At Bennington, advancing public action means addressing three fundamental questions: What kind of world are we making? What kind of world should we be making? What kind of world can we be making?
That’s the idea behind CAPA. Through the Plan Process you draw on the full breadth of the Bennington curriculum as well as a range of interdisciplinary public action courses to examine the complex variables that define critical social issues, unpack key cross-cutting concepts, and hone the capacities needed to effect positive and lasting change. In the short term, the aim is to develop frameworks that can generate the most effective solutions to consequential problems; in the long term, it is to become capable of designing and implementing systemic change.
During Field Work Term, you bring your work to the world, confronting the challenges of implementation firsthand and refining your questions to further shape your on-campus experience.