Civics Is Making a Comeback in Higher Education

A new report by RealClearInvestigations reveals that civics education is gaining ground on college campuses across the nation. Civics is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a social science dealing with the rights and duties of citizens.” This “ambitious movement to reform” and rebalance class offerings at universities is finally paying off, according to author John Murawski. Proof of this movement’s success is found at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which has embarked on a new effort called the School of Civic Life and Leadership.

Better still, Murawski reports that “More than 100 civics programs have arisen in the past quarter-century in academia – emphasizing everything from the Great Books and the Western canon to free markets and entrepreneurship.” The reform is the result of cooperation among “Republican legislatures, fast-tracked by conservative regents, and bankrolled by conservative donors”

Thus, students are now able to enroll in classes that teach constitutional rights, federalism, and diplomacy rather than “women’s studies, ethnic studies, African-American studies, and gender studies.” The movement away from such courses and toward a more traditional curriculum came about as conservatives took a page out of the progressive handbook and learned how to play the higher education game by identifying underrepresented areas of study.

College campuses have not been a level playing field for a long time. Murawski pointed out: “[S]tudies consistently find that faculty political affiliations skew leftward, usually leaning liberal or leftist 10 to 1, and in some colleges leaning left more than 100 to 1.”

Arizona State University’s School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership is one such effort that is thriving. However, these higher-ed programs are getting a lot of pushback from the ideological left. Jay Smith, a UNC historian, told RCI that the new civics program at UNC-Chapel Hill was an “intrusion” and “invasion” on campus. “To me civics is a code word the Right uses,” he added. “This is all intended to get students to get focused more on American greatness.”

Making Civics Great Again

Despite the negativity of the opposition, the civics programs are flourishing on campus. Instead of the narrow leftist studies, these courses encourage a broader aperture that fosters free thinking and free speech. Inside Higher Ed points out that the historical purpose of a college education is “To form character, refine the sensibilities, and immerse students in the best that has been thought and said; to think critically and reflectively about values, politics, and society; and to provide an opportunity to grow and mature personally and intellectually.” Perhaps this new movement in civics education at the college level will promote these ideals instead of standing in the way. One thing is for sure: It’s a course correction that is long overdue.

Takeaways:

1. Civics is a social science dealing with the rights and duties of citizens.
2. Civics education has been mostly missing from higher education for years, but it’s making a comeback now.
3. Some oppose the return of civics education, calling it a “code word” used by the political right.