Civility is not simply about manners.

Politics has high and low moments. Sometimes it brings out the better angels of our nature; sometimes baser instincts.

America is very decentralized in how it supports the humanities, unlike European countries where virtually everything stems from the central government.

History provides a sense of where we've been and lessons that can be taken forward.

The majority of U.S. high school students don't know within 50 years when the Civil War occurred.

America somehow thinks that leadership relates to governance, and it certainly does. But society is much bigger than governance, and some of the truly great leadership of our society is outside the governance arena.

I am appalled by the notion of cultural wars.