Fox News Scott Yenor, Law & Liberty Glenn Ellmers, Anchoring Truths Claremont Institute senior fellow Glenn Ellmers joined JWI Deputy Director Garrett Snedeker and JWI Intern Seth Root to discuss... Chris Flannery, American Story Booker T. Washington was born a slave in Franklin County Virginia just a few years before the Civil War began. With heroic Gary Schmitt, American Enterprise Institute Does Congress alone have the authority to send US forces into harm’s way? Or does the president have the authority to do... Jonathan Den Hartog & Tony Williams, BRI Scholar Talks Religion was at the heart of the founding of the American colonies, but did you know that it played a major role in political life... Wilfred McClay, Hillsdale College In 1941, American novelist John Dos Passos wrote, “In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s... Mark Bauerlein, Brian Jay Jones, & David Randall, National Association of Scholars In "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and its companion story, "Rip Van Winkle," Washington Irving explores themes of progress and... David Epstein & Bill Kristol, Conversations with Bill Kristol Covers the political ideas of "The Federalist" and its relevance as a model for thinking about government and politics in our day... Carl Cannon's Great American Stories Good morning, it's Aug. 20, 2021, a Friday -- the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to ... On the 19th day of August in 1814, British warships docked at the Maryland town of Benedict, on the shores of ... On this date in 1947, two friends who met as Stanford University undergrads filed articles of incorporation for a new ... |
