High School Leaders Program: Faculty
Professor Steve Bragaw
Steve Bragaw is Professor of American Politics and Chair of the Department of Government and International Affairs at Sweet Briar College. The Director of Sweet Briar's Law & Society program, he teaches courses on public policy, American political and legal development, social movements and the law, as well as American politics and popular culture.
Bragaw's primary research and writing focuses on the role of the Supreme Court in negotiating the boundaries of power and authority, with secondary interests in media and politics, and the politics of civic education. He has delivered lectures for the Supreme Court Historical Society, the John Marshall Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, Gunston Hall, the Center for Civic Education, and the American Bar Association's Public Education Division, and is a frequent commentator on national and state politics for television as well as public and talk radio.
His interest in public policy is not academic: as co-chair of the Virginia Delegation to the Congressional Conference on Civics Education, Bragaw led the movement that resulted in Gov. Warner signing the bill creating the Virginia Commission on Civics Education in 2005. Over the past four years, the Commission has reexamined the role of civics education in Virginia's public schools and made numerous policy suggestions to the Department of Education. For four years he also led the "Project Citizen" program in of the Center for Civic Education, a public policy curriculum program for secondary schools.
Prof. Bragaw earned his bachelor's degree in politics, philosophy, and economics from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, a Master of Business Administration from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and his Masters and PhD in government from the University of Virginia. He lives in Crozet, VA, with his wife and four children, and is an avid vegetable gardener.
Marc Johnson
Marc Johnson is currently the Associate Director of the Tayloe Murphy Center, Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Marc is formerly the Assistant Director and Director of Programs at the Sorensen Institute. He originally came to the Institute in the summer of 2004 to oversee the College and High School Leaders Programs. Since that time he has taught and facilitated in all of the Sorensen Institute programs.
In addition to teaching "The Informed Citizen" in the High School Leaders Program, he teaches seminars and lectures on Virginia government and politics for other organizations, including the University of Virginia School of Continuing and Professional Studies. He has also been an invited speaker to groups around the Commonwealth on the topics of Virginia politics, leadership and civic engagement. In 2006, he co-authored an article in the journal Academic Exchange Quarterly on the effectiveness of the College Leaders Program at preparing students for leadership roles in politics and public life.
He previously served on the Governor's Commission on National and Community Service and is the coordinator for the History, Government and Politics session of the Leadership Charlottesville Program. He holds a Master's Degree in Education from the University of Virginia and earned his undergraduate degree in Government from the College of William and Mary.
