Museums and civic education will be topic for 'On the Issues,' Jan. 23

Jan. 22, 2025

MILWAUKEE - To kick off Milwaukee Museum Days, Jan. 23 to Feb. 2, local civics educators will be featured panelists for an "On the Issues" program discussing how museums can play a role in improving civic education test scores in Wisconsin. The program will be held Thursday, Jan. 23, at 12:15 p.m. at Marquette Law School's Eckstein Hall.

Derek Mosley, director of the Law School's Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education, will lead the conversation, which will feature:

• Dr. Robert Smith, Harry G. John Professor of History and director of the Center for Urban Research, Teaching, and Outreach at Marquette University; resident historian for America's Black Holocaust Museum
• Sarah Koplin, a seventh-grade civics teacher and president of the Wisconsin Council for Social Studies
• Keighton Klos, executive director of the Milton House Museum

A new survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation revealed that 70% of Americans would fail a basic civics test, with particular concern for the next generation of adults. This program will explore how museums and educators work to increase civic education awareness across all ages.

Registration for the free public event is required and available online. Members of the media who are interested in attending should contact Kevin Conway, associate director of university communication, at [email protected].

Through public programming such as the Marquette Law School Poll, "On the Issues" conversations with newsmakers, public lectures by leading scholars, conferences on issues of public significance, and the work of its Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education, Marquette Law School seeks to advance civil discourse about law and public policy matters.