Dunn Appointed to the National Commission on American History and Civic Education
The Institute of American Civics (IAC) Executive Director Josh Dunn has been appointed to the National Commission on American History and Civic Education by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA). The appointment gives him the opportunity to contribute to a coordinated effort to strengthen the civic health of our nation.
The commission will work to develop a foundational course in U.S. history and civics for American colleges and universities. Dunn joins 21 other distinguished historians, political scientists, and education leaders on the commission, which plans to issue a white paper that analyzes the crisis of neglecting history and civics and the urgency of addressing it. The paper will provide critical guidance on the essential elements of these foundational courses and will also include the avenues to implement these recommendations in higher education.
Dunn has been involved with the ACTA for years, attending conferences and collaborating on research. Dunn’s scholarly work and research revolves around civic education, free speech, and the understanding of the Constitution. Having known him and his work previously, ACTA President and CEO Michael Poliakoff asked Dunn to be on the commission and help build out the full committee.
“The commission is balanced in multiple ways,” Dunn said. “It is bipartisan and includes scholars from several disciplines.”
As a part of the commission, Dunn and Poliakoff will jointly edit the anthology, American History and Civics: What Every College Student Needs to Know. Members of the commission will be contributing chapters to the anthology. However, the key take away will be the white paper, Dunn says it will lay out the importance of exposing college students to courses like civics and American history.
“A constitutional system like ours depends on informed and engaged citizens,” Dunn said. “If you want to effect change, you must understand the structure of the government.”
Dunn also believes that these courses can create a sense of reflective patriotism and citizenship, saying that it is the citizens role to hold the government accountable to the Constitution. However, that cannot happen unless they know how it was developed and meant to be applied. Dunn calls this knowledge absolutely essential, but that it can also build an appreciation and ability to thoughtfully critique how the government is functioning.
Through the IAC, Dunn and his team are committed to improving civic knowledge and civil discourse in the state of Tennessee through courses, student programs, public events, and K-12 outreach. It is becoming a resource for high school civics and history teachers, providing them with additional content that they can use in their classrooms to improve civic knowledge.
The Tennessee Civics Academy, which the IAC hosts each summer, provides teachers from across the state a platform to discuss ways to foster and teach topics in civic education and to nurture civic engagement and viewpoint diversity among Tennessee’s youth. More recently, Dunn has spoken to local teachers on the presidency at professional development days and to high school students on free speech.
Dunn hopes to use his appointment with the commission to spread the work that the IAC is doing in Tennessee nationally. This year, he has spoken at five seminars across the country for teachers, focusing on American history, the Supreme Court, free speech, and civil discourse.