For the past three summers now, it has been our privilege to host a Summer Institute for a remarkably diverse group of foreign scholars involved in teaching and research on American society, culture and politics. The American Experience, offers a highly interactive program that examines vital aspects of American society at the end of the millennium.

The primary aim of the Summer Institute is to familiarize scholars from around the world with the many ways in which American academia, while cultivating the classics and conducting basic research, builds bridges between the university and the "real world" and thus contributes to informed public discourse. The Institute's interdisciplinary seminars on major aspects of contemporary American society are therefore augmented by first-hand exposure to a variety of institutions that shape American society and its public life.

Four thematic sections structure the Institute's program: The Principles of American Society and Its Democratic Culture; The Media Society; America's Civil Society and Civic Life; and The City - the Public - the Arts. Although each section has a specific thematic focus, the issues they present often reoccur in other sections as demonstrations of concrete social practices. Each section utilizes two primary methods of presentation: seminar sessions which explore substantive issues, concepts, debates; and on-site study sessions, providing direct exposure to the issues, institutions, and processes as they take place in society. The workings of American public and social life are observed through field trips to municipal offices, national media organizations, community-based organizations, arts institutions, think tanks, and corporations.

While exposing the participants to the many dimensions of American society, the Institute simultaneously assists each scholar in developing new courses on U.S. society, which can be integrated into the curricula of their home universities. Participants also receive intensive training in the use of the Internet for research and curriculum development.

During this intensive program, the visiting scholars work closely with many American professors and experts. Members of the Graduate Faculty have in the past been by professors from New York University, Brandeis, CUNY, Georgetown, Hampshire College, and Cardozo School of Law, and by experts from the Media Studies Center, The New York Times, the Library of Congress, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Connecticut Commission on Children, and the Office of the Secretary of State of Connecticut. Several educational, research, media and arts organizations also participate in the program.

Institute Faculty:

Andrew Arato, The Graduate Faculty (GF);
Randy Bass, Crossroads Project, Georgetown Univ.;
Jose Casanova, GF;
Steven Engelberg, The New York Times;
Prosser Gifford, The Library of Congress;
Jeffrey Goldfarb, GF;
Victoria Hattam, GF;
Philip Kasinitz, CUNY;
Mitchel Levitas, The New York Times;
James Lipton, School of Dramatic Arts, The New School;
Elzbieta Matynia, GF;
Lester Mazor, Hampshire College;
William Miles, Documentary Filmmaker, WNET;
James Miller, GF;
Aryeh Neier, Open Society Institute;
Arthur Penn, Film Director;
David Plotke, GF;
Monroe Price, Cardozo School of Law;
Rayna Rapp, GF;
Miles Rapoport, Connecticut Secretary of State;
Jonathan Schell, Media Studies Center;
Richard Sennett, NYU;
Carmen Sirianni, Brandeis Univ.;
Michael Szporer, The Library of Congress;
Elaine Zimmerman, Commission on Children (CT);
Vera Zolberg, GF.