The first Knowledge for Freedom Program, Freedom & Citizenship, began in 2009 as a partnership between Columbia’s Center for American Studies, Center for the Core Curriculum and the Roger Lehecka Double Discovery Center (DDC). Funded initially by a grant from the Teagle Foundation, the program enrolled 15 students from DDC’s Upward Bound Summer Academy in an intensive seminar modeled on Columbia’s Contemporary Civilization course while living on campus. Students began by studying Plato and Aristotle and ended the summer with documents in the American civic tradition by Lincoln, Douglass, King and others. During the following academic year, the Center for American Studies worked with students on research projects on topics in contemporary public life as the DDC guided them in applying for colleges. The Center for American Studies now runs the full program independently, with additional college application support from several community-based organizations.
