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Education

Do your own research doesn’t mean listen to the first charismatic person you find on social media. It’s about understanding how to validate a source of information and put its content into context. It also means being able to evaluate the expertise and authority of the source of information.

Constant learning is a key civil tool because it empowers us to participate effectively with facts, evidence and reasonable solutions. Learning is so critical to civil participation that removing access to education, devaluing educators, defunding and undermining libraries, banning books and attacking universities is a common trait among authoritarians and dictators. It is easier to manipulate and control an uniformed population.

Civil stewards are lifelong learners.

What You Can Do

Engage with news and information from a variety of sources and speak with people about what you are seeing. Pushback against book bans and other efforts to deny or limit access to information. Pursue educational opportunities wherever they may exist through formal and informal venues.

You can learn more about book bans here:

https://uniteagainstbookbans.org/

Formal Education

Educational opportunities from childhood to higher education are one of the most valuable investments a society makes. History has shown that the more educated a population, the healthier, more successful and more able to thrive the population. Conversely, lower levels of education are associated with poorer health, poverty and struggle. Equitable access to education is a critical component of a just and successful society.

Lifelong Learning

Every person has a different level of education, different exposure to topics, themes and concepts. But we all share the capacity to continue to learn, develop our perceptions, revise our conceptions and opinions and grow in our understanding. Lifelong learning through continuing education, reading, critical thinking, discussion and consumption of various media is a limitless opportunity for growth.

The Sciences

The sciences broadly (both natural and social sciences) are our essential system of exploring, discovering and understanding the world around us and ourselves. Scientific inquiry and the processes of research, experimentation, discovery and peer-review is how we have created a collective understanding that we can all work and build off of.

Readings & Resources

Institutions & Organizations

Museums, Galleries & Cultural Centers

Museums, galleries, cultural heritage centers and other institutions of documentation, preservation, and learning are exceptional places to explore culture and history.

Libraries & Archives

Libraries and archives are critical civic resources that ensure equitable access to information and records within a community. Many offer, not only access to resources, but also learning opportunities such as talks, training and classes.

Zoos, Aquariums & Science Centers

Zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and science centers offer opportunities to learn more complex concepts and get access to learning opportunities that are more unique and specialized.

Community Colleges, Universities, & Cooperative Extensions

Learning institutions have many opportunities for learning and training beyond the standard route of being an enrolled or degree-seeking student. Most offer continuing studies, certificate programs, online classes and other opportunities to continue to learn.

Books

The Death of Expertise

Facts

Ways of Being

You Are Here

America’s Largest Classroom

The Demon-Haunted World

The Power of Wonder

Awe

Curiosity

Power of Curiosity

The Untold Story of Books

The Bookshop

Burning the Books

The Library

The Catalog of Shipwrecked Books

A History of Libraries

Papyrus

Libricide

The Death of Learning

The Teacher Wars

The Lost Promise

Yale Needs Women

Clever Lands

The Smartest Kids in the World

The Anatomy of Deception

Knowing What We Know

A Short History of Nearly Everything

The Dawn of Everything

Too Big to Know

Merchants of Doubt

Athena Unbound

Museums as Agents of Change

Range

Another World is Possible

Imperfection

Why People Believe Weird Things