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The numbers don’t lie. American civic knowledge is alarmingly low, and many people dread talking about politics—often choosing to avoid the subject altogether. Studies continue to reveal how little Americans know about their government. Young voters are the least likely to be registered to vote, and the least likely to turn out. Civics instruction receives the lowest number of K-12 classroom hours out of any subject, and it shows – AP US Government & Politics has one of the lowest average scores each year out of all AP classes offered in high schools. But Lindsey Cormack, associate professor of political science and director of the Diplomacy Lab at Stevens Institute of Technology, argues that all is not lost for the next generation of Americans.

In her new book, How to Raise a Citizen (And Why It’s Up to You to Do It), Cormack shows how engaging with children about our political system at a young age can help to better prepare them to engage with and understand politics and be catalysts for change. 

Cormack will be in conversation with Heidi Stevens, Director of External Affairs for the University of Chicago’s TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health, and creative director for Parent Nation, an initiative of the TMW Center. Prior to joining TMW, Stevens worked at the Chicago Tribune for 23 years, where she wrote a daily column called “Balancing Act.” She maintains a weekly nationally syndicated column. Stevens also serves as a FAN board member.