Advocate. Facilitate. Inspire.
Project Pericles is a not-for-profit organization that encourages and facilitates commitments by colleges and universities to include education for social responsibility and participatory citizenship as an essential part of their educational programs, in the classroom, on the campus, and in the community.
This learning experience is intended to provide students with a foundation for social and civic involvement and a conviction that democratic institutions and processes offer each person the best opportunity to improve the condition of society.
Recent News
2010 Periclean Faculty Leaders Announced
- Project Pericles is pleased to announce that we have selected the first cohort of 26 faculty members for the Periclean Faculty Leadership Program (PFL)™. The Periclean Faculty Leadership Program, which builds on the success of the Civic Engagement Course (CEC) Program™, will champion civic engagement in the classroom, on the campus, and in the community. Periclean Faculty Leaders will create and teach courses in a wide variety of disciplines in the fine arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences that address issues of social concern, enrich curriculum, and enhance student social interest and involvement. They will also organize campus-wide activities and/or prepare an academic paper or project, and will partner with a Periclean Faculty Leader at another campus and consult with them throughout the program. We thank The Teagle Foundation and the Eugene M. Lang Foundation for supporting this new Periclean program.
The 2010 Periclean Faculty Leaders will serve from May 2010 to December 2011. Click here to view the complete list of 2010 Periclean Faculty Leaders.
Eugene M. Lang Receives Honorary Degree from the American University of Paris
- On May 22, Eugene M. Lang, Founder and Chair of Project Pericles, received an honorary degree at the 2010 Commencement Ceremony of the American University of Paris. This is his 30th honorary degree. The University cites Mr. Lang as "the leading American philanthropist in the field of education," having "fostered social responsibility and civic engagement in countless higher education institutions." The award recognizes Mr. Lang's lifetime of public service, as well as his distinguished career of pioneering international business partnerships and innovative technology transfer, including developing important relationships between France and the United States. Read more.
2010 Debating for Democracy National Conference
- On April 8 and 9, 60 student leaders from 26 Periclean colleges and universities joined practitioners, activists, and experts in civic engagement for a conference that was hailed as "a great occasion" by the president of a major foundation. Hosted by Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts in New York, the conference provided a forum for students and practitioners to collaborate, discuss, and debate our society's most pressing public policy issues. Read more.
Welcome to Our Newest Pericleans
- Carleton College, a liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota; Drew University, a liberal arts college in Madison, New Jersey; Earlham College, a liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana; Morehouse College, a liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), a university with a strong undergraduate program in Troy, New York; and The College of Wooster, a liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio have joined Project Pericles, bringing the number of Periclean institutions to 28 (listed here).
Project Pericles White Paper Shares Strategies for Incorporating Civic Engagement in the Classroom
- The Project Pericles Civic Engagement Course (CEC) Program™ White Paper, Civic Engagement in the Classroom: Strategies for Incorporating Education for Civic and Social Responsibility in the Undergraduate Curriculum, is now available online.
The White Paper© shares the learnings from Project Pericles signature CEC program, which since 2004 has awarded more than 100 matching grants to Periclean faculty members to develop and teach innovative courses that address issues of social concern across disciplines in the fine arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. The White Paper, based on an analysis of the CEC courses from 2007 to 2009, includes a description of the knowledge gained from the CEC program and guidance on transferability to other institutions and disciplines; Best Practices that can be applied on a wide range of campuses; and an extensive bibliography.
This program received generous support from the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation, The Teagle Foundation, and the Eugene M. Lang Foundation.
- More about the CEC program
- Funded courses from 2007 to 2009, with descriptions and syllabi


