We hope you enjoy these top news stories about TFAS activities, alumni and events this week. Please visit us on social media for additional up-to-the-moment TFAS news and information and sign up to receive weekly updates.
TFAS alumni, staff and faculty continue to make headlines. Read news, analysis and updates by visiting this week’s “Quick Links.”
TFAS Welcomes 2021 Summer Law Fellows to Washington
The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) is pleased to welcome the 2021 TFAS Summer Law Fellows to Washington, D.C.
Selected from a competitive field of applicants, the 28 law students all hail from top law schools across the nation, including Duke University, University of Notre Dame, William and Mary, George Mason University and George Washington University.
These exceptional Fellows will spend nine weeks studying issues of constitutional interpretation, limited government and free enterprise through the immersive TFAS academic and professional experience. The Fellowship provides coursework from TFAS’s academic partners at George Mason’s Antonin Scalia Law School, professional development seminars and networking events, as well as a law and public policy lecture series with leading constitutional scholars, judges and practicing attorneys.
TFAS Law Program Director Colin Parks said the members of this year’s remarkable cohort have successful futures ahead of them.
“We are excited to welcome such an extraordinary group of law students to Washington this summer for the 2021 Law Fellowship,” Parks said. “This year’s Fellows represent some of the finest law schools in the country and are eager to join the fight to safeguard our liberties. I’m confident they’ll do TFAS proud in advancing the principles of limited government, constitutional originalism, and free enterprise.”
Visit TFAS.org/LawFellows21 to meet this year’s cohort and learn more about the Fellowship.
Three Ways COVID Changed American Education – New Op-Ed by TFAS High School Programs Director
The past 15 months delivered many challenges as we adapted to a new and ever-changing normal during the pandemic. Educators faced the special obstacle of transitioning the classroom to a virtual environment. Though this transition evoked hardship, Ted Tucker, executive director of TFAS high school division the Foundation for Teaching Economics (FTE), identified three ways COVID-19 changed the American education system for the better in a recent op-ed for eSchool News.
FTE worked diligently to transform programs to meet the demands of the digital age and continue our mission to reach young minds with “the economic way of thinking.” Through experimentation, trial and error, we found new ways to reach high school students to teach them the importance of economics. With this research, FTE discovered a new world of possibility through virtual education. In this new article, Tucker pinpoints three positive trends COVID-19 set in motion: “Educators will become more receptive to innovation, students will be able to access learning opportunities with fewer barriers than before, and educators will have more online tools to connect with their students.”
As Tucker explains in his op-ed, the pandemic forced educators to get creative. Virtual learning encouraged teachers to be more thoughtful and to individualize instruction to reach students wherever they are.
Tucker opines that “the American educational system has sometimes been criticized for being resistant to change. Fortunately, the past year has shown that the system is capable of adopting incredibly innovative solutions… If we can lock in the lessons of COVID-19, the system as a whole will be all the better for it going forward.”
Read more of Tucker’s insights on shifts in virtual education in the full op-ed on the eSchool News website.
TFAS Public Policy Fellowship Grounds Policy Professionals in Study of Freedom
On May 18, the TFAS Public Policy Fellows wrapped up an in-depth professional development, academic and networking program that explored the themes fundamental to a free society and the American Founding. Through curriculum on The Experiment in Self Government, the nine-month program gives young public policy professionals the chance to dive into the foundational elements of freedom that yield effective governance.
Fellow Jacob Lane, PPF ’20, said the Public Policy Fellowship is vital, especially with today’s heightened tensions, misinformation and cancel culture.
“It is important to study and analyze the big issues of our day,” he said. “Without a deep understanding of the topic at hand, how can one provide recommendations to key policy issues? TFAS’s Public Policy Fellowship provides a unique setting for participants to bounce ideas off one another while gaining insight from each other’s background and experience in the policy space.”
Through monthly seminars on topics ranging from the Lincoln-Douglas Debates to “Understanding Unalienable Rights,” Fellows expanded their knowledge on American National Character and First Principles. Summarizing his experience as a Fellow, Sam Lucas, PPF ’20, said, “The TFAS Public Policy Fellowship has been a wonderful experience. As a working professional with no formal education in policy or political theory, I am constantly seeking opportunities to grow in my knowledge of the American tradition to better inform my understanding of our political condition today. TFAS filled that need perfectly and in a way that allowed me to build real intellectual friendships, which I appreciated ever so much during this year of pandemic.”
To read more about the 2020-21 TFAS Public Policy Fellowship, visit TFAS.org/PPFrecap21.
Post of the Week
Several recent TFAS alumni graduated this year from colleges and universities across the globe, including the University of Michigan, the University of Mississippi, Concordia College, and the College of Charleston. We send our congratulations to all new graduates in the TFAS Alumni Network and wish them success in their future endeavors.
QUICK LINKS
Chris Moody, Novak ’19, shares how remote work culture could reverse “brain drain” in small towns and developing countries in a piece for Freethink.
Arrian Ebrahimi ’19, ’20 is now a policy assistant for the Semiconductor Industry Association.
Damien Cave, Novak ’02, coauthors a piece on trends in global population decline for The New York Times.
Carrie Sheffield ’06, Novak ’06, was featured in Smart Women Smart Money for her success as a journalist and entrepreneur.
Lauren Aguirre ’15 opines for Literary Hub on the stages of the human memory.
Erin Cinney ’16, PPF ’18, opines for Thought Catalog on the importance of recognizing the difference between burnout and laziness.
TFAS Regent Emeritus Lee Edwards writes for The American Spectator on China’s position in the global arena and what they are willing to do to become the world’s dominant superpower.
Helen Andrews, Novak ’17, shares how “The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos” by Sohrab Amari challenges secular ideas of prosperity in a piece for City Journal.
Naomi Schaefer Riley, Novak ’01, shares the benefits of kids exploring nature freely this summer as pandemic restrictions loosen in a piece for Deseret News.
Patrick McGarry Jr. ’17 has started as a regulatory associate at Stateside Associates.
TFAS Grewcock Senior Scholar Dr. Donald Devine discusses President Biden’s spending plan in a piece for The American Spectator.
Cheryl Chumley, Novak ’08, discusses individual healthcare freedoms in The Washington Times.
Kourtney Geers ’09 has been named editor in chief of the Denver Business Journal.
Dina Aboughazala ’05, ’08 received the XCity Award for her work empowering journalists in the Middle East and Africa through her startup, Egab.