Resource library

A Crucible Moment: College Learning & Democracy’s Future

A Crucible Moment calls on educators and public leaders to advance a 21st century vision of college learning for all students—a vision with civic learning and democratic engagement an expected part of every student’s college education. The report documents the nation’s anemic civic health and includes recommendations for action that address campus culture, general education, and civic inquiry as part of major and career fields as well as hands-on civic problem solving across differences. Commissioned by the Department of Education and released at a White House convening in January 2012, the report pushes back against a prevailing national dialogue that limits the mission of higher education to workforce preparation and training while marginalizing disciplines basic to democracy.

How would a campus best use this resource?
This report calls on higher education and many partners in education, government, and public life to advance a twenty-first-century vision of horizon-expanding education for all students—a vision with civic learning and democratic engagement an expected part of every student’s college education.
Learning outcomes
Campus partners will learn how to make college students’ civic learning and democratic engagement a pervasively embraced educational priority and a resource for democracy.