Timothy Messer-Kruse
@profmk.bsky.social
Professor of Cultural Studies at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Eclectic debunker of cherished American myths. Currently working on a comprehensive history of civics education. https://blogs.bgsu.edu/tmesser/
My latest in the Chronicle Review:
www.chronicle.com/article/civi...
www.chronicle.com/article/civi...
Opinion | ‘Civics’ Is a Right-Wing Plot — and They’re Not Even Hiding It
Red-state mission statements reflect the political corruption of scholarship.
www.chronicle.com
October 7, 2026 at 12:55 PM
My latest in the Chronicle Review:
www.chronicle.com/article/civi...
www.chronicle.com/article/civi...
In 2024 my essay in the Chronicle ("Where Will the Right-Wing War on Curricula Go Next?") suggested universities respond to state civics mandates by merging them with cultural diversity requirements. My alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, did just that.
badgerherald.com/news/campus/...
badgerherald.com/news/campus/...
Civics & Perspectives requirement replaces Ethnic Studies, what changed?
Ethnic Studies has officially been replaced by Civics & Perspectives as a Core General Education Requirement at the University of Wisconsin, according to core GenEd requirements, but what does that en...
badgerherald.com
September 30, 2026 at 12:51 PM
In 2024 my essay in the Chronicle ("Where Will the Right-Wing War on Curricula Go Next?") suggested universities respond to state civics mandates by merging them with cultural diversity requirements. My alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, did just that.
badgerherald.com/news/campus/...
badgerherald.com/news/campus/...
Here is the direct link to my interview about SB 461, GOP censorship and my textbook Unpatriotic Civics on WXVU Cincinnati Edition yesterday.
www.wvxu.org/show/cincinn...
www.wvxu.org/show/cincinn...
Understanding 'Unpatriotic Civics,' a new book designed to fulfill Ohio's collegiate civics requirement
It’s been a year since Ohio’s Senate Bill 1 became law to crack down on what conservatives view as liberal bias at the state’s public universities.
www.wvxu.org
September 9, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Here is the direct link to my interview about SB 461, GOP censorship and my textbook Unpatriotic Civics on WXVU Cincinnati Edition yesterday.
www.wvxu.org/show/cincinn...
www.wvxu.org/show/cincinn...
Noon to 1 pm today. www.wvxu.org/show/cincinn...
Understanding 'Unpatriotic Civics,' a new book designed to fulfill Ohio's collegiate civics requirement
It’s been a year since Ohio’s Senate Bill 1 became law to crack down on what conservatives view as liberal bias at the state’s public universities.
www.wvxu.org
September 8, 2026 at 9:10 AM
Noon to 1 pm today. www.wvxu.org/show/cincinn...
My interview on Cincinnati Edition (WVXU-NPR) airs tomorrow (Tues. 9/8) from noon to 1. It will be archived at the link below. I discuss my controversial civics textbook, Unpatriotic Civics, and the Ohio GOP's efforts to ban it from classrooms with SB 461.
#sb461
www.wvxu.org/cincinnati-e...
#sb461
www.wvxu.org/cincinnati-e...
Cincinnati Edition
Airing every weekday, Cincinnati Edition and its guests bring you all the new and noteworthy reporting with a focus on the entire Tri-State.
www.wvxu.org
September 7, 2026 at 10:43 AM
My interview on Cincinnati Edition (WVXU-NPR) airs tomorrow (Tues. 9/8) from noon to 1. It will be archived at the link below. I discuss my controversial civics textbook, Unpatriotic Civics, and the Ohio GOP's efforts to ban it from classrooms with SB 461.
#sb461
www.wvxu.org/cincinnati-e...
#sb461
www.wvxu.org/cincinnati-e...
GOP's plan to increase 'intellectual diversity' is to censor those views it doesn't like. My op-ed on Ohio's new bill to create a "civics board" that will operate like Soviet apparatchiks.
ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/09/02/n...
@ohiocapitaljournal.com
ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/09/02/n...
@ohiocapitaljournal.com
New Ohio Senate bill would legislate higher ed viewpoints, further power of S.B. 1 • Ohio Capital Journal
Commentary: Ohioans who care about the quality and independence of their universities and colleges might want to pay attention to Ohio S.B. 461 this fall.
ohiocapitaljournal.com
September 2, 2026 at 9:38 AM
GOP's plan to increase 'intellectual diversity' is to censor those views it doesn't like. My op-ed on Ohio's new bill to create a "civics board" that will operate like Soviet apparatchiks.
ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/09/02/n...
@ohiocapitaljournal.com
ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/09/02/n...
@ohiocapitaljournal.com
Ohio Sen. Cirino and Sen. Pres. Fortney, slam my textbook UNPATRIOTIC CIVICS and discuss how they are going to ban it from all university civics courses. This is their idea of "expanding intellectual diversity". Please share! Full video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD_P...
August 24, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Ohio Sen. Cirino and Sen. Pres. Fortney, slam my textbook UNPATRIOTIC CIVICS and discuss how they are going to ban it from all university civics courses. This is their idea of "expanding intellectual diversity". Please share! Full video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD_P...
Ohio Sen. Cirino explains college students like socialism because of their Marxist Profs and they "coddled at the university" and "don’t understand the costs of any of the benefits that they’re getting". “The President’s Podcast”, Ohio GOP, YouTube, Aug. 19, 2026.
August 24, 2026 at 3:09 PM
Ohio Sen. Cirino explains college students like socialism because of their Marxist Profs and they "coddled at the university" and "don’t understand the costs of any of the benefits that they’re getting". “The President’s Podcast”, Ohio GOP, YouTube, Aug. 19, 2026.
Its an honor to be attacked by the National Association of Scholars. Their version of "scholarship" is to ban anything outside of their rightwing views. Dent couldn't find anything untrue in my book so all he does is whine that I don't celebrate the USA enough. mindingthecampus.org/2026/07/27/s...
SB 1 Can't Stop Classroom Indoctrination — Minding The Campus
The 2025 Advance Ohio Higher Education Act (SB1) mandates an American civics course for all undergraduates in public colleges and universities and requires reading several historic documents for this ...
mindingthecampus.org
July 28, 2026 at 9:23 AM
Its an honor to be attacked by the National Association of Scholars. Their version of "scholarship" is to ban anything outside of their rightwing views. Dent couldn't find anything untrue in my book so all he does is whine that I don't celebrate the USA enough. mindingthecampus.org/2026/07/27/s...
First journalistic notice of my newest text: Unpatriotic Civics. Not a friendly mention but according to PT Barnum…
www.cleveland.com/opinion/2026...
www.cleveland.com/opinion/2026...
How to get teaching civics right in Ohio
Ohio Senate Bill 461 to convert the civics centers at the University of Toledo and OSU into separate schools would add a tidal wave of momentum to a movement the nation needs, writes guest columnist M...
www.cleveland.com
July 26, 2026 at 7:29 PM
First journalistic notice of my newest text: Unpatriotic Civics. Not a friendly mention but according to PT Barnum…
www.cleveland.com/opinion/2026...
www.cleveland.com/opinion/2026...
My unironic clothing choice for the day.
July 17, 2026 at 12:10 PM
My unironic clothing choice for the day.
Everyone is welcome to join me tomorrow and discuss my alternative and unique interpretation of early abolitionism.
July 13, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Everyone is welcome to join me tomorrow and discuss my alternative and unique interpretation of early abolitionism.
Civics boosters misquote the Founders: "Washington was more specific about the role of civic instruction in the nation’s long-term viability: A primary object should be the education or our youth in the science of government..." What he really said was: 1/2
www.educationnext.org/250-reasons-...
www.educationnext.org/250-reasons-...
250 Reasons This Is the Time for a Renaissance in Civic Education
Virginia embraced an effort to renew students’ patriotic zeal that could be a blueprint for other states
www.educationnext.org
July 3, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Civics boosters misquote the Founders: "Washington was more specific about the role of civic instruction in the nation’s long-term viability: A primary object should be the education or our youth in the science of government..." What he really said was: 1/2
www.educationnext.org/250-reasons-...
www.educationnext.org/250-reasons-...
Deja Vu: "The term 'civics' has come into much disrepute...and no wonder when one thinks of the dry-as-dust stuff that has so long masqueraded under that name...The pupil has been lucky [to] escape penal servitude for one awful winter, while he memorized the federal constitution." (Arthur Dunn 1907)
June 30, 2026 at 11:21 PM
Deja Vu: "The term 'civics' has come into much disrepute...and no wonder when one thinks of the dry-as-dust stuff that has so long masqueraded under that name...The pupil has been lucky [to] escape penal servitude for one awful winter, while he memorized the federal constitution." (Arthur Dunn 1907)
Here we go again. Readers Digest explains why we have an electoral college without class, without mentioning the Founders intent to preserve estates from the poor. Madison said the Senate should “represent the wealth of the nation” for crying out loud.
www.rd.com/article/why-...
www.rd.com/article/why-...
Why Did the Founders Create the Electoral College—And Why Do We Still Have It?
It’s a defining feature of our constitutional republic, not to mention a confusing and highly controversial one. Here’s what to know.
www.rd.com
June 26, 2026 at 12:02 PM
Here we go again. Readers Digest explains why we have an electoral college without class, without mentioning the Founders intent to preserve estates from the poor. Madison said the Senate should “represent the wealth of the nation” for crying out loud.
www.rd.com/article/why-...
www.rd.com/article/why-...
NBC News silent on the most significant finding in its own survey: that a whopping 69% of respondents "strongly agree" that in the US "wealthy people can often avoid consequences that ordinary people would face for the same actions." Instead spooning out civics propaganda.
tinyurl.com/2zpepcb7
tinyurl.com/2zpepcb7
June 21, 2026 at 11:21 AM
NBC News silent on the most significant finding in its own survey: that a whopping 69% of respondents "strongly agree" that in the US "wealthy people can often avoid consequences that ordinary people would face for the same actions." Instead spooning out civics propaganda.
tinyurl.com/2zpepcb7
tinyurl.com/2zpepcb7
I haven’t posted about AI even though I’ve been actively trying to figure out the edges of its usefulness for qualitative research. I’ve built some powerful applications that involve searching large archives of text conceptually. Calling current LLMs ‘word predictors’ is wildly inaccurate.
June 16, 2026 at 3:28 PM
I haven’t posted about AI even though I’ve been actively trying to figure out the edges of its usefulness for qualitative research. I’ve built some powerful applications that involve searching large archives of text conceptually. Calling current LLMs ‘word predictors’ is wildly inaccurate.
Conservatives claim to believe in meritocracy and responsibility but when they fail their powerful buddies always bail them out.
University of Iowa's struggling Center for Intellectual Freedom faces required expansion due to law www.yahoo.com/news/politic... via @@YahooNews
University of Iowa's struggling Center for Intellectual Freedom faces required expansion due to law www.yahoo.com/news/politic... via @@YahooNews
University of Iowa's struggling Center for Intellectual Freedom faces required expansion due to law
The Iowa Board of Regents is trying to figure out how the University of Iowa's struggling Center for Intellectual Freedom will be able to handle a new state law requiring all students to take two clas...
www.yahoo.com
June 11, 2026 at 9:55 AM
Conservatives claim to believe in meritocracy and responsibility but when they fail their powerful buddies always bail them out.
University of Iowa's struggling Center for Intellectual Freedom faces required expansion due to law www.yahoo.com/news/politic... via @@YahooNews
University of Iowa's struggling Center for Intellectual Freedom faces required expansion due to law www.yahoo.com/news/politic... via @@YahooNews
To conservatives trying to take over higher ed with a Trojan Horse of civics. Stop claiming the Founders supported your agenda. Civics as a concept was not widespread till the 1820s. The term ‘civics’ was not coined till 1885. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
June 9, 2026 at 10:23 AM
To conservatives trying to take over higher ed with a Trojan Horse of civics. Stop claiming the Founders supported your agenda. Civics as a concept was not widespread till the 1820s. The term ‘civics’ was not coined till 1885. Thank you for your attention to this matter.