With rising xenophobia, racism, and hate crimes, civic education is key to the survival of our democracies. The question of how to counter these destructive forces -- that threaten the very existence of democracies -- is more crucial than ever.
Civic education is key for creating a new generation of citizens whose values incorporate tolerance of each other and respect for our democratic institutions. Yet civic education has been neglected on both sides of the Atlantic and it is the ambition of this important conference, attended by world-class legal scholars and extraordinary high school teachers and students, to reflect on both the content and the implementation of a new civic education curriculum for high school students.
3:30 PM-5:00 PM
OPENING REMARKS by Eric Bayer, Deputy Consul General, French Consulate in New York
FILM SCREENING of “Les Français, c'est les autres,” a moving documentary about how immigrant-descended youth in a technical high school outside Paris feel about their identity and issues of discrimination. A teacher, Samia Essabaa, and a former student, Arafat Hossein, both featured in the film, will speak at the Q&A at 4:30 pm.
5:15 PM-6:30 PM
INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS: “Why Civic Education Matters” by Henry Levin, PhD, Professor of Economics and Education at Teachers College, Senior Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute (LPI) and Board member of the African Diaspora Project. He is also past-president of the Comparative and International Education Society.
PANEL 1: FRENCH and US LEGAL SCHOLARS DISCUSS CIVIC EDUCATION
Patrick Weil (Professor of Law at Yale Law School, Historian at Université de Paris I and Founder of Libraries without Borders) and Michael Rebell (Executive Director of the Center for Educational Equity and Professor of Law and Practice at Teachers College and Columbia Law School) will address why civic education is a problematic issue in the US & France, and, as constitutional scholars, they will compare & propose remedies. Moderated by Martine Trink Rubenstein, President of LICRA-US (International League against Racism and anti-Semitism) and former journalist at Le Figaro.
6:45 PM-8:00 PM A TALE OF TWO CITIES – THE MULTICULTURAL CLASSROOM IN PARIS AND NYC
PANEL 2: Two teachers from high schools located in low-income neighborhoods in NYC and suburban Paris, TC Alumna Mika Kinoshita and Samia Essabaa (who will be visiting with 10 students), will discuss their respective efforts to improve civic education and report on the 2-day joint conversations held among their students on issues of identity, citizenship, and belonging. Education expert Fabrice Jaumont, PhD, author of The Bilingual Revolution, will discuss the impact of dual- and heritage-language programs on mutual understanding, integration, equity, and justice in both countries. We will also hear from two students: Samiratou Sanga and Ibrahima Sow. Moderated by Samuel E. Abrams, PhD, Director of the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education at Teachers College & author of Education and the Commercial Mindset (Harvard University Press, 2016). Sam is studying educational opportunity for underprivileged children in the Paris suburbs.
CLOSING REMARKS by Emmanuel Kattan, PhD, Director of the Alliance Program at Columbia University
CO-SPONSORS: International League against Racism and anti-Semitism (LICRA - US), Center for Educational Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University, and the Vice President’s Office for Diversity & Community Affairs at Teachers College, Columbia
SUPPORTERS: Columbia University's Alliance Program, European Institute, and Maison Française, and the AATF (American Association of Teachers of French)—NY Metropolitan Chapter
REGISTRATION is FREE but REQUIRED
For disability-related accommodations, contact OASID: [email protected]; (212) 678-3689 or (646) 755-3144 video phone.
For more information, contact the Conference Administrator Harriet Jackson [email protected]
