Program Summary | Summer Institute | SIU

Program Summary

Welcome to the Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIU) Summer 2016 Study of the U.S. Institute (SUSI) for Undergraduate Student Leaders: Local, State, and Federal Public Policy Making. SIU is one of a number of U.S. universities who will be hosting SUSI institutes for undergraduate student leaders this summer with funding provided by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Our participants this year will come from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.

Each SUSI program is intended to include both an academic component and a series of applied experiences in American culture of the early 21^st Century. Our primary academic focus is how public policy is made in the U.S. across national, state, and local levels of government in our federal system. Specific topics include democracy, political culture, our significant demographic diversity, the creation of a civil society built on an extensive network of non-profit organizations, the U.S. Constitutional framework and the rule of law, and the position of the U.S. within the global economy. Along the way, we will compare and contrast the American approach to the universal problems of democracy and governing with the approaches of selected other nations. Our intent is to show all sides of the American experience as accurately as possible. We also will look at the making of policy in the fields of education, public finance, and the rule of law.

On the experiential side, we have a block on the challenges of leadership in a democratic system which will be covered in a series of role-playing and problem-solving exercises designed specifically for this program.

In addition, we have a number of off-campus activities designed to expand upon the classroom topics and introduce you to various aspects of American culture. One is the role of voluntary organizations in creating civil society in the U.S. You will have the opportunity to perform volunteer service at several non-profit organizations in Carbondale and spend a weekend with an American family in a small town an hour from Carbondale.

We have a full range of social and cultural activities to promote personal interaction, growth, and cross-cultural understanding. Free public outdoor concerts are scheduled every Thursday evening. We will also have trips to an on-campus musical, a minor league baseball game, the Six Flags amusement park, and some local historical and nature sites.

The SIU portion of the Institute runs from your arrival in St. Louis, Missouri on Saturday June 18^th to departure from St. Louis for the Washington, D.C. portion of the program on Tuesday July 19^th. This includes a four-day study tour to Springfield and Chicago, IL on July 12-16 to meet a variety of state and local government officials and visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, the Illinois State Capitol, and Chicago City Hall.

The final five days of our program will be in the nation's capitol of Washington, D.C. after we arrive there on July 19^th. You will return home from Washington on Saturday, July 23^rd.

A superb mix of university faculty and governmental practitioners has agreed to participate in this Institute. A complete tentative schedule is posted on this website.

We hope you will have a fine and memorable summer in the SUSI program which will make a significant contribution toward your career development. Please do not hesitate to ask questions or share concerns with us. The job of our staff is to make these five weeks as enjoyable and productive as possible.

John L. Foster, Administrative Director,

John Jackson, Academic Co-Director, 

Nate Brown, Academic Co-Director

For more information on the SIU Summer Institute, contact: