March 31 is the application deadline for three opportunities:

1. The Summer Institute of Civic Studies

The Summer Institute of Civic Studies is an intensive, selective, interdisciplinary seminar that brings together faculty, advanced graduate students, and practitioners from many countries and diverse fields of study. Topics for the readings and discussions include:

• How do social systems look from the perspective of people who want to change them?
• How can people form and maintain functional groups that improve the world?
• How can people reason together about what is right to do?
• What practices and institutional structures promote these kinds of citizenship?
• How should empirical evidence, ethics, and strategy relate?

The Summer Institute was founded and co-taught from 2009-17 by Peter Levine, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Tisch College, and Karol So?tan, Associate Professor in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland. This year it will be led by Peter Levine alone. You can read more about the motivation for the Institute in the Civic Studies Framing Statement.

The 11th annual Summer Institute will start with the Frontiers of Democracy Conference (see below) on June 20-22 and then continue as a seminar until June 28 at 5pm.

Daily sessions take place on the Tufts campus in Medford, Massachusetts. Tuition for the Institute is free, but participants are responsible for their own housing and transportation. One option is a Tufts University dormitory room, which can be rented for $69/night (single room) or $85/night (double room). 

The application consists of a resume, a cover letter about your interests, and an electronic copy of your graduate transcript (if applicable). Please send those materials to Peter Levine, peter.levine@tufts.edu no later than March 31, 2019

2. Proposals for the Frontiers of Democracy Conference

Frontiers of Democracy is an annual conference hosted by the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University since 2009. It convenes practitioners and researchers who work on strengthening democracy in the US and around the world. The format combines short talks with interactive sessions for smaller groups. This year, it will take place from June 20 (evening) until June 22 (midday) at the downtown Boston campus of Tufts University

In 2019, participants in the Summer Institute of Civic Studies, the APSA Institute for Civically Engaged Research (see below), people involved with the Deliberative Democracy Consortium and Cities of Service, and 40 new fellows of the Lead for America program will attend Frontiers, along with others who register. You can register to hold a spot now. Proposals are also being accepted for individual talks, panels, and other kinds of sessions, such as moderated discussions, workshops, planning meetings, etc. Please submit proposals here by March 31 for best consideration.

3. The first annual American Political Science Association Institute for Civically Engaged Research (ICER)

The APSA Institute for Civically Engaged Research will begin in summer 2019. ICER is intended for advanced graduate students in political science and for political scientists at any stage of their careers who wish to shift to using civically engaged research. (It is not meant for scholars who are already experienced in that approach.)

Approximately twenty participants will meet each day from June 17-20 for intensive discussions. Participants are then expected to attend the Frontiers of Democracy conference from the evening of June 20 until noon on June 22 in downtown Boston.

Tisch College Academic Dean Peter Levine is the organizer. Other confirmed speakers and visitors include: Valeria Sinclair Chapman (Purdue), Archon Fung (Harvard), Taeku Lee (Berkeley), Robert Lieberman (Johns Hopkins), Jamila Michener (Cornell), Amy Cabrera Rasmussen (Cal State-Long Beach), Pearl Robinson (Tufts), and Rogers Smith (Penn). 

Thanks to support from the APSA, participation in the Institute and the conference is free, and scholarships are available to defray costs of travel, food, and housing in dormitories on the Tufts campus. Applicants are expected to seek financial support from their home institution, but admission to the Institute for Civically Engaged Research will not be affected by financial need.

To apply, please complete this form.

In addition, applications are due by March 15 for …

4. The European Summer Institute of Civic Studies

Herrsching, near Munich, Germany, from July 14th to July 27th 2019

The fifth annual European Summer Institute of Civic Studies will take place in Herrsching, near Munich, Germany, from July 14th to July 27th 2019. This Institute is open to applicants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Poland, the Russian Federation, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. It is funded by the German Government’s Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which covers travel, food, and lodging costs. The organizers are Prof. Karol Soltan (University of Maryland) and Prof. Tetyana Kloubert (Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt); Peter Levine will join for 2-3 days.To apply, send a letter of interest, a curriculum vitae, and an academic transcript (if applicable) to Prof. Kloubert at Tetyana.Kloubert@ku.de by March 15, 2019 for best consideration.