In June, 2001, Hillsdale College launched the Charles R. and Kathleen K. Hoogland Center for Teacher Excellence, a program committed to instructing teachers in the best of the liberal arts tradition for the advancement of liberty.

Building upon the mission of the Hillsdale Academy, a private co-educational K-12 school, the Center for Teacher Excellence (CTE) expands the reach of Hillsdale College's message of classical curricula and subject mastery to a nationwide audience of teachers. The CTE seeks to reinvigorate civics education with the spirit of liberty that animated America's founding.

Over 1,000 public, private and homeschool teachers from 38 states have participated in the seminar series in American civics education. The CTE has conducted 42 seminars in eight states. Seminar topics include the following:

• Teaching the Declaration of Independence: Are These Truths Self-Evident Today?
• A More Perfect Union: Teaching the Constitution of the United States
• Founding Father: George Washington and the American Founding 
•  “All Possess Alike Liberty of Conscience”: The First Amendment, Religious Liberty, and the American Founding
• Life, Liberty, and Property: Economics and the American Founding
• Abraham Lincoln, Slavery, and Secession: Understanding the Civil War
• Natural Rights and Justice: Teaching the American Civil Rights Movement
• The Cold War: Understanding America's Clash with Communism
• Will Free Markets Protect the Planet? Economics and the Environment
  

The civics seminars feature faculty including CTE Director Dr. David J. Bobb and distinguished Hillsdale College faculty members including:

• Dr. Bradley Birzer, Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies, Director of the American Studies Program, and Associate Professor of History
• Dr. Mickey Craig, Dean of the Social Sciences, William and Berniece Grewcock Chair in Political Science, and Associate Professor of Political Science
• Dr. Burton Folsom, Charles F. Cline Chair in History and Management and Professor of History
• Sir Martin Gilbert, William and Berniece Grewcock Distinguished Fellow in History and Fellow, Merton College, Oxford University; official biographer of Winston Churchill
• Dr. Mark Kalthoff, Dean of Faculty, Henry Salvatori Chair in History and Traditional Values, Chairman and Associate Professor of History
• The Hon. Stephen Markman, Michigan Supreme Court Justice, and Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Political Science
• Dr. Paul Moreno, William and Berniece Grewcock Chair in the Constitution of the United States and Associate Professor of History
• Dr. Will Morrisey, Assistant Professor of Political Science
• Dr. Nathan Schlueter, Assistant Professor of Political Science
• Dr. Gary Wolfram, Munson Professor of Political Economy and Professor of Economics
  

Hillsdale College faculty are joined by nationally-known guest lecturers including:

• Dr. Sallie Balliunas, Astrophysicist, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
• Dr. Arnold Beichman, Research Fellow, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace
• Dr. Edward Erler, Professor of Political Science, California State University–San Bernardino
• Dr. Allen Guelzo, Henry R. Luce Professor of the Civil War Era and Professor of History, Gettysburg College
• Dr. John Marini, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Nevada–Reno
• Dr. Lucas Morel, Associate Professor of Political Science, Washington and Lee University
• Dr. Matthew Spalding, Director, B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at the Heritage Foundation
• Dr. Thomas West, Professor of Politics, University of Dallas