Summer Institute
The Summer Institute at Gratz provides a once-a-year, virtual space for the Gratz community to explore a topic and share with expert speakers and workshops. We also offer academic sessions for doctoral students. Additionally, we encourage students and faculty to join us for some networking and fellowship opportunities, social events, and more.
SI 2023
Futurism: How Educators Can Lead in the 21st Century
Fu·tur·ism:/ˈfyo͞oCHəˌrizəm/ noun, concern with events and trends of the future, or which anticipate the future.
Summer Institute 2023 invites the Gratz community to imagine themselves as futurists. As educators and professionals, our work and the way we interact with others will continue to evolve. Our curriculums and necessary leadership skills will change. Our environments and modes of delivery will be different. Are you prepared?
Gratz has always embraced technology, pedagogical innovation, multimedia engagement, and alternative approaches to the delivery of education and training future leaders. The COVID-19 pandemic has proven that we all must be ready for action when a crisis strikes. Challenges to library books and curriculums, climate events, threats of violence, and campus protests are all very much a part of our realities as educators and leaders. We have also seen strong support for teachers, an increase in donations to colleges, and a rise in student advocacy.
From climate change and sustainability to new modes of leadership and the fight for equity and against antisemitism, we have invited a diverse group of speakers to lend their vision on the future of education and how we can be leaders in the 21st century.
A portion of Summer Institute 2023 was made possible by alumna Miriam R. Grossmann, M.A. Jewish Studies, 1988; Bachelor Of Hebrew Literature, 1951
SCHEDULE
*ALL TIMES ARE LISTED AS EASTERN Daylight TIME (EdT).
*Links to join each session are posted in the schedule
SI 2023 Selected Readings *
The Dumbing Down of the Purpose of Higher Ed, Patricia McGuire
Anticipating the Climate Crisis on Campus, Bryan Alexander
*These articles are available freely online.
SI 2023 keynote speakers
Dr. Bryan Alexander
Senior scholar, Georgetown University
Sunday, July 9 @ 1:00pm (EST)
"Future Trends in Higher Education: Climate, AI, and Virtual Learning"
Dr. Patricia McGuire
President
Trinity Washington University
Monday, July 10 @ 1:00 PM (EST)
"New Leadership for a Different Future for Higher Education"
Dr. Jeffrey Kopstein
Political Science Professor
University of California, Irvine
Tuesday, July 11 @ 2:00 PM (EST)
Workshops
These 30-60 mins workshops and presentations will cover a variety of topics on how we will work and learn in the future.
Check the schedule on the top right of this page for dates and times.
- Reading Rebecca: the future of digital humanities using the letters of Rebecca Gratz with Nina Warnke and Julie Fisher
- Join two of the editors of the Rebecca Gratz Digital Collection to explore the world of this important 19th-century leader of Jewish education. Discover the international efforts dedicated towards transcribing manuscripts. In this 75-minute workshop, the editors will introduce the practice of transcribing through a hands-on experience with one of Rebecca’s letters and offer a glimpse into the educational possibilities for learners in today’s classroom as well as opportunities for those interested in joining community-driven public service.
- Sustainability, Climate Change, and Higher Education, with SI guest Bryan Alexander
- The Hebrew Language of the Future with Dina Maiben
- The Future is Feminist: Using feminist informed practice to increase women’s visibility as leaders with Donna Guerin
- For decades women have outpaced men academically in elementary and secondary school and now enroll in and graduate from college in higher numbers than men, yet often face the "glass ceiling" when it comes to workplace advancement and recognition. This presentation confronts long-held beliefs about power and value, as well as the covert systems that impede women's progress within the established order. A fresh perspective on leadership and power challenges organizations to take risks in practicing transformative feminist leadership.
- Picturing the Future: Cartoon representations of education’s future with Philip Moore
- From newspapers to TV, cartoons have always been an engaging way to imagine the future. This presentation will present some fun examples of cartoons specifically picturing the future of education, from across the 20th Century. Come discuss what they tell us about our relationship to technology, and consider the ways that potential and fears may mirror our contemporary predications about AI's impact.
What our Students are saying...
[This program] made me feel a part of a larger learning community.
—2022 Doctorate Student in Educational Leadership
This program has not only enhanced my academic knowledge but has been transformative for me in my profession.
—2020 Grad, Ann P., Doctorate in Educational Leadership
I love that the summer institute is virtual!
Congratulations to the planning committee and to each speaker for an outstanding program!
It was really good to see other new students and to swap views and ideas.
—2022 Student survey responseS