CIC offers a wide array of programming for full-time faculty members at CIC member institutions. Led by renowned experts in the respective fields, the programs provide faculty members with access to special resources, the opportunity to network with colleagues in their fields, and time to recharge their intellectual batteries. Three seminars and institutes have upcoming nomination deadlines.

Teaching Interfaith Understanding Seminar

Next summer, in partnership with Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), CIC will again offer a seminar on Teaching Interfaith Understanding for faculty members who are working to broaden their knowledge and strengthen their teaching of interfaith understanding through the development of new or revised courses. The 2020 seminar will examine how interfaith understanding can be taught effectively in the college classroom so that students are equipped for interfaith engagement and leadership on campus, in professional settings, and in their communities. Throughout the seminar, participants will discuss case studies and scholarly readings, share course syllabi, and participate in experiential activities such as site visits. The seminar will take place June 14–18, 2020, at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.

The seminar will be led by two leading scholars: Eboo Patel and Laurie Patton. Patel is the founder and president of IFYC, a national nonprofit working to make interfaith cooperation a social norm. The author of Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation; Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America; Interfaith Leadership: A Primer; and Out of Many Faiths: Religious Diversity and the American Promise, he is a regular contributor to the public conversation about religion in America and a frequent speaker on the topic of religious pluralism. Patton is president of Middlebury College (VT) and a distinguished scholar of South Asian religion. She joined Middlebury in 2015, after serving as Duke University’s dean of Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and Robert F. Durden Professor of Religion. Patton is the author or editor of nine books on South Asian history, culture, and religion and has lectured widely on interfaith issues and religion and public life.

Twenty-five full-time CIC faculty members will be selected to participate in the multidisciplinary program, which is generously supported by Lilly Endowment Inc. Faculty members must be nominated by their chief academic officer. The nomination deadline is January 17, 2020. View more information about the Interfaith seminar and the nomination process.

New Currents in Teaching Philosophy

Philosophy is a cornerstone of a liberal arts education, but philosophy programs at many CIC member institutions struggle to attract majors and minors, to promote philosophy as an essential component of other majors, or to demonstrate the relevance of philosophy to modern life and career aspirations. To help meet these challenges, CIC will offer three annual Institutes devoted to New Currents in Teaching Philosophy, beginning July 26–30, 2020, in Baltimore, Maryland. Generously supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the hands-on workshops are designed to allow participants to a explore a range of relevant topics and introduce them to pedagogies with a proven record of attracting students to the study of philosophy.

Under the leadership of Edward J. (Ned) Hall, Norman E. Vuilleumier Professor of Philosophy and chair of the philosophy department at Harvard University, the 2020 Institute will feature as presenters on key topics innovative scholar-teachers from some of the nation’s most successful philosophy programs: “Current Moral and Social Issues” (Mark Schroeder, University of Southern California); “Philosophy as a Guide to the (Good) Life” (Meghan Sullivan, University of Notre Dame); “Minds and Machines” (Eric Swanson, University of Michigan); “Theories of Justice” (Christopher Lebron, Johns Hopkins University); and “Argument Mapping in the Philosophy Classroom” (Mara Harrell, Carnegie Mellon University). In addition, representatives of highly successful philosophy programs at CIC institutions will explore best practices in teaching philosophy at small colleges and innovation at the department level.

CIC will select up to 30 participants for the 2020 Institute by competitive nomination. Participants must be full-time, ongoing faculty members in philosophy and related programs and be nominated by their chief academic officer. The deadline for completed nominations is January 24, 2020. View more information about the Philosophy seminar and the nomination process.

The American Civil War: Origins and Consequences

In what may be the last seminar in a long-running American history seminar series, in 2020 CIC will offer a multidisciplinary seminar for full-time faculty members in history and related fields on “The American Civil War: Origins and Consequences.” Cosponsored by CIC and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the seminar will focus on the drama and tragedy of this tumultuous period, particularly the central role of slavery in precipitating sectional tensions and secession, the ways in which military and civilian affairs intersected and influenced one another, the question of what the war left unresolved, and how Americans have remembered the conflict. Generously supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the seminar will be held at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, June 28–July 1, 2020.

The seminar will be directed by Gary W. Gallagher, John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War Emeritus at the University of Virginia, where he also is director of the John L. Nau Center for Civil War History. He is the author of numerous volumes on the Civil War including Becoming Confederates: Paths to a New National Loyalty; The Union War, which received the Tom Watson Brown Book Award, the Dan and Marilyn Laney Prize, and the Eugene Feit Award in Civil War Studies; Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know about the Civil War; Lee and His Army in Confederate History; The American Civil War: The War in the East 1861–May 1863; Lee and His Generals in War and Memory, winner of the Fletcher Pratt Award; The Confederate War, which received the Laney Prize and Lincoln Prize; and Stephen Dodson Ramseur: Lee’s Gallant General. Gallagher was founder and first president of the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites and has served on the board of directors of the Civil War Trust.

CIC will select up to 20 participants for the program by competitive nomination. Faculty members must be nominated by the chief academic officer of their institution; the nomination materials are due February 7, 2020. View more information about the American History seminar and the nomination process.