Throughout the academic year, CMC provides student opportunities embodying a rigorous interdisciplinary approach to learning, cultivating connections with faculty, and resonating with students' interests.
And, in some cases, as a bonus, students have the opportunity to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom by exploring their interests overseas. Here are some recent examples from the Salvatori Center, EnviroLab, and the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights .
Seeking roots to American liberty:
The summer Salvatori Center Conference, an academic program complemented by a cultural and a historical experience
Location:
London, England
Conference description:
“The goal of the ‘The Anglo Roots of American Liberty’ conference was to bring together faculty and students to work through seminal text in the history of political theory that helped shape the modern world and liberal democratic government in particular,” said Professor George Thomas, Director of the Salvatori Center, who noted that the seven faculty and 11 students who attended, took part in seminars that mirrored “the goals of the Open Academy.”
“The aim was to give students a deeper and richer understanding of the origins of modern liberal democracy, and especially aspect of the American constitutional order,” he continued. “Taking the students to historical places, like the British Library and Churchill War Rooms, helped make the ideas that animated our discussion real and concrete. I hope it gave them a real sense of the origins of liberal democracy and a better sense of its historical development.”
The takeaway:
“The London conference was liberal arts education at its best,” said Professor Jon Shields. “Faculty and students discussing the philosophical roots of American liberty and democracy through close readings of Milton, Hobbes, Locke, and Mill. These conversations spilled into dinners and afternoon trips to museums. Personally, it deepened my understanding of these texts and my connection to students and colleagues.”
“The conversations we had were not only intellectually stimulating but also deeply meaningful as we bridged these timeless thinkers to the challenges and questions of our own time,” said Professor Michael Fortner. “The combination of seminars and visits to iconic sites made this experience truly unforgettable and brought the texts to life. Witnessing the students’ curiosity and growth was a privilege, and it was a genuine joy to work alongside them and get to know them more personally.”
Participants:
Students
- Nate Weisberg ’24
- Yulissa Sanchez ’24
- Elijah Weiss ’25
- Noah Swanson ’25
- Olivia Wee ’25
- Ruthie Metcalfe ’25 (POM)
- Rafael Otero ’25
- Henry Long ’25
- Josh Morganstein ’25
- Nicole Jonassen ’24
Faculty
- Government Professor Nicholas Buccola
- CMC Policy Lab Director Zach Courser ’99
- Yannis Evrigenis, Alice Tweed Tuohy Professor of Government and Ethics
- Michael Fortner, Pamela B. Gann Associate Professor of Government, George R. Roberts Fellow, and Director, Dreier Roundtable
Literature Professor Seth Lobis - Jon Shields, Government Professor and Faculty Co-Director, Open Academy
- George Thomas, Burnet C. Wohlford Professor of American Political Institutions and Director, Salvatori Center
Rural futures:
Part of EnviroLab’s Japan Foundation-sponsored-project, "Sustainable Futures: Overcoming Disparities"
Locations:
Tokyo; the Asian Rural Institute in Nasushiobara; return-to-farming programs in the Kyoto area; and an organic tea farm in Wazuka.
Project description:
“The three student fellows are carrying out a study of the Asian Rural Institute (ARI), which is a teaching center and working farm for organic agriculture,” said Park. With the overall goal to “understand how rural communities have been negotiating globalization and climate change,” the project offers “direct encounters and experiences in the field” to help the students “build techniques and skills, such as how to interview people, how to observe and record happenings in daily life, and how to carry out research in a different country with different cultural practices.”
The takeaway:
“EnviroLab Clinic Trips, such as trips to Singapore, Borneo, Thailand, and Hawaii, are eye-opening ways for students to learn how to carry out research on the ground,” said Park. In addition, he noted how researching and learning outside the classroom is an opportunity for students to see how what they are studying at CMC “is playing out in people’s daily life in the present moment.”
Participants:
EnviroLab Student Fellows
- Chisato Kamakura ’27
- Diana Zhou ’26
- Jiyeon Kim ’26
Faculty
- Albert L. Park, Bank of America Associate Professor of Pacific Basin Studies
- Tamara Venit-Shelton, Professor of History
- Branwen Williams, George R. Roberts Professor of Integrated Sciences: Environmental Science and the Director of the Roberts Environmental Center
- Marc Los Huertos, Associate Professor and Chair of Environmental Analysis at Pomona College
Studying Armenians in Argentina:
Among the 21 Human Rights Internships funded by the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights
Location:
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Project description:
“I worked with the Luisa Hairabedian Foundation, a human rights nonprofit organization with various projects and educational programs,” Turcios said. “They have a particular emphasis on the Armenian identity post-genocide and memory, truth, and justice after Argentina’s last military dictatorship. I attended educational workshops, visited sites of memory, and conducted a semester-long independent research project on the language used during Argentina’s last military dictatorship and the linguistic conflict it produced.”
The takeaway:
“The human rights internship program is intended to give students hands-on, experiential opportunities to work with leading experts and organizations devoted to a wide array of human rights causes and fields, including those focused on Holocaust and genocide studies,” said Kirsti Zitar ’97 P’26, Assistant Director, Mgrublian Center for Human Rights.
“Interns engage in activism, museum archival work, first-person interviews, and testimony collection, data analysis, legal research, and advocacy, policy making, media relations, and more. to better understand the variety of ways they can incorporate human rights into their future career goals, ethical decision-making, and post-graduate education,” Zitar continued. “The Center has secured strong partnerships with leading organizations and law firms including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Rerooted Archive, The Sentry, Haysbert Moultrie LLP, and more, to ensure these opportunities and experiences are available to CMC students now, and in the future regardless of their undergraduate majors or broader fields of study.”
Participant:
Ilma Turcios ’25, an Economics and Government dual major