Bennington College

The Democracy Project

In the 2004-05 academic year, Bennington College introduced The Democracy Project, groundbreaking initiative in undergraduate education that was the first of its kind. The Democracy Project combines traditional disciplines such as history, sociology, politics, economics, and psychology in a way that highlights and emphasizes the subject of democracy.

“The idea of the Democracy Project is to make the study of democracy the center of an education for those students seeking to extend and deepen their understanding of the world. Within the intellectual environment of this project students explore and experience democracy as a diverse, contested, historical, and ongoing approach to human conflict and cooperation.”

In addition to this curricular initiative, The Democracy Project features an annual conference on democracy that brings students together with leaders and scholars from countries that have undergone democratic transition to discuss democracy. The inaugural conference, “Learning Democracy,” was held on October 16-19, 2005.

For more information on the Democracy Project’s courses, please click here.