Local museums offer essential “civic field trip” opportunities that enable students to visit historic locations, participate in interactive exhibits, and learn from impactful scholars and content experts. During COVID, most museums created virtual tours for students.
The New York Historical Society (NYHS) is one example of a museum that provides exhibits, lectures, and workshops ideal for students and educators studying civics, American, history, and government.
In Spring 2021, middle school students at Luria Academy participated in NYHS’s semester-long program, Academy for American Democracy. Through artifacts and virtual tours of the museum’s exhibits, the students studied origins of self-government and created “zines” that promote the concept of democracy to an ancient Greek audience.
In Fall 2019, the Civic Spirit Scholars from Yeshiva University High School for Girls attended several events at NYHS including a celebration marking the 65th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education case. Professor Randall Kennedy of Harvard Law School who clerked for the great Justice Thurgood Marshall was the primary speaker sharing historical insights regarding staggered implementation and societal resistance to racial integration in schools. They also attended a lecture by Richard Brookheiser and discussed messages of liberty in their weekly club.
