Higher education has a civic mission. The public knows that, but faculty and administrators seem to have lost sight of it. Instead of transmitting shared civic principles, universities often frame civics through polarized partisan lenses. Restoring civic education to its unifying role would require teaching democratic practices and constitutional ideals in ways that encourage pluralism rather than entrench division.

Guest Daniel DiSalvo joins us to discuss how civic education can help university students and the broader public disagree better and act together.

Daniel DiSalvo is professor and associate dean of the School of Civic Life and Leadership at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He serves on the Public Scholars Advisory Committee of the Moynihan Center and was previously professor of political science at the City College of New York-CUNY.

This podcast discusses themes from an essay by DiSalvo and Carlo Invernizzi Accetti in the Fall 2025 issue of National Affairs: “Civics, Partisanship, and the Academy.”