In episode 220, Dan and Michael chat with Hilary Conklin and Molly Andolina about their new TRSE article titled, “ Toward a more empathic, connected, and humanizing democracy: A civics curriculum centering listening and storytelling.”

Transcript 

Books, Articles and Other Amazing Resources

1. Conklin, H. G., & Andolina, M. W. (2025). Toward a more empathic, connected, and humanizing democracy: A civics curriculum centering listening and storytelling. Theory & Research in Social Education, 1-34.
2. Episode 98: Teaching Students to Speak with Confidence & Listen with Empathy with Molly Andolina & Hillary Conklin
3. Mikva Challenge
4. Digital Inquiry Group and the Snapshot Autobiography lesson
5. Facing History and Ourselves and the Complexity of Identity
6. The Visiting Room Project
7. Civic Reasoning and Discourse: Perspectives from Learning and Human Development Research  (this chapter includes the immigration case study on p. 57)  
8. Narrative 4
9. Sample Activities – Equitable Teaching (University of Michigan) 

Biographies

Hilary Conklin is professor of Education at DePaul University. A former middle and high school social studies teacher, her teaching and research are anchored by commitments to democratic, humanizing, and justice-oriented teaching, learning and teacher education. Conklin’s research explores civic and democratic education, the design of teacher preparation experiences, and the impact of teacher education experiences on teachers’ practices and their students’ learning. Most recently, she has been studying the possibilities of listening and storytelling as civic practices for creating a more just, inclusive, and connected democracy.

Conklin has published her research in academic journals and also written op eds about this work in media outlets including The Atlantic, Time, The Washington Post​, and Newsweek. Her research has been funded by the Spencer Foundation, the Brinson Foundation, and a National Academy of Education-Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship. She holds a B.A. in Sociology/Anthropology and Education from Swarthmore College; secondary social studies teaching certification (M.A.T.) from Brown University; and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Molly Andolina is professor of Political Science at DePaul University. Her field of expertise includes public opinion and youth political engagement. She has published work on a host of topics, including the political activism of Millennials, the relationship between faith and civic engagement among college students, how issues impact college student activism, Americans’ attitudes toward gay rights, the challenges of survey research measurement, and public opinion on the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Most recently, her published research has focused on civic education and the role of listening as a democratic skill, as well as the ways that partisan polarization is being passed down via political socialization. She is the recipient, with Margaret Storey and Benjamin Epstein, of Teagle funding to establish a multi-section course called Lived Civics, the Social Contract & Public Life across DePaul University.

Dr. Andolina graduated from Emory University with a B.A. in History and received both her M.P.P. (1992) and her Ph.D. (1997) from Georgetown University. While a research director at the Pew Research Center, she received training in quantitative and qualitative public opinion research, including surveys, elite interviewing and focus groups. As an expert in the field, she has worked with The National Academy of Sciences Committee on National Statistics and NBC News. In 2023, Dr. Andolina was selected as a Public Voices Fellow for The OpEd Project.