Dan Butler’s stop-motion videos turn pop culture into lessons on the U.S. government for high school students.
What does Darth Vader’s parenting reveal about American federalism? Why might “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” be the best way to understand the Third Amendment? And what can Dwight Schrute from “The Office” teach us about the federal budget?
Dan Butler, a professor of political science, has created a LEGO brick stop-motion universe that makes learning about the U.S. government both approachable and entertaining. Dubbed “The Poli-sci Brick Guy,” he fills his videos with pop culture Easter eggs and sharp humor, transforming complex political concepts into engaging lessons for high school students.
“I want to reach people whom I think I can have an impact on,” he said. “Using simple, familiar analogies makes the material memorable.”
The project began during the COVID lockdown, when Butler taught himself how to do stop-motion animation to instruct Sunday school classes. He soon realized the technique could also make political science more accessible. Butler used AP American Government — a course taken by nearly 400,000 students annually — as his guide to start creating videos. Backed by the Frick Initiative, which funds projects fostering civil discourse, the videos make the national curriculum more accessible while highlighting civic power and responsibility.
“The people I’m trying to reach are swimming in an ocean of information, and sometimes I feel I’m in a small boat,” Butler said. “But I want people to understand they have power, that they matter, and that they can be smart about how they matter.”
Butler produces the videos in a small studio in his campus office, stocked with nearly 1,000 Lego mini-figures, a ring light, and a digital camera. He writes scripts, storyboards scenes, records voice-overs, and edits each video himself, sometimes with help from students or his children. He carefully selects pop culture icons, from Harry Potter to “The Avengers,” to illustrate lessons in ways students recognize and enjoy.
So far, he’s completed 88 videos, with 63 of those being core content in the AP Government curriculum and 15 being court cases. He’s also launched a series of “Know the Now” videos, linking course concepts to news events such as tariffs and immigration debates, giving teachers tools to spark discussion and encourage critical thinking.
This fall, Butler plans to attend regional and national conferences for secondary social studies teachers, meeting the educators who may use his videos in classrooms and gathering feedback to refine future content.
For Butler, the project is a labor of love that extends beyond his academic duties. Through his LEGO stop-motion universe, he’s inviting students to engage with government in ways that are fun, memorable, and meaningful.
“Students are a group of people I really want to reach and, because of the course they are taking, it’s a moment when their attention is at our doorstep,” he said. “I want to open the door and welcome them in.”
