Academic Collaborations

To commemorate CMC’s milestone year, the College is planning a number of substantive and celebratory programs, including a 75th Anniversary Distinguished Speaker Series at the Athenaeum, and related academic programming across departments, institutes, and centers. This collaborative programming will honor CMC’s singular liberal arts and leadership mission through a focus on three enduring themes that shape the intellectual life of the College:

Themes for Academic Programming
  • Civilization and Commerce
  • Unity and Division
  • Science and Policy

The commitment to Responsible Leadership—a founding tenet of CMC—will be woven through each of the three thematic priorities.

 

Civilization and Commerce

CMC’s motto, civilization prospers with commerce, suggests that our civilization is nurtured by the free exchange of ideas, goods, capital, and services. Yet developments in the new millennium—such as the rise of conspiracy theories, economic inequality, cross-border exchange of goods and bads, environmental inequities, and populist discontent—have raised new questions about the relationship between free exchange and our democratic republic. Especially on the College’s anniversary, how can we strengthen the relationship between civilization and commerce?

Unity and Division

The array of issues arising from unity and division have shaped academic conversation at CMC since its founding commitment to the integrated study of economics, politics, and international relations and, more recently, through the development of our Open Academy commitments to free expression, viewpoint diversity, and constructive dialogue. Responsible leadership today must address how, as a nation, we can achieve sustainable unum out of our pluribus without undermining the value of our diversity. In the international context, how do we effectively pool our sovereignty in collective and equitable ways without undermining our national values? And at a social level, how can we leverage our enormous national wealth and generous philanthropic values to create durable change?

Science and Policy

In recognition of CMC’s next-generation interdisciplinary integrated science and computation program, this theme will explore the important relationship between science and policy. COVID-19 and the array of today’s complex problems—food insecurity, health care, and climate change—are accelerating the demand for the discovery of new cures and advanced technological capabilities. How should we prepare emerging leaders for a world in which science (from genomics to neuroscience) and computation (from artificial intelligence to quantum computing) will transform every aspect of our lives? And how can we best ensure that these developments and the policies that support or restrict them reflect our strongest values?

Alumni, parents, and friends of the College please register for the 75th Anniversary Distinguished Speakers on the alumni and parent website.

CMC faculty and staff, please register on the Athenaeum website.

75th Anniversary Distinguished Speaker Series

Read more about the series.

“75 Books”

Check back soon to learn more about the “75 Books” project, sponsored by the Gould Center.