By 1989, fascism had long been defeated in Europe, and reforms in the Soviet Union appeared to signify the collapse of communist ideology, prompting Francis Fukuyama to famously declare the 'end of history'. Since then, neoliberalism has been rolled out globally. This paper argues that, with regard to higher education, Fukuyama's claim that the…

This article argues that in divided societies, civic education fails to fulfill one of its most important social role: creating a more inclusive society that allows a democratic dialogue to flow across different ideological, religious, and cultural communities. This failure is grounded in two main reasons. First, civics teachers are socially and…

In this essay, a high school senior reflects on her educational experience as a journey beginning with her difficult decision to stay at Francis W. Parker School for high school and ending with her current search for a college where she can continue to explore the nature of education. Her narrative focuses on her experience in an elective course…

The social landscape of the United States can be mapped by using a series of cultural fault lines. This topography portrays conditions that descriptions of the surface fail to illuminate. Many of these schisms are the by-product of ideological positions that diminish personal responsibility and thoughtful civic discourse. If left unattended, these…

Education is people's most powerful tool for social progress and economic recovery. But inadequate access, due to financial constraints and lack of preparation, is hampering the efficacy of the postsecondary sector to advance economic and social progress. There are, however, signs of change. Ramping up investment in education is a pillar of U.S.…

The practical power of appeals to patriotism implies that patriotism in one form or another is here to stay. As such, arguments for the repudiation of patriotism cannot avoid seeming a bit utopian or ethereal. Practically speaking, we cannot repudiate patriotism and still have effective functioning states. To that end, political philosophers…

This essay presents Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential rhetoric as an iteration of an American synecdochal sublime. Eisenhower's rhetoric sought to re-aim civic sight beyond corporeal objects to the nation's transcendental essence. This rhetoric is intimately connected to prevailing political anxieties and exigencies, especially the problem of…

This chapter attempts to survey contemporary debates and research on outcomes of schooling that have been grouped together under the convenient label "nonacademic". This is not an affirmative labeling. As the nomenclature indicates, it is not a label that groups together things that share like properties. Rather, this is a label of…

Slavery's unequivocal evil lies at the heart of debates over apologizing for America's "peculiar institution" and awarding reparations. In The Problem of Evil: Slavery, Freedom, and the Ambiguities of American Reform, a provocative collection of original essays, the editors Steven Mintz and John Stauffer, along with 23 contributors,…

In this article, the author states that because people are willing to kill us just for being Americans, we ought at least to know what being American is. Yet many of our students have been taught painfully little about our nation's history, purposes, or achievements. In America's original founding narrative, faith and reason work together. Both…

More than 15 years have passed since publication of "Education for Democracy: A Statement of Principles", in which perspective and encouragement were offered to teachers and schools to instill in students an attachment to democratic values and institutions. In the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, this call is being renewed.…

There is a crisis in democratic public space in the USA. This essay explores key areas that are either causes or effects of the present predicament: post-9-11 fear, neoliberalisation/globalisation, migrating populations, and the growing power of right-wing fundamentalism, among others. (Contains 6 notes.)

This book presents the ideas of the president of Boston University on how America can change course and restore traditional democratic values. The primary threat to American freedom comes not from foreign nations but from societal and individual attitudes of self indulgence, extravagance, and a declinging educational system. A return to…

Surveys of attitudes toward multiculturalism of 190 Canadian eleventh graders, 584 eleventh graders from the United States, and 350 tenth graders from India indicate that despite general agreement with socialized abstract principles of democracy, students in the United States and Canada are not very tolerant of divergent cultural perspectives.…

American schools, especially their physical education and sport programs, provide some of the most hostile social geographies in all of society for gay youth. With the aim of transforming schools toward more democratic and sexuality sensitive institutions, this paper reviews the literature on sexuality and education. In the review, three themes,…