Events at COA
June 2026
MDI Modernists
COA Coffee & Conversation welcomes Jock Herron, Design Critic in Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design to discuss MDI Modernists: Robert W. Patterson, Edward Larrabee Barnes & George Howe with former COA board chair Will Thorndike. Both are contributors to the book. Read More
July 2026
The Civic Circle
COA Coffee & Conversation welcomes Eliza Newlin Carney, Washington-based writer, editor, and columnist, and co-founder of The Civic Circle discusses her work to build youth civic power through the arts, inspiring compassionate, informed, engaged citizens. Read More
Monsters in the Archives
COA Coffee & Conversation welcomes Caroline Bicks, Stephen E. King Chair in Literature at the University of Maine, to discuss her new book Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King, a personal exploration of King’s legacy based on her first-of-its-kind access to King’s manuscripts and writing process. She will be joined by Laura Miller, a books and culture columnist for Slate and founder of salon.com. Read More
Cooking Blue: Seafood and Sustainability
COA Coffee & Conversation welcomes Barton Seaver, chef, author, and ocean stewardship advocate to discuss his new book, The Blue Food Cookbook: Delicious Seafood Recipes for a Sustainable Future. Read More
The American Story in Music and Culture
The 10th annual COA Summer Institute welcomes musician Rhiannon Giddens in conversation with Mariko Silver, president & CEO of The Lincoln Center. Read More
Power, Principle, and the World Ahead
The 10th annual COA Summer Institute welcomes Nicholas Kristof, Pulitzer Prize-winning Op-Ed Columnist for The New York Times, and Samantha Power, former USAID Administrator and former UN Ambassador, in conversation with Phil Lader, former US Ambassador, senior advisor to Morgan Stanley. Read More
America at 250
The 10th annual COA Summer Institute welcomes filmmaker Ken Burns in conversation with Jeffrey Rosen, CEO emeritus of the National Constitution Center. Read More
Reimagining Our Relationship with the Living World
The 10th annual COA Summer Institute welcomes Robin Wall Kimmerer, Potawatomi botanist and SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, in conversation with Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist and Roux Distinguished Scholar at Bowdoin College. Read More
Our Planet, Our Response
The 10th annual COA Summer Institute welcomes Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning Science Writer & Journalist, in conversation with Kourtney Collum, College of the Atlantic provost, dean of faculty, and Partridge Chair of Food & Sustainable Agriculture Systems. Read More
From Participation to Power
The 10th annual COA Summer Institute welcomes Stacey Abrams, former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives and Founder of Fair Count, and Jeanine Abrams McLean, president of Fair Count, in conversation with Frances Stead Sellers, associate editor of The Washington Post. Read More
