Public Schools and American Democracy: Why do we have public schools? Why have we lost faith?
Western Washington University Professor and Chair of History Johann Neem will discuss the place public schools have occupied in American civic culture, the topic of his recent book Democracy’s Schools: The Rise of Public Education in America (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017). The talk will take place at the University of Missouri’s Kinder Institute, a JMC partner program.
Thursday, February 15, 2018 • 5:30PM
Mumford Hall 133, University of Missouri
Neem will explore the historic purposes for the development of public education—educating citizens, developing human capabilities, and forging a nation—in order to raise questions concerning whether or not these purposes continue to guide our educational institutions and why we seem to be losing faith in them. The event is free and open to the public.
Johann Neem received his A.B. from Brown University and his Ph.D. from University of 
Virginia, and he currently serves as Professor and Chair of History at Western Washington University and as a Senior Fellow at UVa’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture. He is the author of Creating a Nation of Joiners: Democracy and Civil Society in Early National Massachusetts (Harvard University Press, 2008) and Democracy’s Schools: The Rise of Public Education in America (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017), and his scholarship has appeared in Inside Higher Education, History and Theory, the Journal of the Early Republic, and the Journal of Interdisciplinary History, among other places.
>>Learn more about Professor Neem here.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates about lectures, publications, podcasts, and events related to American political thought, United States history, and the Western tradition!
Want to help the Jack Miller Center transform higher education? Donate today.