UPenn ‘America 250’ courses largely ignore America’s founding, conservative analysts say

The University of Pennsylvania’s “America 250” courses celebrating the country’s semiquincentennial have little to do with America, conservative analysts say.

The Penn Libraries website highlights 15 courses in spring 2026 with “America 250 Themes” that students can take leading up to July 4.

However, few of those courses address foundational themes in American history. For example, none mention the Bill of Rights. Key American founding figures, including George Washington, James Madison, and John Adams, are excluded. Alexander Hamilton, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson are each mentioned only once.

When provided with the university’s list, conservative thinkers expressed surprise.

In an email to Campus Reform, Veronica Bryant, an academic affairs fellow with the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, said that “only a small minority of the fifteen recommended courses offer a broad scope of American history or institutions.”

“Almost all these courses barely mention the founding documents of this nation, with none focused on the Constitution or Declaration of Independence,” she added.

Madison Marino Doan, a policy analyst for the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy, concurred with Bryant’s assessment.

“The course list gives surprisingly little emphasis to the core documents and ideas of the American founding,” Doan told Campus Reform.

Bryant also noted a “glaring omission” within the list, namely that “only two provide a survey of American government.”

By contrast, five courses focus on slavery and two on immigration. Some of the courses, such as “Revolutions in Three Kingdoms: England, Ireland, Scotland” and “Global Human Rights and US Immigration: Implications for Policy and Practice,” barely mention the United States at all.

Campus Reform contacted the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Libraries to ask about the selection process for the “America 250” courses but did not receive a response before publication.

“I expect universities to stretch the claim that their courses are related to the 250th anniversary of America,” David Randall, director of research for the National Association of Scholars, told Campus Reform. “What this list reveals is how few professors they have who are remotely qualified to teach such a course.”

“The University of Pennsylvania ought to be able to teach such material every year, as a central component of its educational function, and not just for the 250th anniversary,” he added.

Doan commented on what she described as the university’s missed opportunity to use the semiquincentennial to teach civics.

“Universities should use the 250th anniversary to ensure that students develop a serious understanding of the principles underlying American democracy,” she argued. “Strong civic education is essential not only for informed citizenship but also for the long-term preservation of constitutional government.”

For both Bryant and Doan, the broader issue surrounding UPenn’s “America 250” courses is the lack of civic knowledge among students and citizens.

“While some states, such as Florida, have strengthened civics standards, gaps still remain,” Doan explained, pointing to an October report from the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal that found only a small minority of states — 14 of 50 — require a civics class for graduation.

In another example, a 2024 Chamber of Commerce Foundation survey found that more than 70 percent of Americans cannot pass a “basic civic literacy quiz.”

“This civic illiteracy is a fundamental problem for a nation founded on an enlightened public,” Bryant stated.

ACTA has long emphasized the need for civic engagement and criticized American universities for neglecting it.

In April, the organization published a report by more than 20 “historians, political scientists, and education leaders” titled “A Broadside for the Nation: Preparing College Students for Informed Citizenship.”

The report calls for every university to require students to “complete a semester-long course on the American story.” Bryant and ACTA argue that such courses are necessary for students to become informed participants in civic life.

Referring to the UPenn courses, Bryant posed the question: “How can students be activists about political issues when they don’t even understand the history and details of their nation’s political system?”

This piece was originally published by Campus Reform on May 28, 2026.