Book Talk: "Creating an Informed Citizenry: Knowledge and Democracy in the Early American Republic"

Looking back at early U.S. debates over the nature of education that remain meaningful today

Wednesday, March 18, 2026 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM EDT
Fenwick Library, Main Reading Room

How should a republic educate its constituents? Prof. George Oberle will present his book examining debates of early U.S. elites over the best ways to educate citizens--a topic that remains relevant today, as we grapple with contested distribution and meanings of knowledge, expertise, and the obligations of citizenship.

America's founders knew that their unprecedented plan for government would require an electorate capable of making rational decisions, but disagreed over who would validate information that influenced its citizens. George Washington and others favored a centralized national university, while many relied instead on new knowledge institutions like the Smithsonian and learned societies to educate Americans from varied backgrounds.  

By spotlighting the young nation's varied institutions of learning, Oberle provides a comprehensive look at how knowledge was created, circulated, and consumed in the early American republic.