June 21-22 // Tennessee Civics Academy

Symposium on Teaching Civic Knowledge & Engagement

Today’s political climate poses serious challenges to educating America’s youth on the value of civic knowledge and engagement. At the same time, opportunities abound for educators to cultivate democratic citizenship by encouraging students to become civically engaged and fostering critical and independent thinking, media literacy, civil discourse, community/public service, and other practices associated with a free society.

The Institute of American Civics (IAC) is hosting this event to create a space for educators to discuss ways to foster and teach topics in civic education and to nurture civic engagement and viewpoint diversity among Tennessee’s youth. The two-day event provides the occasion for educators to discuss classroom challenges and opportunities faced in promoting healthy discussion, viewpoint diversity, and civil discourse.

TN Civics Academy Shared Resources:

1. Using a “Gateway Game” to Stimulate Student Interest and Build Foundational Knowledge by Alex Cohen, Jon Alden, and Jonathan Ring
2. 2023 TN Secretary of State Civics
3. Tennessee Blue Book
4. National Archives: Educator Resources
5. Studying the Past to Inform the Present and Shape the Future, National History Day   
6. The Business Case for Civics Education, Harvard Business Review White Paper
7. A New Model for Civic Education in America’s Public Universities: The Institute of American Civics at the University of Tennessee by Marianne Wanamaker, William Lyons, John Scheb, and Hancen Sale