The Civics Lab

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, the Civics Lab team discusses the recent questions of Republican leadership and the Jan. 6 insurrection, SCOTUS vacancy,  Religion in Politics and the Russian threat to the Ukraine.  Join us this week for a great conversation in the Civics Lab.

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we discuss the nature and scope of civics education.  We sit down with Braver Angels, Generation Citizen, and the Holy Cross Institute, as we explore what it means to be a citizen and how education plays a vital role in shaping our character and identity.  

Send us Fan Mail What do fishing, clean water, public land access, and conservation all have in common? That's the topic of today's discussion as we sat down with Trout Unlimited's Greg McReynolds, who arguably has the coolest job title in America, Intermountain Regional Director of the Angler Conservation Program. In the episode we discuss: what Trout Unlimited is and what they aim...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode, we had a conversation with Andrew Allison, chair and member of the group Austinites for Progressive Reform. We discuss 5 Propositions on the May Ballot, ones that Austinites for Progressive reform introduced and are advocating for. Some of these propositions: moving to a mayor-council form of government, rank choice voting, and "Democracy Dollars", will...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode, we had a conversation with James Barragan, reporter for the Dallas Morning News who covers Texas politics and the Texas Legislature. Days after the historic winter storm that blew through Texas, we discussed power outages across the state, ERCOT hearings at the Capitol, how the Covid-19 Pandemic has affected how reporters like himself receive information and cover...

Send us Fan Mail Back in early December of 2020, The Civics Lab had a discussion with Mirek Konvalina; director of the Czech Center in New York and a seasoned diplomatic professional. In addition to the work Mirek has done at the Czech Center, he has also served as the Director of the American Center - US Embassy Prague, worked as Czech Radio's correspondent in D.C. and at the United Nations,...

Send us Fan Mail Representative Stephanie Klick, Chair of the Texas House Elections Committee, is in the Civics Lab, discussing the 2020 Texas Elections and how her committee is preparing for the upcoming Texas legislative session.   We discuss mandatory voting, a national election law, student id's as forms of identification, and the lack of a paper trail of ballots in Harris County. Respond...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Dr. Scot Schraufnagel , Professor of Political Science at Northern Illiniois University, is in the Civics Lab and discusses his research on the cost of voting in the United States. Did you know that Texas is the most difficult state to vote in the United States?  Where does your state rank? Did you know that high voter turnout benefits both Republicans and Democrats?  ...

Send us Fan Mail This week, the civics lab explores the causes for why the media contributes to inflaming our political divide.  We discuss our groups’ solutions from an article we wrote for the Dallas Morning News Sunday Edition. The public reaction to this article included well over 150 comments on digital media and ran a full spectrum of informed to outright venomous responses.   Listen to our...

Send us Fan Mail This week, the civics lab goes to the small town of Llano, Texas and discovers that healing the wounds of the Vietnam war may be the key to solving our current political divide.  In over 20 interviews, we uncover the widespread distrust in American political institutions and politicians and identify the 50 year wounds of Vietnam still penetrate the American psyche.   We discover t...

Send us Fan Mail Small towns matter to the future of Texas.  We went to Llano on November 14, the same day thousands were rallying in D.C.,  protesting and questioning the results of the 2020 presidential election, to ask what matters to small town voters.  We interviewed over 20 small town residents around Llano Texas.  Llano is a beautiful town, with the Llano River running right through town. ...

Send us Fan Mail The Civics Lab at St. Edward’s University conducted exit interviews with average voters around Austin, Texas.  We uncover what motivates voting, thoughts on the value of individual votes and the 2020 Election’s impact on the future of America. Please make sure to leave a review and subscribe!  The Civics Lab is funded by a grant from the Hatton Sumners Foundation.