As students, educators, and public and private leaders participate in events across the country highlighting civics as a unifying force for 2024 and beyond, the U.S. Supreme Court Justices will participate in a conversation at Civic Learning Week’s National Forum, and the U.S. Secretary of Education and Archivist of the United States will be featured as part of an evening reception March 12, 2024.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 1, 2024 — U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Amy Coney Barrett, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, and Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan will join thousands of people across the country in focusing on the importance of civic education during Civic Learning Week, March 11–15, 2024.
Justices Sotomayor and Barrett will engage in a conversation for the Civic Learning Week National Forum at The George Washington University on Tuesday, March 12, at 1 p.m. ET. Secretary Cardona and Archivist Shogan will engage in a fireside chat at the forum’s closing reception at The National Archives, March 12, at 6:30 p.m. ET.
The two conversations come as part of Civic Learning Week, an annual nonpartisan event that brings together students, educators, policymakers, and leaders in the public and private sectors to highlight and further energize the movement for civic education in states and communities across the nation. This year’s theme, “2024 and Beyond: Civic Learning as a Unifying Force,” focuses on the need to make civics a national priority and a means to combat polarization.
Now in its second year as a nationwide celebration, Civic Learning Week includes hundreds of online and in-person events driving home understanding of what a modern civic education needs, and how the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that civics engenders can sustain and strengthen constitutional democracy and build civil discourse and understanding.
Civic Learning Week is sponsored by iCivics, A More Perfect Union, the Carnegie Corporation of New York; the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service at George Washington University, Microsoft, More Perfect, the National Archives and National Archives Foundation, and the National Council for the Social Studies.
“Civic learning is a requirement for a healthy democracy. It can be a unifying force for our country, particularly during times of deep division,” said iCivics CEO Louise Dubé. “Civic Learning Week will provide examples of how educators and communities are finding paths forward to bolster the knowledge, skills, and dispositions essential for engaging productively across differences—a hallmark of democracy—and bridging divides.”
The National Forum, which is open to the media, will take place at George Washington University starting at 8 a.m. ET on March 12. It also include panel discussions across several key themes that show how civics can act as a unifying force:
- How Disinformation (Including AI) Impacts Civic Learning and What We Can Do: Moderated by The New York Times Technology Reporter Tiffany Hsu, and including FRONTLINE Senior Editor Erin Texeira and Digital Inquiry Group Founder Sam Wineburg.
- Overcoming Political Polarization Through Investment in Civic Learning: Moderated by James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University Danielle Allen, and including Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Rogstad Guidera, Middlebury College President Laurie Patton; and state and local educators.
- Teaching Civics During the 2024 Elections—Can It Be Done?: Moderated by George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development Dean and Professor of Education Michael Feuer, and including University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education Professor Jonathan Zimmerman and D.C.-area school educators.
The National Forum will also include the release of several pieces of new research on civic education, as well as breakout sessions tied to the themes of the day. The Forum and closing reception are open to media and will be live streamed at civiclearningweek.org/national-forum.
A full list of local and national events that will take place during Civic Learning Week is available at civiclearningweek.org/events
