Florida State University’s Institute for Governance and Civics (IGC) has received a $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to implement the Founding Voices project, which aims to enhance civics education for middle school students in Florida.
The Founding Voices initiative will provide 100 in-school seminars over three years, with 60 sessions featuring live historical interpreters and 40 utilizing AI-generated interpreters based on primary sources. The program is expected to reach approximately 40,000 students and their teachers throughout the state.
Ryan Owens, director of the Institute for Governance and Civics, said, “We are honored to receive such significant support from the U.S. Department of Education. This grant will empower us to bring the debates, ideas and individuals of the American Founding to life for students, helping them connect with the foundational documents and the principles they represent.”
The seminars will include reenactments of debates from America’s founding era, student-led question-and-answer sessions with interpreters portraying historical figures, and teacher resources that align with state educational standards. All materials developed for the project will be made publicly available to increase access to civics instruction across Florida.
James Shuls, principal investigator and project director for Founding Voices as well as Head of the Education Liberty Branch at IGC, stated: “Students often struggle to engage with America’s founding documents because they seem distant or abstract. Our approach humanizes the Founders and dramatizes their debates, helping students see these documents as living expressions of a dynamic, evolving republic.”
The Founding Voices project is designed in line with research supporting interactive teaching methods and inquiry-based learning. It also aligns with IGC’s legislative mission to advance civic education in Florida by combining academic rigor with technology-driven pedagogy.
More information about this initiative can be found at igc.fsu.edu.
