Roosevelt Montás

Roosevelt Montás is executive director of Bard College’s Chang Chavkin Center for Liberal Education and Civic Life and a professor of liberal education and civic life. A former director of Columbia University’s Center for the Core Curriculum, he is an author and advocate for accessible liberal education, general education, and civic engagement.

Bard and Johns Hopkins Advance Competing Models of Civic Education

American colleges are expanding civic education programs, but Roosevelt Montás of Bard College and William Howell of Johns Hopkins argue that the effort turns on a basic question: whether universities should prepare all students for citizenship or train future practitioners to improve governing institutions. Montás makes the case for a shared liberal education rooted in texts and discussion, while Howell is building a professional school that pairs institutional problem-solving with reflection on the contested ends public institutions serve. Both reject technocratic training as sufficient for democratic life.

Hoover InstitutionSep 16, 202612 min read