Reimagining exploration is focus of COA Summer Institute

Space environmentalist and National Geographic Explorer Moribah Jah is one of the featured speakers at the 2023 COA Summer Institute, held in collaboration with the National Geographic Society.
Credit: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation — used with permission.

Exploration has brought humans to our planet’s greatest heights and deepest depths, pushing upon the boundaries between the known and unknown. It has taught us elusive lessons about our world and ourselves that we would have never learned otherwise. At the same time, exploration brings us face to face with dynamic and hard-to-resolve ethical questions about the impact of exploration on human and non-human communities.

In conversations with those who have ventured into extreme landscapes, the deep sea, the human mind, the world of art and other disciplines, the 2023 Summer Institute will examine exploration in the broadest sense. Ultimately, the Institute seeks to recast an approach to exploration that is rooted in inclusivity and reciprocity, while also preserving the magnificence and health of our planet and its people.

2023 COA Summer Institute guest and paleoanthropologist Lee Berger stars in the new Netflix documentary Unknown: Cave of Bones, which follows him and his team his team as they try to prove that the world's oldest graveyard, which they discovered, is not human.2023 Summer Institute guests include: paleoanthropologist and National Geographic Explorer in Residence Lee Berger, whose work is featured in the new Netflix documentary Unknown: Cave of Bones; artist Andy Goldsworthy, who is building a permanent installation on the COA campus this summer; space environmentalist, National Geographic Explorer, and professor Moribah Jah; former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and current United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention principal deputy director Nirav Shah; oceanographer and National Geographic Explorer Sylvia Earle; and many others.

The COA Summer Institute focuses on dialogue, conversation, and frequent interaction between and among speakers and guests. Sessions are 1 hour, 15 minutes and include audience Q&A. Cocktail receptions follow each evening session. Attendees may sign up for one, two, or all sessions for free, with online or in-person attendance, at coa.edu/summerinstitute.