Now that I think of it, I vaguely remember Machiavelli mentioning civic virtue. But yeah, it seems extremely complicated to me. Good luck on your thesis!

My teacher loves history enough to name her children after Prussian generals, but she seems somewhat, er, utilitarian?
I thought public education was implemented during the Industrial Revolution to supply the workforce with a somewhat educated population of workers who did not need to run to their manager every time when they came across a simple mathematical problem. Or is this just another one of the many things that my class is getting wrong? That said, I cannot agree more; it's disappointing to hear students proclaim their utter disdain for their AP classes. Obviously they only signed up to polish their college resumes, but why sign up for an AP class you have absolutely no interest in?