SUMMER OPPORTUNITY

Please see Mr. Murphy

“Experiencing Civic Life” is a two-week, humanities-based summer program at the Humanities Center on the UR River Campus. Running from June 29^th to July 10^th, 2020, the program is for students living in the city of Rochester who will be juniors or seniors in the fall.  Students read and discuss classic texts about democracy, freedom, community, and citizenship.  They also participate in field trips and hands-on activities, such as visits to local museums and research in UR’s Special Collections department.  Students sharpen skills for and learn about college, but the program welcomes participants who are not necessarily college-bound.  “Experiencing Civic Life” is entirely free of charge.  Students receive a letter of recommendation for college or employment at its conclusion.

Experiencing Civic Life

University of Rochester
June 29–July 12, 2020

Explore the meanings of democracy and citizenship

This exciting, residential pre-college summer seminar offered by the University of Rochester Humanities Center allows high school students who will be juniors and seniors in the fall to:

• experience academic life at a world-class research university
• engage with the community
• explore why history, philosophy, literature, and the arts are important today

The program will address some of the hard questions in the humanities:

• Who is a citizen?
• What are the responsibilities of citizenship?
• How have different societies understood democracy?
• How have people lived together in diverse communities?
• How do we balance freedom, individual rights, and our obligations to our community?
• What roles do the arts play in reflecting on such questions?

Program Overview

This intensive, fully residential summer program for 10–15 students is designed to give participants a strong foundation in the liberal arts. Students will discover new abilities and strengths as they think about a future that may include college.

Experiencing Civic Life meets daily in the newly renovated University of Rochester Humanities Center. Morning discussions are combined with relevant afternoon field trips to such locations as the Ganondagan State Historic Site, a local courtroom, and the George Eastman Museum. Students live on campus for two weeks, from June 29 to July 12, offering them a rich experience of college life.

The program helps students explore classic texts in the humanities to deepen their understanding of fundamental social and moral questions pertinent to a democracy. Participants also enhance their critical reading, writing, and reasoning skills as well as their digital literacy skills at the college level—an important step toward becoming better students and better citizens. They engage with a vibrant scholarly community of University of Rochester faculty members and current undergraduate and graduate students studying the humanities.

Participants are required to attend daily classes and field trips. Reading, writing, and research are integral to the program. Integrating digital tools with the research methods of the humanities, students have the opportunity to explore a variety of technologies such as virtual reality, podcasting, and web building. Upon successful completion of Experiencing Civic Life, graduates receive a certificate and a letter of recommendation from a University of Rochester faculty member. The certificate and letter may be useful for job and college applications.

Program Goals

• Engage and excite students through exploration of classic texts in the humanities in order to deepen understanding of social and moral questions pertinent to modern American democracy
• Sharpen students’ critical reading and writing skills to equip them for full participation in American civic life and to prepare them for success in college and future endeavors
• Involve students in college-level seminars on a university campus, increasing their confidence in their ability to undertake college work
• Affirm students’ potential to effect change in the Rochester community

Eligibility

Students who attend high school in the city of Rochester are eligible to participate, but space is limited. All transportation, meals, lodging, and field trip expenses are included for students accepted into the program

GREAT OPPORTUNITY 

(The Princeton Summer Journalism Program (PSJP) is a free residential journalism and college preparatory program for high-achieving current juniors from low-income backgrounds who are interested in journalism. Over 10 days, students live on campus at Princeton University and learn reporting skills from professional journalists. They also attend lectures on liberal arts topics led by Princeton U professors. Participants hold a press conference, produce a short documentary, report on a professional sporting event from the press box, attend a play or theatrical production, visit 3-4 major news outlets, and interview subjects for their feature stories in the Princeton Summer Journal. After the program, students are paired with a volunteer college adviser, a professional journalist, to help them through their application process.

Program dates: Friday, July 31 – Monday, August 10, 2020

Cost: None. All program expenses, including meals, housing, airfare or train tickets to and from campus, are covered by the program.

Eligibility: To apply, students must be:

• Current high school juniors (Class of 2021)
• living in the United States
• with an unweighted GPA of 3.5/4.0 
• who have an interest in journalism (no experience required)
• and meet one of the financial eligibility requirements below:

• The custodial parent(s)/guardian(s)’ combined income (including child support received) must not exceed $60,000 annually
• The student must be eligible for Free/Reduced-Priced Lunch. 
• The student is eligible for a SAT or ACT fee waiver.

Applying: The online application is available on this website and due no later than Monday, February 17, 2020. Students must submit an unofficial transcript to be considered. You may read about the full application process here.