8th Annual Summer Institute of Civic Studies | Apply by March 18th

The eighth annual Summer Institute of Civic Studies (http://activecitizen.tufts.edu/civic-studies/summer-institute/) will take place from June 13 to June 23, 2016 at Tufts University. It will be an intensive, two-week, interdisciplinary seminar bringing together faculty, advanced graduate students, and practitioners from many countries and diverse fields of study.

Organized by Peter Levine of Tufts University’s Tisch College and Karol Sołtan of the University of Maryland, the Summer Institute will engage participants in challenging discussions of such topics as:

• What kinds of citizens (if any) do good regimes need?
• What should such citizens know, believe, and do?
• What practices and institutional structures promote the right kinds of citizenship?
• What ought to be the relationships among empirical evidence, ethics, and strategy?

The syllabus for the seventh annual seminar (in 2015) is here: http://activecitizen.tufts.edu/civic-studies/summer-institute/#syllabus. The 2016 syllabus will be modified but will largely follow this outline. You can read more about the motivation for the Institute in the Framing Statement (http://activecitizen.tufts.edu/civic-studies/summer-institute/summer-institute-of-civic-studies-framing-statement/) by Harry Boyte, University of Minnesota; Stephen Elkin, University of Maryland; Peter Levine, Tufts; Jane Mansbridge, Harvard; Elinor Ostrom, Indiana University; Karol Sołtan, University of Maryland; and Rogers Smith, University of Pennsylvania.

Practicalities

• Tuition for the Institute is free, but students are responsible for their own housing and transportation. A Tufts University dormitory room can be rented for $230-$280/week. Credit is not automatically offered, but special arrangements for graduate credit may be possible.
• To apply: please email your resume, an electronic copy of your graduate transcript (if applicable), and a cover email about your interests to Peter Levine at Peter.Levine@Tufts.edu. For best consideration, apply no later than March 18, 2016.  You may also sign up for occasional announcements even if you are not sure that you wish to apply: http://tinyurl.com/a9qfftb
• The seminar will be followed (from June 23, evening, until June 25) by a public conference–“Frontiers of Democracy 2016”–in downtown Boston. Participants in the institute are expected to stay for the public conference. See information on the conference here: http://activecitizen.tufts.edu/civic-studies/frontiers/frontiers-of-democracy-2015-schedule/<http://activecitizen.tufts.edu/frontiers-2014-agenda/>. We are currently accepting proposals for concurrent sessions at the 2016 conference. Please submit them here: http://tinyurl.com/zxy5jph.

The Sister Institute for Eastern and Central Europe
In 2016, for the second time, there will also be a parallel Summer Institute for applicants from Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, and Germany. We are especially interested in applicants who have a long-term interest in developing the civic potential of Ukraine and the region. Funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), it will take place in Augsburg, Germany, from July 25th to August 5th 2016 (at the Augsburg University). It is co-organized by Dr. Tetyana Kloubert (University of Augsburg), Karol Sołtan and Peter Levine. For more information about the Augsburg Summer Institute of Civic Studies please contact tetyana.kloubert@phil.uni-augsburg.de