College and university professors who teach Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America” are invited to apply to a two-week Summer Institute, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, June 18-29, 2007. Entitled “The Continuing Significance of ‘Democracy in America,’” the institute is sponsored by the National Association of Scholars and will be held at Bethel University in St. Paul, MN. The project director is Daniel Ritchie, who runs the Humanities Program at Bethel University.

This two-week institute will bring together 25 participants under the guidance of Michael Zuckert (Notre Dame) and Peter Augustine Lawler (Berry College). Its theme is Tocqueville's analysis of the American "social state”—the customs, laws, and ideas that form America’s democratic culture. We will pay particular attention to Tocqueville's analysis of equality (week one) and social capital (week two).

Daniel E. Ritchie
Bethel University (St. Paul, MN)
Institute website: http://cas.bethel.edu/dept/nehtocqueville