American educators are facing a social and political climate that stifles open classroom conversations. Students and teachers have become increasingly reluctant to discuss controversial issues or take intellectual risks for fear of harsh social or professional penalties. This is not a “Right” or a “Left” problem, but an education problem. And the result is a failure to teach students how to engage across ideological and political differences. This is a threat to our democracy and the civic institutions that enable it to thrive.
The Mill Institute fills a gap in the education landscape left by organizations that teach critical thinking skills but shy away from tough political topics, and those that address controversial topics in ideological ways. We help teachers dig into topics that others may be afraid to touch, and we do so without a political agenda.
At its core, our work helps students challenge their own “settled thinking” – the belief that hot-button issues linked to topics like race, gender, fairness, and equality have obvious or easy answers.
Selected Fellows have the opportunity to:
Applications for our 2024 Fellowship will open in Spring 2024. To express early interest, please complete our form.
Teachers from 25 states registered for the fall 2023 challenge, reaching more than 4,000 students.
If you are interested in participating in or hosting one of these workshops, please let us know by filling in the type form below.
Expanding our flagship Teacher Fellowship Program by tripling the number of our existing teacher communities ($350,000)
Launching our Democracy Project to help students and teachers unpack key voting issues during the 2024 election and beyond ($200,000)
Scaling our Viewpoint Diversity Challenge by 10x to reach 1,000 classrooms (and 30,000 students) by 2025 ($500,000)
Building an open-access virtual resource library for teachers ($150,000)
We need your support to transform the experiences of students and teachers across America, and to help thousands of classrooms be spaces where open and honest conversations can happen.
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UATX is a nonprofit organization dedicated to founding an institution of higher education in or near Austin, Texas that is dedicated to free and open inquiry. On behalf of that future institution, UATX will pursue authority from the State to offer degrees while also seeking accreditation from an agency duly recognized by the US Department of Education. UATX is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Contributions to UATX may be tax-deductible for income, gift, and estate tax purposes. Consult with your advisor on specific tax-deductibility. UATX’s federal tax identification number is 87-1925354. See registration disclosures.