Dr. McLauchlan will discuss the United States’ founding documents and guiding political principles as well as the importance of using this sesquicentennial anniversary of US Independence as an impetus for a civic renaissance. She will discuss ways to strengthen civics education and to increase civic participation to reignite democracy in Florida.

Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan (Ph.D., Rutgers University) is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Founding Director of the Center for Civic Engagement at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, where she teaches American Government and Public Law. She is co-founder and lead instructor of the nationally award-winning USF YMCA Civic Fellows Program. A nationally and internationally recognized expert in civics education and democratization, she previously worked at the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Department of Justice, the White House, and the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. This experience informs her perspective on democracy as both a framework and a lived practice in Florida and beyond.

Florida Reflections was developed by Florida Humanities and is part of By the People: Conversations Beyond 250—a series of community-driven programs created by humanities councils in collaboration with local partners. The initiative was developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Funding is provided in part through the Thomas M. & Irene B. Kirbo Charitable Foundation, the Gulf Coast Community Foundation and the Community Foundation for Brevard. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or its partners.