E Pluribus Unum: Out of Many, One: United States' Contemporary Society in Context
By Dr. Lisa Gring-Pemble
George Mason University was recently awarded a State Department-funded Study of the United States Institutes (SUSI) for Student Leaders on U.S. History and Government.
As a result, Mason will be administering three Institutes: a Spanish language program that takes place at Mason, an English language Institute that takes place at Wheelock College in Boston, Massachusetts, and an English language Institute that takes place at North Carolina Central University in North Carolina.
Dr. Lisa Gring-Pemble, Assistant Dean and Associate Professor of New Century College (NCC), is the Director of the SUSI program, Dr. Rei Berroa, Professor of Modern and Classical Language is the Academic Director for Mason’s Winter Institute and Ms. Jessica Oxendine (M.A. Spanish, Mason) is the Administrative Director of Mason’s Winter Institute.
From January 6th to February 11th, Mason’s Institute brings twenty-one high-achieving undergraduates from Bolivia, Paraguay and Péru to campus for a five week academic residency entitled “E Pluribus Unum: Out of Many, One: United States’ Contemporary Society in Context.”
Housed in NCC, Mason’s Study of the United States Institute offers an exciting, challenging, and innovative curriculum that combines classroom learning, experiential activities, field trips, and study tours to enhance student understanding of U.S. history, government, and leadership.
In addition to learning about important historical figures, students interact with contemporary political leaders at both the local and national levels. For example, students engaged in discussion with the Mayor of Fairfax, Fairfax Chief of Police, and had the unique opportunity to visit with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Visits to Williamsburg introduce students to the birth of democracy even as a study tour of Gettysburg offers insight into the limits of democratic deliberation. Sessions at the Newseum and with Washington Post reporters illuminate the role of the media in democracy. Other program highlights include a tour of the White House, U.S. Capitol, and National Museum of the American Indian as well as a trip to New York City to study immigration and economics.
The program concludes with a Washington, D.C. tour where sixty-one students from all three Institutes convene and present ideas for research projects to representatives of the Department of State.
Mason hopes that the success of this program will result in future cooperative agreements with the Department of State and opportunities for international and cultural exchange.
January 20, 2012
