15 College Presidents Unite to Advance Civic Preparedness Across the Country
Rajiv Vinnakota , President As an American, one national characteristic that fills me with pride is our ability to come together, work hard, and achieve great things. This spirit is reflected in the new consortium called College Presidents for Civic Preparedness, a new initiative convened by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars. The 15 college presidents of […]
Strong Students Make Better Teachers, And Both Create Better Citizens
Michael Roth , President, Wesleyan University When Rajiv Vinnakota and I connected about the Institute for Citizens and Scholars’ interest in promoting civic education and civic engagement in higher ed, I couldn’t have been more pleased. For many years I’ve worked with colleagues and students to connect work in the public sphere with academic research, and in […]
College Presidents Plan Coordinated, Urgent Action To Champion Free Expression On U.S. Campuses
Diverse, new consortium seeks to uphold critical inquiry and civil discourse as central to civic preparedness Media contact: press@collegepresidents.org Princeton, NJ, August 15, 2023 – A group of 13 presidents of diverse higher education institutions from across the country have joined together to champion free expression on their campuses at a crucial moment for American democracy. […]
Duke Expanding Civil Discourse Training for Faculty Across America
Article crossposted from Duke Today. There’s a story Kenan Institute instructor John Rose relays to his class on civil discourse at the start of every semester. It’s from a speech by the Democratic strategist/CNN pundit Van Jones. “Jones tells his audience that there are two notions of safe spaces at colleges – one is a great idea, one is a […]
2023 Career Enhancement Fellows
Awards Support Junior Faculty in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Arts The Institute for Citizens & Scholars has named 20 new Career Enhancement Fellows for the 2023–24 academic year. The Career Enhancement Fellowship, funded by The Mellon Foundation and administered by Citizens & Scholars, seeks to increase the presence of outstanding junior faculty committed to […]
Civic Engagement Is About Much More Than Voting
Debi Ghate , Executive Fellow As the next election cycle looms, what do we, as civic learning practitioners, hope to see? In addition to seeing an increase in voter participation, we hope Americans do that with pride, as a civic duty. We hope our fellow citizens, who may be tired of partisan one-upmanship, still participate in […]
Celebrate July Fourth by Encouraging Youth Civic Engagement
Rajiv Vinnakota , President Citizens & Scholars President Rajiv Vinnakota writes in The Portland Press Herald about the historical significance and present-day importance of civic participation among the country’s youngest generation. Democracy began with intergenerational dialogue and action Time for a pop quiz question: When the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, how old were America’s […]
Civic Spring Fellows Named for 2023
36 Young Adults Address Local Needs The Institute for Citizens & Scholars has named 36 young adults as Civic Spring Fellows in the summer 2023 cohort. The Fellows are from six organizations or projects across the country, including New Jersey, Missouri, Texas, and Oregon. Their projects will tackle issues affecting local communities, including water health, […]
High School Graduates: Prioritize Connection, Hope, and Love
Rajiv Vinnakota , President “Each of you is a hero with the power to trigger a tsunami of change,” said Citizens & Scholars President Rajiv Vinnakota in his commencement address to graduates of the UChicago Charter School Woodlawn. Sharing his own family’s story—his grandfather was a rice farmer in India who dedicated most of his limited […]
2023 Mellon Emerging Faculty Leaders
Scholars Committed to Campus Engagement Named Mellon Emerging Faculty Leaders for 2023 The Institute for Citizens & Scholars has named 10 scholars as Mellon Emerging Faculty Leaders (MEFL) for 2023. Funded by the Mellon Foundation, the MEFL Awards support junior faculty whose research focuses on contemporary American history, politics, culture, and society, and who are […]