Thanks to my colleagues at Tisch College, here is a one-and-a-half minute video that introduces Civic Studies as a major at Tufts and also an intellectual movement. The speakers are my students and colleague (and me). It gives a sense of our daily life around here, for which I am so grateful.
In this episode of Pulse Check, entitled Reclaiming Free Speech, Democracy, and Discourse on Campus: A Post-2024 Election America, I was interviewed by Dr. J. Cody Nielsen. Recorded just days after the 2024 U.S. presidential election, our discussion addressed the election’s implications for higher education, democracy, and meaningful dialogue and civic engagement on college campuses.
See also: building power for resisting authoritarianism; strategizing for civil resistance in defense of democracy; countering selective harassment in the Trump Administration; time for civil courage (2016)
Last Monday, I gave a talk at Colgate University. I claimed that if you read a lot of mainstream survey research, you’re likely to conclude that “people are stupid and they hate each other,” but this negative assessment reflects some bias. A student, Colgate senior Clementina Aboagye, told Maddie Koger of the Colgate Maroon-News:
“I think it was important that we had someone like Peter Levine who comes from an institution like Tufts University to present us [with the idea] that as much as we may disagree with each other, we still have complexities in how we think — that it’s important we search for gray areas because politics isn’t so black and white,” Aboagye said. “Those gray areas are important for us to not only converse about, but also to give each other space to speak — even when we don’t agree, because we can’t always agree — and we live in a world where people’s experiences and access to things determine what kind of ways in which they think — that deserves consideration.”
The very next day, a majority of American voters chose Donald Trump, concluding a campaign marked by polarized media, misinformation, hostility, and attacks (from one side) on basic liberal norms. Yet I still think there’s truth in the argument I offered at Colgate, which you could watch in full here.
The previous week, I had given American University’s annual Lincoln Scholars Lecture on “What Should We Do? A Theory of Civic Life.” Although my topic was quite different, this talk also offered a more positive view of civic life than one would glean by focusing only on an ugly and dangerous national election. According to Ridha Riyani’s summary in the AU Eagle newspaper, I said,
“We disagree because we care, and we need to do it better. …
[Levine] ended with a call to action, reminding attendees that civic life extends beyond national politics and requires thoughtful collaboration.
“In conversation, we can move towards greater wisdom,” Levine said. “We communities are capable of changing the rules.”
I would not argue now that all we need is to listen generously across differences and explore the complexity of other people’s views. We must also stand up against injustice. Confrontational nonviolent civil resistance was a major theme in my AU talk, and I have been preparing for a Trump victory for several years. Still, there remains a place for listening, bridge-building, and collaboration, and I strive to offer useful concepts and skills for those purposes.
For the Yale Alumni Educators group, Mike Fishback moderated a recent conversation about navigating the 2024 election in schools. The guests were my friends Louise Dube, the Executive Director of iCivics, Jane Kamensky, the President of Monticello, and me. The video is below, and there’s also an audio-only file for people who might prefer that format.
Meanwhile, educators Michael Ralph and Laurence Woodruff regularly discuss research and drink carefully selected beer on their podcast, Two Pint PLC (PLC = professional learning community). Chris Carter joined them recently for a chat about my article entitled “Politics by other means: Civic education in a time of controversy,” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 705(1), 24-38. The audio is here. I would have enjoyed tasting Nordic Jam lager from Two Pitchers Brewery and talking with these great teachers about the challenges of discussing controversial issues in a classroom during an election year.
This is a panel at the American Enterprise Institute yesterday, part of a daylong conference on “The Future of the American University: Civic Education, Past and Present.” I am on the panel with Justin Dyer, the dean of the new School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin, and our moderator, AEI’s Yuval Levin. I made a case for Civic Studies as a new field and then enjoyed the discussion with my two colleagues and the interesting questions from the audience.
The rest of the day was interesting and valuable and can be explored here.