About Us
Who We Are
The Stanford Civics Initiative (SCI) is an Interdisciplinary Program. Its affiliated scholars are united by the belief that U.S. universities have a responsibility to offer students an education that will promote their flourishing as human beings, their judgment as moral agents, and their participation in society as democratic citizens. A healthy democracy requires that citizens and leaders be conversant with the ideas and civic practices of the past and present that produce and sustain their systems of government. Citizens living in a pluralistic society must learn to engage one another in rational and constructive discourse. They must find ways to meet new challenges and to promote the common good, together.
We aim to serve the needs of all Stanford students, and especially those who are eager to pursue a curriculum that enables them to explore in-depth issues of the common good and human flourishing, who seek to debate important ethical and moral issues, and who want a classroom setting that encourages both frankness and civility as they delve into big ideas. We believe that students’ own ethical judgment is improved and their deepest commitments are strengthened when they have the chance to make and to respond to reasoned arguments from all sides of morally challenging issues.
History of SCI
The Stanford Civics Initiative originated in discussions among Stanford faculty who had come to believe that the university was doing too little to advance education of citizens and so was failing to live up to the commitment of its Founding Grant of 1885, which specified that the purposes of Stanford University would be “to promote the public welfare by exercising an influence in behalf of humanity and civilization, teaching the blessings of liberty regulated by law, and inculcating love and reverence for the great principles of government as derived from the inalienable rights of man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” In May 2017, Professors Debra Satz and Josiah Ober submitted a proposal entitled “Democracy Matters. Educating citizens in the 21st century,” to a Presidential Long-Term Planning Process (“The Purposeful University). By 2018, after several potential donors had expressed interest in supporting courses in civic education, a university account was established; the earliest funds were used to pay Brian Coyne to teach two courses.. The great success of those courses, which encouraged respectful debate on difficult questions, led to the formal launch of SCI, with a faculty committee and an advisory board, in 2019. By autumn 2020 we were able to appoint our first two SCI teaching postdoctoral fellows, Meanwhile, the Democracy Matters proposal was accepted by the university committee tasked with redesigning Stanford’s first-year general education requirement. This committee, appointed by Debra Satz and co-directed by Dan Edelstein, proposed a new first-year curriculum, COLLEGE: Civic, Liberal, and Global Education, which was approved by the University Faculty Senate without any dissenting votes. SCI members played leading roles in the design and implementation of “Citizenship in the 21st Century,” the central (winter quarter) course which was piloted in winter 2021.
Support and enthusiasm for SCI continued to grow. By 2026 SCI had expanded its faculty committee, and was able to support two full time lecturers, five teaching postdoctoral fellows, and our first two Civics Faculty Fellows. In spring of that year the Senate gave its formal approval to the full three-term COLLEGE sequence and to the establishment of SCI as an Interdisciplinary Program, offering a Minor in Civic Thought and Practice. Plans were finalized for the Anthony Kennedy Scholars Program.
Stanford's Commitment to Civic Education
Building from Stanford’s founding grant and sustained by the belief that the American university has a vitally important role to play in the education of citizens, that role was recognized in Stanford’s first required survey course: “The Problems of Citizenship," introduced in 1923. Now, a century later, “Citizenship in the 21st Century,” the central course in the required first-year COLLEGE sequence, continues and extends that tradition. By requiring this course of incoming undergraduates, Stanford’s Faculty Senate acknowledges that the need for addressing problems of citizenship is, today, more pressing than ever.
In addition to COLLEGE and the new minor in Civic Thought and Practice offered through the Stanford Civics Initiative, Stanford offers hundreds of courses each year on issues related to democratic values and governance – and their alternatives. Every quarter, Stanford in Washington offers a cohort of students the opportunity to dive deep into civic learning through internships and seminars taught by Stanford faculty and national policy experts. There are hundreds more opportunities for students to expand their civic learning through Cardinal Quarter internships in public service. And student organizations committed to civic learning and engagement are active across the Stanford campus. Learn more about Stanford's scope of education, research, and engagement opportunities at the Stanford Democracy Hub.
Stanford is also committed to the values of pluralism. ePluribus Stanford is the university-wide initiative dedicated to strengthening critical inquiry, constructive dialogue, and engaged citizenship – in the classroom, residences, and woven throughout student life and the Stanford campus community.
Read more about Civics at Stanford.
Civics Beyond Stanford
The Hoover Institution has partnered with Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences to advance the project of civic education at Stanford and nationally. The Hoover-based Alliance for Civics in the Academy, a membership organization for college and university faculty, and other professionals dedicated to promoting civics in higher education was launched in January 2025. The ACA currently has over 250 members located at public and private institutions across the country. It features a resource library, a monthly newsletter, a regular Webinar series: Civics in the Academy, and sponsors convenings focused on various aspects of at universities around the country. SCI members are active in a wide range of other initiatives and programs aimed at fostering civic education.