A Curricular Solution to the Crisis of Civic Illiteracy

Epoch Times

09-05-2025

Commentary
John and Abigail Adams envisioned an America with a school in every neighborhood and a well-informed citizenry that was adept in languages, literature, and music, as well as science, history, and religion. Their vision was practical until the ages recast it, little by little.
Then sometime between Joseph McCarthy and Joan Baez, the status quo of the educational system came undone.
Students who had been accustomed to a traditional 50/50 split between the humanities and the sciences were capsized academically by the surprise Sputnik launch in 1957. The U.S.'s race to space sent higher education into a tizzy, becoming fixated on improving science education above all. In the succeeding seven decades, resources have consistently risen for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), which has been to our benefit. But this has come at an unnecessary cost: the humanities have been downplayed, devalued, and dodged.
That uneven ratio has bestowed an unfortunate historic illiteracy on three generations. Most people, for example, do not know the philosophical roots of the Declaration of Independence, their rights as laid out in the Constitution, or the civic virtues their teachers should have taught them. For these three reasons, many Americans do not vote in local, state, or national elections.
Even amid this crisis of civic illiteracy, only about 18 percent of colleges and universities nationwide
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According to
That gap in Columbia's history major requirements is deeply troubling, though it at least has a Contemporary Civilization requirement in its signature core curriculum for undergraduates that addresses founding documents and key concepts of United States government. Meanwhile, at Colgate University, which has no such option in its general education requirements,
'Students choose one of two pathways to graduate with a B.A. in history. Both require nine courses. The Field of Focus (FoF) Pathway requires one history workshop, seven electives….. The FoF Pathway allows students to devise individualized, intellectually coherent specializations. Possible fields of focus include environmental history, gender and sexuality, and race and racism.'
This reorientation away from the study of American history—even as a point of reference for students who are focusing their studies on other parts of the world—is now the norm in the American academy. In the 2020–21 academic year, 18 of the top 25 public universities did not have a wide-ranging American history requirement for students seeking a B.A. in history in the major or core curriculum, nor did 24 of the 25 best national schools.
Even the legendary linchpins of the liberal arts—Amherst, Swarthmore, Vassar, Smith, Williams, and Pomona—fared poorly: 21 out of 25 colleges examined did not have an American history requirement.
The consequences of forgoing the study of American history have a powerful effect on the population. Much of what is not learned—or stays uncorrected—turns into the misinformation that is so damaging in a free and democratic society.
When 8th graders were
In 2015, 10 percent of college graduates
In 2019, ACTA
In 2024, an ACTA survey of college students showed that fewer than half identified ideas like 'free markets' and 'rule of law' as core principles of American civic life. The survey also found that 60 percent of American college students failed to identify term lengths for members of Congress. A shocking 68 percent did not know that Congress is the branch that holds the power to declare war. Seventy-one percent did not know when 18-year-olds gained the right to vote.
All of these results were based on multiple-choice questions. All the respondents had to do was select the correct option out of four possibilities.
The late Bruce Cole, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2001 to 2009, admonished, 'Unlike a monarchy, a democracy is not automatically self-perpetuating. History and values have to be renewed from generation to generation.' Our failure to educate future citizens for informed civic participation compromises the country. Institutions need to take ACTA's findings to heart and, starting with their requirements for the history major, embrace their obligation to address the crisis in civic education.
From
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.