Should Studying the Constitution be Mandatory at Colleges?
“they ought to require a course on the Constitution and civics”
Some schools already have mandatory courses in social justice and white privilege. Why not mandate the study of the Constitution?
Red Alert Politics reports:
All colleges should require a class on the Constitution and civic literacy
At my liberal arts college, I was required to take four science classes, two literature classes, two art classes, a Bible class, a writing class, and two “humanities” classes — but not one class on government or personal finance. Without my own initiative, I could have been both civically and financially illiterate.
Most colleges and universities required a diversity of classes in order to provide a ‘balanced’ education, yet academia has largely excluded government and basic life skills from these requirements. I learned how to properly dissect a squid, but never learned how credit works or how to balance a checkbook. Had I not elected to take a ConLaw class with my major, I wouldn’t have learned about the Constitution either.
In the 21st century, this is no longer acceptable. If colleges are going to require general education courses, they ought to require a course on the Constitution and civics.
One university’s regents are considering such an idea. According to the Daily Camera, “a handful of University of Colorado regents hope to implement a civic literacy requirement to educate the college’s students on the founding principles of the United States.”
Why is a course on the Constitution important? In short, it is what has made America great — enabling both social and economic progress for all Americans and the world since its passage in 1787.
Yes, for all Americans.
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Comments
Studying the Constitution used to be part of the curriculum for high school in Civics class. They did away with the Civics classes over 20 years ago.
I graduated HS back in 1979 from a backwater hick school. I learned more then than what the average college student learns in the first 2 years of college. I don’t know if today’s kids are dumber but I do know that the education system has been tremendously dumbed down.
I am not certain I would trust most schools to teach the Constitution without turning it in to a course aimed at convincing students that it is the root of all evil. A few years ago, Harvard (?) was given $50m for a “Western Civ” course with a positive spin. After several years, the school was unwilling/unable to do so, and they had to sue to get the money back.
I’m with Tregonsee. Any course that taught the Constitution in the current environment would turn into a forum for how it was racist, sexist, elitist, nationalistic, etc.
The Constitution should be a mandatory subject in high school.
Agreed. I used to teach Constitutional Argument and Research at the college level, and many of my students asked me why this wasn’t taught in high school. I made them read the Constitution and study its inception before they were allowed to formulate their first formal argumentative thesis statement. They were uniformly grateful for the experience and I had to turn students away because my classes were routinely over-enrolled. Give them the opportunity and most students will dive into this with enthusiasm. I’m “retired” from higher ed, but will always be immensely proud of my students.
Yes, but only if taught by a professor who actually supports the US Constitution. By all accounts, a pro-US Constitution professor may be hard to find.
Can’t get hired for a permanent position. Higher ed is in so much trouble right now that it’s hard to find even an adjunct slot. I “retired” and went into Real Estate.
POLSCI 102 – Government and Politics of the United States. Taught by a former staff member of the Kennedy White House.
An elective course, but much lively classroom discussion.
The leftists in charge of our schools will teach the Constitution as a “living constitution: The basic idea follows that the Constitution naturally adapts to changing conditions over time. This definition is their way of avoiding the fact that they do not believe in adhering to the Constitution as it is written or pursuing the correct steps for amending it.”
The Liberal interpretation of the Constitution revealed:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2010/aug/5/liberal-interpretation-constitution-revealed/
From the Amazon Post:
How liberals can reclaim the Constitution:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/07/11/conservatives-have-been-winning-the-constitutional-debate-but-liberals-are-about-to-stage-a-comeback/
Most blue collar workers would teach the Constitution more accurately than 90% of corrupt college professors would if they had to.
Teach the Constitution as a ‘living’ constitution so it can be destroyed — no less than teaching the Bible as a ‘living’ bible to destroy a religion.
Reformed Judaism is a great example: most liberal Jews identify as such. But reformed Judaism is no Judaism at all – except to the likes of neo Nazis and other anti-Semites like dykes on bikes. The great irony is that reformed Jew who aid leftists will find themselves exterminated for being a Jew after the leftist the reformed Jew helped gain political power. Nope, not all Jews are that smart.