Critical Conversations: Preparing Young Americans for Citizenship with the Clinton Presidential Center

Some conversations just need to happen.

Join us for a series of virtual community discussions inspired by the legacy of the US Constitution and the themes behind our free exhibition We the People: The Radical Notion of Democracy. Become part of the conversation, share your thoughts on constitutional issues that affect us all, and hear from thought leaders in civic organizations from across the nation.

This month, we’re partnering with the Clinton Presidential Center (composed of the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, the Clinton Foundation, and the Clinton School of Public Service) to explore just how to prepare young Americans for citizenship in the modern world. We’ll hear from Jay Barth, Director of the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum; Prof. Justin Driver, Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law at Yale Law School and award-winning author of The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind; Fernande Raine, entrepreneur and founder of The History Co:Lab; Wesley Hedgepeth, President-Elect of the National Council for the Social Studies; and educator Shannon Salter as we dive into how we need to rethink civics curricula at every level of our education system, what the appropriate rights of students in school settings are, and how classrooms might best deal with historical events that touch on our lives today.

Free, tickets required. Reserve your spot online or with Guest Services at (479) 657-2335 today.
Once registered, you’ll receive an email with information about the event and the Zoom link for your convenience.

Presented in partnership with the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum.

Jay Barth

Dr. Jay Barth was appointed Director of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum in March 2022. He remains the M.E. and Ima Graves Peace Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Politics at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, where he taught courses and carried out research in American politics along with coordinating academic and civic engagement programs on the campus. In addition to his 26 years as a faculty member at Hendrix, Barth was a member of the inaugural faculty for the University of Arkansas’s Clinton School of Public Service and has taught at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law.

After taking emeritus status at Hendrix in late 2019, Barth became the inaugural Chief Education Officer for the City of Little Rock, where he coordinated the city’s work to support education from birth through higher education. From 2012 to 2019, Barth was a member the Arkansas State Board of Education, chairing that body for two years. He also has held leadership roles on various nonprofit boards at the local, state, and national levels.

Justin Driver

Justin Driver is the Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law and Counselor to the Dean at Yale Law School. He teaches and writes in the area of constitutional law and is the author of the award-winning The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind. Driver has a distinguished publication record in the nation’s leading law reviews, but has also written extensively for general audiences. In 2021, President Biden appointed Driver to serve on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States. Driver is a graduate of Brown, Oxford (where he was a Marshall Scholar), Duke (where he received certification to teach public school), and Harvard Law School (where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review). After graduating from Harvard, Driver clerked for then-Judge Merrick Garland, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (Ret.), and Justice Stephen Breyer.

Fernande Raine

Fernande Raine, founder of The History Co:Lab, is a systems-change entrepreneur committed to strengthening democracy with the power of better history teaching. After spending much of her undergraduate years in Germany on student government and democracy-building efforts in the former Soviet Union, she completed a PhD in History at Yale.

She then joined McKinsey and, after a few years, was recruited to launch the social entrepreneurship organization Ashoka in Western Europe. She was a serial entrepreneur within Ashoka, starting and leading various programs for 12 years, with a sabbatical in the middle to run the Carr Center for Human Rights at Harvard, where she created a collaborative research project to reframe how we measure impact in the field of Human Rights. She launched The History Co:Lab in 2018 with seed funding from Ashoka to reorient our history education eco-systems towards preparing young people to succeed as changemakers. The History Co:Lab is a field-building incubator for innovation in History, and has created an award-winning youth podcast UnTextbooked, as well as several initiatives and networks that activate museums as sites of local, inspired learning.

Shannon Salter

Shannon Salter is in her twelfth year as an educator certified in secondary social studies, English language arts, and communications. She currently serves as the Partnership Coordinator at Building 21 High School in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Shannon’s passion is creating opportunities for students to use the skills of civic action to take their learning in all subjects out of the classroom to make an impact on their community. Her work in civic education and in the development of cross-curricular learning activities (specifically blending environmental science and civics) have led to work under a National Science Foundation grant, published research in Social Education and The Science Teacher, and speaking engagements at National Geographic, the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference, and at several professional development sessions for teachers. Shannon is a member of the iCivics Educator Network, the National Geographic Educator Advisory Panel, the National Constitution Center Teacher Advisory Council, and is currently serving as the teacher representative to the Educating for American Democracy Implementation Consortium.

Wesley Hedgepeth

Wesley Hedgepeth is a Politics and History teacher at Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia. In addition to teaching, he coordinates his school’s Model UN program, mentors student tutors, and serves on his school’s Civil Dialogue Task Force. Wesley is the current President-Elect of the National Council for the Social Studies and is in line to become NCSS President on July 1, 2023. Prior to his service on the NCSS Board of Directors, Wesley served as president of the Virginia Council for the Social Studies from 2014–2017. Wesley received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from James Madison University and maintains a Postgraduate Professional Teaching License from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

We the People: The Radical Notion of Democracy is sponsored by Kenneth C. Griffin.

Learning and engagement programming for We the People: The Radical Notion of Democracy is sponsored by

Sarah and Ross Perot, Jr. Foundation | Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates, & Woodyard, P.L.L.C. | Johnny and Jeanie Morris, Bass Pro Shops | Alturas Foundation | Harriet and Warren Stephens, Stephens Inc. | Sotheby’s | Bob and Becky Alexander | Marybeth and Micky Mayfield | Lamar and Shari Steiger | Jeff and Sarah Teague / Citizens Bank | Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities | Avis and Bill Bailey | Scarlett and Neff Basore | June Carter Family | Terri and Chuck Erwin | Jackye and Curtis Finch | The Harrison and Rhonda French Family | Jim and Susan von Gremp | Laurice Hachem | Shannon and Charles Holley | Valorie and Randy Lawson / Lawco Energy Group | Donna and Mack McLarty | Steve and Susan Nelson | Neal and Gina Pendergraft | Helen Porter | JT and Imelda Rose | Lee and Linda Scott | Stella Boyle Smith Trust, Catherine and Michael Mayton, Trustees | William Reese Company