Photos and videos are now available from NAS's 30th anniversary conference, "Securing Liberty: Rebuilding American Education in an Era Illiberal Learning." Held at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs in Oklahoma City, the event featured panels on topics ranging from Sustainability to Making Citizens, NAS's recently released report on civics education.
Watch the videos from the event >
“Securing Liberty” featured Hillsdale College historian Paul Rahe as the keynote speaker. Dr. Rahe, the Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in the Western Heritage at Hillsdale, delivered a lecture on "The Declaration of Independence, the First Amendment to the Constitution, and the American University.” He reminded the audience that free speech faces serious threats—not only on college campuses, where students demand the stifling of “offensive” ideas, but also in the U.S. legal system. Rahe cited the Federal Election Commission’s regulations on financial contributions and online personal endorsements as limitations on public advocacy and free speech.
Wilfred McClay, the G.T. and Libby Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty at the University of Oklahoma, was the luncheon keynote speaker. Dr. McClay recounted the battle with the College Board over its revised AP U.S. History Standards. The new APUSH minimized key American figures such as James Madison and Ben Franklin and concentrated on vague “historical thinking skills” at the expense of historical knowledge. McClay played a leading role, along with numerous historians gathered by NAS, in critiquing the new standards and forcing the College Board to make some changes to the course.
The rest of the conference videos are available on the NAS Youtube Channel.
