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Chris Sardo @mcsardo.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Iced coffee discourse feels like a psy-op. How is this something that anyone cares about?

Erin Lockwood @erinkaylockwood.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Reposted by Chris Sardo

"Mama, we made posters about voting at school. Can I make a sign for your office on campus for your students?"

A hand-drawn poster exhorting students to vote and "choose good leaders."

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!!! We teach the humanities not because they make us good lawyers, but because art, literature, philosophy, religion are fundamentally part of the human experience

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My thoughts on the inclusion of Smith's Wealth of Nations as a "Foundational Text" of US Government and Politics in @liberalcurrents.com

Yes, Smith is an interesting and provocative thinker. But does he belong in a high school government course? Is he in any comparable undergraduate syllabi? And importantly - why have we let a private corporation or a couple of state governments decide what is "foundational"?

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Civics education is important and part of our civic responsibility should be safeguarding that civic education. It's well past time for collaboration between academics and high school teachers to build civics education that conforms to disciplinary standards and empowers our students.

Beyond these particular questions of imposing a particular ideological framing on this course, these shifts invite further reflection on the power that both both secondary and higher education have ceded to College Board to determine the canon of American political thought.

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College Board claims that this is to better conform to college level courses, but Smith (as well as Federalist 39, the Gettysburg Address, and Emancipation Proclamation which were also added as foundational documents) is not likely to appear on comparable undergraduate syllabi.

Why is a Scottish economist who never set foot in the US a required foundational document? Well, it's likely to conform with a rash of state laws that require students to take a civics class that includes Smith's work as essential to understanding US government and politics.

Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, and Smith: The College Board Adds a New Founding Father

Curious why a bunch of high school seniors are reading Adam Smith? College Board made "core concepts from Smith's Wealth of Nations" a "Required Foundational Document" for the AP US Gov/Pol Exam. In @liberalcurrents.com I explore why & why it matters: www.liberalcurrents.com/jefferson-ma...

liberalcurrents.com

On the politics of canonization in academia.

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Chris Sardo @mcsardo.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I think it's totally fair to say that it's in response to multiculturalism or the existence of racial and ethnic diversity as such - as a set of causes from Buckley's "Why the South Must Prevail" through paramilitary groups to the Buchanan campaign - but the idea that it was pronouns in bios is wild

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 18/09/2026

Reposted by Chris Sardo

i am genuinely bewildered by people who say that the rise of white nationalism in the republican party is a response to the "woke left." like, did the woke left cause pat buchanan's 1992 presidential campaign? is the woke left why steve king had a long career in congress?

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Reposted by Chris Sardo

John Downes-Angus @johndownesangus.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Has there ever been a more obvious/timely moment for a left/progressive case for publicly-financed, broadly accessible liberal arts ed

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Chris Sardo @mcsardo.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Sanguinius? Or are the wings a red flag.

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Chris Sardo @mcsardo.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

So you're saying that ship money will pay for the Trump Dividend

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Chris Sardo @mcsardo.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I read Tegmark's Life 3.0 years ago, and was struck then at his effusive praise of Musk, which should be as much of an indictment of someone's judgment as you need.

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This has always confused me as someone who hasn't had my reading skills rotted by a formal legal education: the clause literally says "take care that the laws are faithfully executed." How could one ever read that as an expansion of executive authority independent of Congress?

I'm all for rigorous classes in HS - I'm just not sold that a standardized curriculum imposed from a private corporation that allows people to get out of gen ed requirements in college is the best way to do it. But I'm willing to concede that my experience/perspective doesn't capture everyone.

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This is all fair - I'm definitely guilty of romanticizing a liberal arts education. But I'm willing to hold on to you had a good experience because you had good teachers, not because they followed the CB curriculum, which even in the 5 years I've been teaching in it, has gotten watered down.

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Nothing says "masculinity" like your bum smelling like cinnamon and cloves

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But I still want to plant a flag that there's a substantial difference between taking a class with someone actively engaged in the field who has spent years developing expertise and someone who took a 2 week summer course on how to prepare students for a standardized test.

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Like my ideal solution also involves massive subsidies so that college is a lot cheaper, which I get is a real draw of APs for many - saving a semester or two of credits can make a huge financial difference.

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That's fair. I guess in thinking from my perspective in the humanities. Kids get a 4 on AP Lit and never read a novel again

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Chris Sardo @mcsardo.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

This: the argument against APs should be that they are robbing students of valuable intellectual and growth experiences by getting to skip actual college classes.

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I agree, I'm just not convinced that what the post is criticizing exists

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Chris Sardo @mcsardo.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Also...I do not believe that any AP teacher is spending 2 months lecturing every day to cover a single unit. Or if they are... that's a problem, but speedrunning the curriculum in 1 week isn't the solution...

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Chris Sardo @mcsardo.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Everytime I look at a Hillsdale CV, I just think. Wow I have more publications in real places than these tenured professors, and I left academia in part because I couldn't find a TT job. I should have stayed a conservative and ridden that gravy train.

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 03/09/2026

Reposted by Chris Sardo

the literal position of the trump administration is that any school that has any more than a smattering of black students is engaged in illegal racial discrimination against whites www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/b...

nytimes.com

Trump Moves to Strip Tax Exemption From Schools That Aid Minority Students (Gift Article)

The Treasury Department released rules that would prevent schools with race-based programs from qualifying for tax-exempt status, a threat to both higher education and other private schools.

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Chris Sardo @mcsardo.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I literally cannot parse the meaning of that post...I guess that means I'm old and out of touch now.

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Chris Sardo @mcsardo.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Hey at least it's under $20

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Chris Sardo @mcsardo.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

A whole new type of guy just dropped - someone in his 50s+ with absolutely no familiarity with the basic archetypes of the Trojan War. Maybe those classical learning people have a point... </sarcasm>

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Reposted by Chris Sardo

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Few things reinforce my strong determination to avoid AI generated materials for my students like the disrespected, riled-up feeling I get when those meant to be in charge of or training/teaching me generate slick-but-empty AI slop to do so. I don’t want my students to feel disrespected like that.

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Chris Sardo @mcsardo.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

This really tracks what I see with high school students (even quite bright ones). Their first instinct is to go to the llm. They've lost the ability to think they can do it themselves.

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Chris Sardo @mcsardo.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Just my $0.02: if you give them the possible exam questions in advance, they're going to plug your list of possible questions and ids into genAI and memorize at least a barebones of what it spits out. I used to do something similar until students told me they were just doing this.

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Chris Sardo @mcsardo.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Please don't give ed-tech any more bad ideas.

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Chris Sardo @mcsardo.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Is it still a unitary executive if the EO has to be explained by the White House deputy chief of staff for policy while the president sits there silently gazing off into space?