The grant comes from the American History and Civics Seminars Program and will support the university’s Institute of American Civics.
The University of Tennessee Knoxville has received more than $2 million from the US Department of Education to benefit the university’s Institute of American Civics, which is housed within the university’s Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs. The Institute of American Civics will use the grant funding to improve its K-12 civics outreach through a new program, Renewing the Republic: Strengthening Civics Instruction for Tennessee Teachers.
According to an article on the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s website, Josh Dunn, who serves as the executive director of the Institute of American Civics, was quoted as saying of the grant award, “We are deeply honored to receive this significant investment from the U.S. Department of Education. This support will allow us to dramatically expand our work equipping Tennessee’s K-12 educators with the tools, knowledge and confidence to teach America’s founding principles and constitutional heritage.”
The grant funding from the US Department of Education is part of a $153 million federal investment that is focused on strengthening history and civics education for K-12 students around the country. Through the Renewing the Republic: Strengthening Civics Instruction for Tennessee Teachers program, K-12 teachers will attend professional development seminars that will provide them with a deeper understanding of the US government and the ability to pass on this knowledge to their own students to further their civics education. The goal of the new program is to equip 1,000 teachers per year with this deeper understanding of American history and civics.
Dunn added of the program, “By growing our civic academies, seminars and professional development clinics, we will help ensure that the next generation understands not only the history of our nation but also the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship. As we approach America’s 250th anniversary, there is no more important task than preparing young people to sustain and strengthen our constitutional democracy.”
For more information about the University of Tennessee Knoxville, visit the school’s website.