Grant Summary
$300,000 over 36 months to expand the “Citizens-Thinkers-Writers” (CTW) program, founded to encourage New Haven high school students from underserved backgrounds to see themselves as active participants in a long-running philosophical conversation about civic life that dates back to ancient Greece and Rome. The students participate in an intensive two-week residential program that explores the theme of civic life from the perspectives of philosophers, historians, poets, and social theorists. Readings include works by Thucydides, Plutarch, Plato, Machiavelli, Thoreau, DuBois, and Whitman. During the academic year, the students collaborate on a research project, engage with guest speakers, and are supported through the college application process by their undergraduate mentors. Grant funds will help double the size of the program and further students’ leadership development by having them organize liberal arts programming for younger students in their high schools during the academic year. Yale will organize a conference in summer 2021 to propagate this program model.