This upcoming Wintersession program offers Harvard College students an immersive, week-long academic experience in Washington, D.C., focused on the challenges and future of democracy in a transnational context. Through faculty-led seminars, conversations with policymakers, and site visits to leading institutions, participants explore the state of liberal democracy, the European Union, and transatlantic relations amid ongoing political transformation.

The program examines democratic politics from an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing on political science, history, economics, and classics. Key themes include the historical roots and contemporary evolution of democracy; the pressures facing liberal democracies such as populism, migration, and economic inequality; and the future trajectory of the European Union and transatlantic cooperation. Participants engage directly with scholars, diplomats, NGOs, IGOs, think tanks, and policy practitioners working at the intersection of ideas and real-world governance.

The program is led by faculty from Classics, Social Studies, and Government, in partnership with the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies (CES), the Center for Hellenic Studies (CHS), the Department of Government, the Harvard Foundation, and the Committee on Degrees in Social Studies. 

The program is supported by CHS, CES, the Harvard Foundation, and the Dean of Students Office, with additional funding from Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Harvard College alumna and distinguished leader in American public service and international affairs.