Camp O’Connor USA

Camp O’Connor USA is a free, merit-based summer program for middle school students with a mission to educate, encourage and inspire the next generation of leaders. Participants in our civics day camp gain a deeper, experiential understanding of our nation’s democracy, branches of government, and the duties and responsibilities of citizenship.

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John Jay Fetzer Memorial Scholarship

The John Jay Fetzer Memorial Scholarship Fund benefits high school seniors who demonstrate exceptional academic achievement, leadership, civil debate skills and civics knowledge. Established in memory of our late Institute colleague, Jay was passionate about equal justice and equal opportunity for all. His compassion for others was borne out by the volunteer work he did at…

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Rediscovering Political Leadership, with John A. Burtka IV

The story is the same across much of the globe: citizens aren’t currently wild about their leaders. As John A. Burtka IV writes in the introduction to Gateway to Statesmanship, the “examples of elite failures are so ubiquitous that there is no reason to chronicle them all here.” Better, Burtka argues, to turn to history to “rediscover…

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Civics for Life Quarterly, Volume 2 | Issue 2

The research is clear: study after study shows that we Americans don’t know civics. This is especially the case for younger Americans, who data reveal to be less informed about civics than their older counterparts. Obviously there is a need for more and better civic education in schools, a proposition that consistently receives strong bipartisan…

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Civics 101: Micro-Lessons for Multigenerational Learners

Whether you never had civics in school or simply want to brush up, Civics 101 is here for you! While we are all encouraged by the increased call for K-12 civics education across the nation, we also do not want to neglect those adults, now out of school, who themselves want to learn more about…

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