The Civics Collection on PBS LearningMedia is designed to help teach middle and high school students about American citizenship, our constitutional democracy, and the complexities of our government and empower them as young citizens with a robust set of media-rich educational resources. We know that civics topics and themes are taught in a variety of classrooms, and the Civics Collection is designed to provide resources that integrate into existing curriculum, support students to develop key civics skills, and learn about civics through historical examples and present-day applications. Students will see themselves and their communities reflected in media featuring diverse civic actors and stories.
The media in the Collection has been curated to cover major topics in civics through historical and contemporary examples and explanations, featuring multiple perspectives on the past and accurately reflecting the diversity of our national experience. There are also resources in a variety of interactive media formats, such as interactive timelines, maps, and images, as well as self-paced student-facing interactive lessons.
The collection’s structure, media selection criteria, and support material formats were all developed in consultation with teachers and student advisors from across the country, and a group of wide-ranging expert advisors. Our Civics Leadership Council comprises a diverse coalition of scholars, policymakers, and civic leaders to ensure our content is comprehensive and balanced.
Civics Leadership Council
- Elyse Alter, Content Development Manager, Sphere Education Initiative, Cato Institute
- Melody C. Barnes, Executive Director of the UVA Karsh Institute of Democracy, University of Virginia
- Katharine Elizabeth Beaumont, Associate Professor of Politics and Legal Studies at UC Santa Cruz
- John Bridgeland, Executive Chairman & CEO, More Perfect
- Nadia Elizabeth Brown, Professor of Government, Georgetown University
- William Blake Busbin, Social Studies Education Specialist, Alabama State Department of Education
- Allan Carey, Director of Sphere Education Initiative, Cato Institute
- Luis Ricardo Fraga, Joseph and Elizabeth Robbie Professor of Political Science, Director, Institute for Latino Studies University of Notre Dame
- Kathryn Gabriele, History and Social Science Support Specialist, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
- Reuben Henriques, History and Social Science Content Lead, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
- Desiree Jones-Smith, Senior Program Manager with the Citizenship and American Identity Program, Aspen Institute
- Benjamin Kwesi Klutsey, Director of Academic Outreach; Director of Program on Pluralism and Civil Exchange, Mercatus Center, George Mason University
- Yuval Levin, Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies, American Enterprise Institute
- Peter Levine, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Lincoln Filene Professor of Citizenship & Public Affairs, Tisch College
- Eric Liu, Co-founder and CEO of Citizen University
- K. Tsianina Lomawaima, Arizona State UniversityHiroshi Motomura, UCLA School of Law
- Cecilia Muñoz, Office of American Possibilities
- Beth C. Rubin, Professor of Social Studies Education, Teachers College, Columbia University
- Timothy J. Shaffer, Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Chair of Civil Discourse, University of Delaware
- Tevi Troy, Senior Fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center
- Rebecca Winthrop, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Universal Education, Brookings Institution
Media in the Collection
Target Audience: Grades 6-12
Subjects/Skills: U.S. History, Civics, Social Studies
Major funding for the development and production of the Civics Collection was provided by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Germeshausen Foundation has generously supported Spanish translations and accessibility supports for student materials.