{"id":34398,"date":"2025-09-03T08:18:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T12:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/?p=34398"},"modified":"2025-09-03T14:34:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T18:34:35","slug":"civic-studies-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/?p=34398","title":{"rendered":"Civic Studies updates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My friend Trygve Throntveit and I sent the following email yesterday to a list of 508 people who have been involved with Civic Studies<\/a> institutes in the USA, Germany, or Ukraine over the years. It offers some news from the field. If the email missed you even though you have participated in Civic Studies, it’s because of my imperfect list-management, and I apologize; but please let me know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dear Colleagues,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are writing as the co-chairs of the Civic Studies Related Group within the American Political Science Association (APSA). This group is a cluster of activity for Civic Studies<\/a>. Under a previous name, it launched The Good Society<\/em> journal, it organizes annual panels at the APSA national conference, and it has its own list of 50+ members (who are included on this email).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also realize that the APSA group is less relevant to our colleagues in Civic Studies who are not political scientists or not based in the USA. Here we will offer a selection of news and opportunities for the Civic Studies field, defined broadly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Organizations related to Civic Studies<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0The APSA Civic Studies Related Group:<\/strong>\u00a0If you would like to join, first\u00a0join APSA<\/a>\u00a0and then navigate here:\u00a0https:\/\/apsanet.org\/resources\/related-groups\/<\/a>. (You do not have to be a political scientist.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0The Alliance for Civics in the Academy:\u00a0<\/strong>Inaugurated in Spring 2024 at a meeting sponsored by Stanford University and the Hoover Institution, the Alliance for Civics in the Academy is a nonpartisan network of instructors in higher education involved in teaching courses and developing academic programs aimed at civic education. Peter serves on the Executive Committee, and Civic Studies has been frequently discussed at ACA events. See:\u00a0https:\/\/www.hoover.org\/research-teams\/alliance-civics-academy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0The possibility of a\u00a0Civic Studies Association<\/strong>: Harry Boyte, Marie Str\u00f6m, and Trygve Throntveit have written a post entitled \u201cA New Approach to Politics and Professions: The What and Why of \u2018Civic Studies<\/a>,\u2019\u201d which ends by asking, \u201cHow should proponents (like ourselves) develop and expand Civic Studies as a field in these times?\u201d Please contact\u00a0Tryg<\/a>\u00a0if you are interested in helping to form a Civic Studies Association or a broader association for \u201ccitizen professionals and other likeminded Americans\u00a0to promote a civic political alternative to today\u2019s dysfunctional politics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Summer Institutes of Civic Studies in 2025<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0Chad Hoggan and Tanja Hoggan-Kloubert (Summer Institute 2015) led the European Institute of Civic Studies and Learning for Democracy in Augsburg, Germany in June<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0\u00a0Peter offered a short course on Civic Studies at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) in Ukraine in June and discussed the experience in \u201cTeaching Civics in Kyiv<\/a>\u201d on the Kettering Foundation blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Teaching Civic Studies in Kyiv, June 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, looking forward to 2026 \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0\u00a0Tanja Hoggan-Kloubert and Chad Hoggan are co-chairing the International Transformative Learning Conference on Oct. 21-23, 2026, with a pre-conference symposium on Civic Studies on Oct. 20, at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. Peter will provide a keynote address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Civic Studies Journals<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The Good Society<\/em><\/strong> journal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Good Society<\/em> is the journal of Civic Studies. The latest issue (vol. 33, no. 1) is half of a special issue on \u201cDialogue, Deliberation, and Community in Civic Life,\u201d guest-edited by David J. Roof and Sarah M. Surak (JMU Summer Institute \u201823). The second half of the special issue is being edited now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultivating the Commons in Uncertain Times: Dialogue, Deliberation, and Community in Higher Education and Our Democracy. –<\/em>David J. Roof and Sarah M. Surak<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Articles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0\u00a0Higher Education and the Commonwealth<\/em>. Harry C. Boyte<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0Validity and Reliability of the Civic-Minded Graduate Scale in a Place-Based Experiential Learning Context: Integrating Ethical and Self-Construal Theory<\/em>. -Danka Maric, Grant A. Fore, Brandon H. Sorge, Francesca A. Williamson, and Julia L. Angstmann<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0Beyond Red v. Blue: A Four-Part Model for Cultivating Moral Vision in Higher Education. –\u00a0<\/em>Brandon Neal Edwards<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0Teaching Teachers With, For, and Through Dialogue: Demonstrating Democratic and Ambitious Social Studies Teaching Through an Education Foundations Course.\u00a0<\/em>William Waychunas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0Integrating Lessons about Community into the PreK\u201312 Curriculum.\u00a0<\/em>Katharine Kravetz (Summer Institute \u201809)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

New Political Science<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Surak is also a co-editor of New Political Science<\/em><\/a> <\/em>(the journal of APSA’s Critical Political Science section, newly transitioned to Duke University Press). She says that they are open to publishing and have published Civics Studies-related pieces that align with the journal’s mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Many appearances of J\u00fcrgen Habermas at a Tufts Summer Institute of Civic Studies<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>An open position<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Tufts University is seeking an assistant professor<\/a> of political science in the subfield of political theory. Teaching topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to, civic studies<\/strong>, the pursuit of justice, citizen behavior under conditions of injustice, the intellectual foundations of liberal democracy, and political rhetoric.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent publications and talks or podcasts related to Civic Studies<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0\u00a0Vachararutai (Jan) Boontinand and Joshua Forstenzer (both Summer Institute 2016) and Fufy Demissie, eds,\u00a0The Pedagogy of the Community of Philosophical Enquiry as Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives on Talking Democracy into Action\u00a0<\/em>(Routledge 2024), also including a co-authored contribution by Jonathan Garlick (Summer Institute 2016).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0Boontinand and Forstenzer, \u201c<\/em>Educating About, Through and for Human Rights and Democracy in Uncertain Times: The Promise of the Pedagogy of the Community of Philosophical Inquiry<\/a>\u201d in\u00a0Educational Philosophy and Theory<\/em>,\u00a0vol. 57 no. 7 (2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0Harry C. Boyte, \u201cRevitalizing the American Commonwealth<\/a>,\u201d in\u00a0The National Civic Review<\/em>, vol. 114, no. 2 (Summer 2025<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0\u00a0\u201cRestoring Power and Agency to the Public for Civic Studies and Renewal<\/a>,\u201d a \u201cFriends & Fellow Citizens\u201d podcast with Harry Boyte and Peter Levine, interviewed by Sherman Tylawsky<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0Albert W. Dzur and Carolyn M. Hendriks,\u00a0Democracy in Action: Collective Problem Solving in Citizens’ Governance Spaces\u00a0<\/a>(Oxford, 2024). See also their\u00a0summary article<\/a>\u00a0in the National Civic Review<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0Joshua Forstenzer\u2019s paper, \u201cDo the Unexpected! Democracy as a Way of Life and Real Politics, Or Why Deweyan Democrats Should Be Pluralists About Tactics and Strategies\u201d won the Educational Theory\/John Dewey Society 2024 Outstanding Paper Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0Chad Hoggan and Tetyana Hoggan-Kloubert,\u00a0Learning for Democracy: A Framework for Adult Civic Learning\u00a0<\/em>(Palgrave Macmillan, in press)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0\u201cProfessional Study of Civics<\/a>,\u201da Great Battlefield podcast in which\u00a0Nathaniel G. Pearlman interviewed\u00a0Peter Levine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0Prof. Sachi Ninomiya-Lim, Rikkyo University (Japan) used Civic Studies concepts in a keynote address on \u201cThe modern value of \u2018pollution studies\u2019 from the perspective of environmental education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0Benjamin Storey<\/a>\u00a0&\u00a0Jenna Silber Storey<\/a>, \u201cWhy Civic Thought?<\/a>\u201d\u00a0AEIdeas<\/a>,\u00a0May 14, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0American Enterprise Institute\/Johns Hopkins University conference on\u00a0Civic Thought and Practice: The Intellectual Foundations of Citizenship<\/a>\u00a0(May 16-17, 2025) with\u00a0archived videos of the panels<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0Shigeo Kodama (President, Professor, Shiraume Gakuen University) and Tryg Throntveit delivered\u00a0papers on aspects of Civic Studies at the International Political Science Association in Seoul in July<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Civic Studies at Colleges and Universities<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Ball State<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ball State University is launching a Civic Studies Minor<\/a> this fall (2025).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ball State project entitled Cultivating Civic Character for the Common Good (C4G)<\/em> was funded by the Educating Character Initiative at Wake Forest. A major aspect of this project will be faculty development and student activities connected to the Civic Studies Minor and Third Way Civics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Roof developed a new course at Ball State titled Citizenship, Community, and Leadership<\/em> (HONR 390) based in large part on Civic Studies and Learning for Democracy and using Third Way Civics. methodology. He will be teaching two related courses in the Netherlands this summer\/  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huston-Tillotson University<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Politics Lab at the James L. Farmer House at Huston-Tillotson University leads the Texas HBCU Democracy Schools Alliance, now in its fifth year. The Alliance serves as a statewide platform for designing civic architecture rooted in Black institutional leadership. By integrating institutional design and broad-based cultural and community organizing into a unified practice, the Lab builds Democracy Schools and creates civic infrastructure, lasting institutions, networks, and capacities that sustain democratic life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This fall, the Alliance will convene alongside a public forum series on the future of higher education. These events extend a method that links legislative outcomes, campus leadership, and scholarly production in a single strategic frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tufts University<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tufts\u2019 Civic Studies Major<\/a> was launched in 2019. About 50 majors and minors are declared at any time. The requirements include an \u201cIntroduction to Civic Studies\u201d course that is regularly taught by Peter Levine and Brian Schaffner, who is the Newhouse Professor of Civic Studies; it enrolls 50 students. There is also a required internship and a capstone course on communicating civic ideas, along with a menu of courses that meet requirements for normative reasoning, the empirical study of social action, and civic skills, such as dialogue and deliberation, conflict-mediation and peacemaking, community-based research, communication and media-making, public art, community organizing, evaluating nonprofits, or financing social enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All incarcerated or formerly incarcerated students in the Tufts prison program <\/a>are Civic Studies majors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

University of Sheffield (UK)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua Forstenzer regularly teaches an advanced undergraduate course and an MA course that is largely inspired by the Summer Institute of Civic Studies. It is called: “How to Change the World From Here: Utopian Vistas, Reformism, and Democratic Action”. It involves reading philosophical texts related to political technology (or the question of political means) from different historical eras, and students engage in a personally-selected service learning practice throughout the semester and reflect on it. It is very popular with students, regularly reaching full capacity, and receiving very strong student evaluations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forstenzer also leads an ‘Impact Case Study<\/a>‘ at Sheffield, which involves engaging in research-informed practice-based activities with non-academic partners (mostly collaborating with European non-profits) on the question of flourishing in challenging educational contexts, with a special focus on climate crisis education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Individuals\u2019 News<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0Tahima Yesmin Shova (European Institute 2023) defended her doctoral dissertation in Philosophy at University of Sheffield, advised by Joshua Forestenzer (2016), with Peter serving on her committee<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7\u00a0Yuriy Petrushenko, who has attended the Institute of Civic Studies more than once and serves as President of the Eastern European Network for Citizenship Education, was appointed director of the Fund of the President of Ukraine to Support Education, Science and Sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cClass Notes\u201d<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Among the first cohort of Civic Studies alumni (2019): Paula McAvoy is a Professor of Education at NC State; Whitney Barth is Executive Director of the Emory University Center for the Study of Law and Religion and professor of law; Michelle Bellino is professor of education at the University of Michigan; Meenakshi Chhabra is Vice Provost for Mental Health & Wellbeing at Lesley University; James Croft is University Chaplain at University of Sussex; Connie K. Chung is a researcher and consultant on youth engagement; Andrea Finlay is a Research Health Scientist for the US Dept. of Veterans Affairs; Elizebeth Gish is the Senior Program Officer for Democracy and Education at the Kettering Foundation; Katharine Kravetz is emerita at American University and has an article in the current Good Society<\/em>; Meredith Mira founded and leads Choice Points Coaching; Vedant Nanackchand teaches printmaking and human rights\/democracy at the University of Johannesburg; Sung-Wook Paik is Professor of Political Science at York College; Anna Rosefsky Saavedra co-directs the University of Southern California\u2019s Center for Applied Research in Education; Tim Shaffer is the inaugural Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Chair of Civil Discourse and director of the SNF Ithaca Initiative at University of Delaware; Laura Wray-Lake is a Professor of Social Welfare at UCLA; and Nick Zavediuk teaches at High Point University<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We welcome additional news for future (occasional) emails!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter Levine, Tufts University<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tryg Throntveit, Ball State University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My friend Trygve Throntveit and I sent the following email yesterday to a list of 508 people who have been involved with Civic Studies institutes in the USA, Germany, or Ukraine over the years. It offers some news from the field. If the email missed you even though you have participated in Civic Studies, it’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34398"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34413,"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34398\/revisions\/34413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}