The 2026 Summer Institute: Toward a More Perfect Unionwill mark the country’s 250th anniversary with a forward-looking series of conversations about the future of the American experiment. By late July, we anticipate that audiences will have encountered plenty of historical retrospectives and the predictable swing between overly patriotic and overly critical narratives. Our goal is different: To convene voices from across American culture—journalism, the arts, science, philanthropy, civic life, and beyond—and explore how the nation’s founding values have been, and continue to be, tested, reshaped, and reimagined. The Institute asks how these ideals can be stewarded, strengthened, and carried into the future.
The Summer Institute is held on the North Lawn of the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine.
The institute is free and open to the public but registration is required. Early registration opens for members of The Champlain Society on May 1 and for the general public on June 1.