Sphere Summit
2023 Sphere Summit: The Foundations of Civic Culture
Dates and Times
Location
About
Applications are open for Sphere Summit: Foundations of Civic Culture for the summer of 2023! Sphere Summit, a full scholarship professional development program for grades 5–12 educators, returns as a fully in‐person experience in Washington, DC, and will run July 9–13. Benefits include room and board, 20+ hours of professional development, classroom resources, and a $500 travel stipend upon completion of the program.
The Sphere Summit is a full scholarship summer program for grades 5–12 educators and administrators. Summit is open to teachers of all subject areas and disciplines.
The Sphere Summit features presentations by leading policymakers, scholars, and academics, who discuss key public policy issues facing our nation today. Topics covered include free speech, the health of our democracy, criminal justice reform, approaches to diversity in education, the economy, and many others. The Summit also features professional development workshops conducted by leaders in civic education on how to bring these ideas into your classroom.
The Sphere Summit aims to restore a spirit of civil, constructive, and respectful discourse and engagement and to return facts, analysis, and research to primacy as the vehicles for discussion and debate.
Schedule
Sunday, July 9
REGISTRATION
WELCOME RECEPTION
DINNER AND WELCOMING REMARKS
DINNER PROGRAM
A CONVERSATION WITH LENORE SKENAZY
Lenore Skenazy, President and Co‐Founder, Let Grow
Monday, July 10
BREAKFAST
CIVIC CULTURE AND FOUNDATIONS
IS FREE SPEECH BEING CHILLED IN THE CLASSROOM — AND BEYOND?
Jonathan Rauch
Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, Brookings Institution
Nadine Strossen
Professor Emerita, New York Law School, and past national President, ACLU
APPLICATION WORKSHOPS
DEBATE CENTERED INSTRUCTION
Robert Litan
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, and Co‐founder, The American Lyceum
Jonathan Rauch
Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, Brookings Institution
Nadine Strossen
Professor Emerita, New York Law School, and past national President, ACLU
BREAK
CHALLENGES TO FREE SPEECH AND CIVIL DISCOURSE IN YOUR SCHOOL
LUNCH
POLICY DISCUSSIONS
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
Annalies Goger
Fellow, Governance Studies, Brookings Institution
John Malcolm
Vice President, Institute for Constitutional Government, and Director, Meese Center, Heritage Foundation
Jay Schweikert
Research Fellow, Project on Criminal Justice, Cato Institute
SUPREME COURT REVIEW
Thomas Berry
Research Fellow, Cato Institute
David Rivkin
Partner, BakerHostetler
BREAK
FOUNDATIONS OF CIVIC CULTURE
HUMANPROGRESS.ORG
Elyse Alter
Content Development Manager, Sphere Education Initiatives
Chelsea Follett
Policy Analyst and Managing Editor of Humanprogress.org, Cato Institute
APPLICATION WORKSHOP
BRINGING CIVIL DISCOURSE TO YOUR CLASSROOM
BREAK
DINNER
Conference Center
DINNER PROGRAM
A CONVERSATION WITH SHARIF EL-MEKKI
Cato Institute
Sharif El‐Mekki
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Center for Black Educator Development
Tuesday, July 11
CIVIC CULTURE AND FOUNDATIONS
BREAKFAST AND THE STORY OF CIVIL SOCIETY
Tom Palmer
Executive Vice President for International Programs, Atlas Network, and Senior Fellow, Cato Institute
FREE MORNING IN WASHINGTON DC
POLICY WORKSHOPS
SESSION A: FOREIGN POLICY — THE WAR IN UKRAINE
Sahar Kahn
Research Fellow, Cato Institute
Melanie Sisson
Fellow, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, Brookings Institution
Dakota Wood
Senior Research Fellow, Defense Programs, Center for the National Defense, Heritage Foundation
Allan Carey
Director, Sphere Education Initiatives
SESSION B: HEALTH CARE
Michael Cannon
Director of Health Policy Studies, Cato Institute
Jonathan Cohn
Senior National Correspondent, HuffPost
Caleb O. Brown
Director of Multimedia, Cato Institute
TECH POLICY: AI, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND BIG TECH
Will Duffield
Policy Analyst, Cato Institute
Nicol Turner Lee
Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, and Director, Center for Technology Innovation, Brookings Institution
Adam Thierer
Resident Senior Fellow, Technology and Innovation, R Street
MORAL COURAGE AND A NEW APPROACH TO DIVERSITY
Irshad Manji
Founder, Moral Courage
BREAK
APPLICATION WORKSHOPS
BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE
CONSTRUCTIVE DIALOGUE INSTITUTE
FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION
LET GROW
BREAK
RECEPTION
DINNER
DINNER PROGRAM
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES ACROSS DISCIPLINES
Kim Holder
Past President, National Association for Economic Education, and Senior Lecturer of Economics, University of West Georgia
Emily Kirkpatrick
Executive Director, National Council of Teachers of English
Shannon Pugh
President, National Council for the Social Studies, and Director of Community and School Programming, Anne Arundel Public Schools
Wednesday, July 12
BREAKFAST
UNDERSTANDING EACH OTHER
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
Members to be announced
THE HEALTH OF OUR DEMOCRACY
Darrell West
Senior Fellow, Center for Technology Innovation, and Douglas Dillon Chair in Governmental Studies, Brookings Institution
Gene Healy
Senior Vice President for Policy, Cato Institute
BREAK
APPLICATION WORKSHOPS
NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER
RETRO REPORT
STOSSEL IN THE CLASSROOM
LESSON PLAN WORKSHOPS
LUNCH
POLICY WORKSHOPS
SESSION A: IMMIGRATION POLICY
Alex Nowrasteh
Vice President for Economic and Social Policy Studies, Cato Institute
Jessica Vaughan
Director of Policy Studies, Center for Immigration Studies
Stan Veuger
Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Caleb O. Brown
Director of Multimedia, Cato Institute
SESSION B: ISLAM AND LIBERTY — THE CHALLENGES AND THE HOPE
Mustafa Akyol
Senior Fellow, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute
Sahar Kahn
Research Fellow, Cato Institute
DEBT AND SPENDING
Romina Boccia
Director of Budget and Entitlement Policy, Cato Institute
Molly Reynolds
Senior Fellow in Governance Studies, Brookings Institution
Veronique de Rugy
George Gibbs Chair in Political Economy, and Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center
BREAK
Critical Social Justice Pedagogy and Black Well Being
Erec Smith
Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Composition, York College
Tabia Lee
Founding Member, Free Black Thought
Allan Carey
Director, Sphere Education Initiatives
FREE EVENING IN WASHINGTON DC
Thursday, July 13
BRUNCH
APPLICATION WORKSHOPS
SPHERE IN THE CLASSROOM
Elyse Alter
Content Development Manager, Sphere Education Initiatives
SPHERE ON THE ROAD
John Snoad
Educator Engagement Specialist, Sphere Education Initiatives
CLOSING REMARKS
Allan Carey
Director, Sphere Education Initiatives
STIPEND AND CERTIFICATE DISTRIBUTION