A survey of the nation's civic health reveals troubling trends, with historic lows in trust among individuals and key institutions such as government, media, and the courts. Political polarization has significantly increased among Americans in the last 40 years, surpassing eight other democratic nations and challenging the idea that it is merely a…

The liberal arts tradition is under attack in the United States, even as it is spreading around the globe. That tradition was formalized in Latin Antiquity, but the essential questions and rational methodology that underpin it date to Ancient Greek philosophy. At the core of the tradition is the range of modalities of rational thinking, the main…

Democracy and capitalism are two of the most consequential institutional systems in the world. However, their dynamic complexity, current turmoil, and evolution make them challenging to study. High-engagement teaching can bring the subjects alive, motivate student exploration, inform choices, animate sensible policy recommendations, and make a…

In this article, the authors review higher education's evolving role in this nation's democracy. They then describe a new collaboration, the Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement (CLDE) Coalition, which responds educationally to the challenges facing our democracy. The CLDE Coalition aims to (1) reclaim and revitalize higher education's public…

Focusing on the work of the Interfaith Leadership in Higher Education Initiative, a partnership between AAC&U and Interfaith Youth Core, this publication showcases institutional efforts to broaden, deepen, and strengthen commitments to interfaith teaching and learning. [Foreword by Lynn Pasquerella.]

There has been a growing consensus among authorities, especially in the Trump era, that the U.S. is in an epistemological crisis that threatens its democracy. President Barack Obama, for example, in a recent "Atlantic" interview, said: "If we do not have the capacity to distinguish what's true from what's false, then by definition…

Many college students are motivated to vote in presidential elections. Like most Americans, however, they are far less likely to vote in elections for local officeholders. Often this is because they have little to no information about the candidates. Starting in 2020, with university support, the author and a colleague began providing nonpartisan…

Is assessment a top-down bureaucratic mandate, an undertaking that seems to have little to do with improving practice, an inauthentic activity that frustrates and disempowers, an afterthought? Or is it a process embraced and enacted together by all stakeholders as a means to learn and grow and enact change in the world? The authors of the…

Structural questions about the undergraduate political science major have spurred debates in the field for more than thirty years. Today, resurgent growth of unusually sharp threats to American democracy fuel familiar curricular questions with new urgency. However, the combined effects of inertia, bureaucratic hurdles, and resource constraints…

The article highlights a set of specific solutions for international journals -- "The Margin Lever". The proposed solutions relate to changes in publishing policies and methods of reviewing texts that may contribute to overcoming the hegemony of scientists coming from the richest, top-rated, perfectly adapted universities. These…

This brief discusses cases of neo-nationalist violations of academic freedom in Hungary and Poland. The most prominent case of neo-nationalist violation of academic freedom in Hungary is the fate of the Central European University (CEU). The circumstances of CEU's forced move out of Hungary came before the European Court of Justice regarding it a…

In this chapter, the authors trace the historical roots of civic learning and democratic engagement in higher education from the founding of the first institutions to the present day. In different major historical moments, universities elevated their mission to develop an engaged citizenry. Furthermore, public perception of the purpose for higher…

In 2023, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) launched "Leading for Democracy" to prepare higher education leaders to create the conditions for democracy to thrive--on campus, in communities, and across the nation. This project seeks to support leaders develop and foster a civic-minded campus; design…

Responding to an ongoing disconnect between higher education institutions (HEIs) and contemporary challenges communities face worldwide, universities can become a driving force to strengthen communities' capacity toward innovative solutions to the challenges they face. This article introduces an analytical framework that provides a roadmap to…

The ability to engage in informed decision-making about socioscientific issues (SSI) is an important aspect of scientific literacy. Although science knowledge and practice are necessary for developing solutions to SSI, additional skills are also needed to attend to the complex social, political, economic, and ethical concerns of such issues.…