Earl Lewis, founder and director of the Center for Social Solutions at the University of Michigan, created the center to address pressing issues such as diversity and democracy, slavery and its aftermath, water equity, and the dignity of...

Claire Bond Potter, Professor Emeritus at The New School, reflects fondly on her third-grade teacher, Doris Balant, as the most special educator in her life. Balant, who still lives in upstate New York, created a relaxed and supportive...

Claire Bond Potter, Professor Emeritus of History at The New School for Social Research, discusses her book Political Junkies, a history of how politicians have used media—especially social media—to gain power. Inspired by Donald Trump’s...

Ari Weinzweig reflects on a powerful influence in his life—Emma Goldman, someone he never met but considers a teacher through her writings and ideas. Goldman, a Lithuanian-born anarchist who immigrated to the U.S. in 1885, championed...

Ari Weinzweig, co-founding partner of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses in Ann Arbor, Michigan, shares his journey from studying Russian history and anarchism at the University of Michigan to co-founding a local food business in 1982...

Erica Chenoweth credits their middle school English and homeroom teacher, Joyce Jarboe, with making the biggest difference in their life. Recognizing that Erica had a different learning style and was often bored in class, Ms. Jarboe...

Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist at Harvard University, explains that civil resistance is a nonviolent strategy where ordinary people coordinate to demand and protect democracy. Successful movements typically rely on four key...

Maria Stephan shares that she’s had many influential teachers throughout her life. In sixth grade, Tom Smith inspired her curiosity and creativity with his warm presence and inventive teaching style. In high school, biology teacher...

Maria Stephan is a civil resistance scholar and co-lead of the Horizons Project, which focuses on strengthening democracy in the United States. With over 25 years of global experience supporting movements for rights and freedoms, Stephan...

John Schmitz, a history professor at Northern Virginia Community College, discusses the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, one of four controversial laws passed during President John Adams' administration amid fears of foreigners. The Act...

John Schmitz, a history professor at Northern Virginia Community College, discusses his book Enemies Among Us, which explores the relocation, internment, and repatriation of German, Italian, and Japanese Americans during World War II....

Kati Marton credits two influential teachers for shaping her passions. Vladimir Petrov, a Russian refugee and professor at George Washington University, inspired her love for international relations through his lived experiences and...

Kati Marton discusses her 10th book, The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel, her first biography of a woman. She highlights Merkel’s extraordinary rise as a triple outsider—a woman, a scientist, and an East German...

Gopal Krishnamurthy reflects on three transformative teachers who deeply shaped his thinking and practice. Dr. S. Ramanathan, a master of Karnatic music, taught him to listen differently—valuing a child’s “wrong” note as a doorway to...

Gopal Krishnamurthy reflects on his journey in teacher education and the concept of transformative education—not just seeking new answers, but learning to ask new and deeper questions. He is turning his PhD dissertation into a book...

Gopal Krishnamurthy, founding director of a transformative education center and faculty member at Antioch University, challenges conventional frameworks of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Using the familiar visual metaphor of...

Mary Anne Franks, professor of law at George Washington Law School, recently published Fearless Speech: Breaking Free from the First Amendment. In the book, she explores the concept of "fearless speech," drawn from the ancient Greek idea...

Samantha Barbas, a professor of law at the University of Iowa, discusses her book Actual Malice: Civil Rights and Freedom of the Press in New York Times v. Sullivan. The book explores the landmark 1964 Supreme Court case, which arose...

Samantha Barbas's favorite teacher wasn’t someone from her early schooling, but a colleague she met while beginning her career as a professor at Chapman University: historian Robert “Bob” Slayton. Bob profoundly influenced her approach...

Dava Sobel, known for her work on astronomy, decided to explore the life of Marie Curie—despite Curie not being an astronomer. To do so, Sobel had to learn chemistry, which she found challenging. She turned to three influential high...

Dava Sobel, a longtime science writer, came to the subject of women in science relatively late in her career. While researching her book The Glass Universe, about women astronomers at Harvard, she was struck by how much she had...

David Greenberg, a historian and professor at Rutgers University, recently authored John Lewis: Life, the first comprehensive biography of civil rights icon and longtime Georgia congressman John Lewis. Greenberg chose to write this book...

H.W. Brands shares that the teacher who had the most influence on his career was his ninth-grade history teacher, Joe DeJardin. Though he didn’t realize it at the time, DeJardin's radical experiment deeply shaped his path. He split the...

Agustina Paglayan is a political science professor at the University of California, San Diego, specializing in the intersection of politics and education policy. She is the author of Raised to Obey: The Rise and Spread of Mass Education...