As college students headed home for the summer, faculty from Michigan State University’s James Madison College kept teaching. They turned their attention to Michigan high school social science educators and rising high school seniors through seminars on American history, government and civics.
To mark 250 years since the Declaration of Independence — and as part of a grant made possible through the U.S. Department of Education — James Madison College welcomed the first cohort of its Academy for Civic Education. The college was the only higher education institution in Michigan to be selected for this funding, which powers the academy for a total of three years.
The program started in Grand Rapids, where nearly 30 Michigan social science teachers gathered in June at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum for a week of close reading of founding texts. Then, in July, around two dozen rising high school seniors stayed on MSU’s campus for a two-week program to learn about the ideals that shaped American history and visit key historical sites around Michigan.
So, how did the academy bring ideas surrounding American civics to life?
Teaching the teachers
The program, strategically designed by MSU professors to align with the state’s teaching standards, brought 28 Michigan teachers together to explore how social science teachers can more effectively introduce and discuss philosophers from Aristotle and John Locke to Montesquieu and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
“This year, more than any other, we looked at Michigan’s standards. What is it that the teachers are required to teach and how can we help them understand and better teach that material,” said Jordan Cash, an associate professor who is one of the academy instructors. “Let’s give them the tools, the foundation they need to best use these primary sources and find ways to connect them to practical and contemporary issues.”
Topics included statesmanship, foreign policy, science and technology, among others. Beyond the philosophers, texts from Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln were analyzed, as well as documents such as sections from the U.S. Constitution and the Federalist Papers.
The seminars included other Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy professors who are part of the project: Brianne Wolf, Tobin Craig, Eric Petrie and Benjamin Lorch. This portion was built on a framework of two prior years where local K-12 teachers came to Case Hall on campus, through funding made possible by the Jack Miller Center.
A key objective of the program was to demonstrate how primary original sources, rather than textbooks or summaries, could better illustrate key concepts to Michigan K-12 students.
“It is so important to go back to the original sources, to see what’s really being said and to wrestle with the arguments as they were presented at the time by the people making them,” said Cash. “There are different dynamics, there are debates and there are reasons for all these things, which is critical for understanding.”
Academy instructors strove to demonstrate meaningful and engaging ways to integrate philosophy and political theory into classroom lessons to support teachers in helping students understand the fundamentals of the American constitutional system.
Engaging the students
Back on campus, rising high school seniors stayed in the residence halls where they were challenged to think critically and debate topics such as American democracy, the role of government and free markets, supporting their arguments from various texts and philosophers.
In response to new requirements for teaching Adam Smith to students, Wolf integrated research that took her as far as the Scottish archives to help support creative curriculum ideas. On campus, that translated to students participating in live simulations exemplifying Smith’s economic theory from “Wealth of Nations.”
“What I wanted them to think through simulating constrained and free trade is to critically assess what is capitalism?” Wolf said. “What institutions does a commercial society allow? What are some potential benefits and drawbacks that we need to think about? But really, does it need to be villainized in the way that everyone does villainize it?”
Outside of the classroom, students visited key historical museums and sites. This included traveling to Detroit, where they toured the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Right down the road in Lansing, they visited the Michigan State Capitol and the Michigan Supreme Court.
Growing the academy
Looking to the future, the academy hopes to engage even more teachers and students. In fact, the number of students who applied was double what this year’s funding would permit — so the challenge is on to secure more funding to meet demand.
The goal of the program is to leave students confident in their understanding of fundamental American civics and democratic principles.
“The success of this first year of programming for the JMC Academy for civic education is more evidence of the growing recognition of the critical importance of this kind of programming for the future of our regime,” Craig, an associate professor at the college. “I’m so proud that JMC is playing its part in providing young people the opportunity to think through for themselves, and together with their peers, the meaning of our most fundamental shared political commitments, how these ideas shaped our institutions, and how they continue to influence our politics today.”
As for working with K-12 teachers, the program is the only one of its kind in Michigan, paving a way for how universities can partner and assist secondary education to promote history and civics here in Michigan and across the country.
This September, as part of the grant expansion, MSU professors will be offering a weekend colloquium to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence held on September 19 at Case Hall. Registration is now live. For students who are interested in the 2027 cohort, they can sign up for updates via this interest form.
