Advancement of Public Action

Environmental Studies. Mediation. Public Action.

The environment, war, poverty, public health crises, a weakening democracy, even the failure of education itself—imagine an education where the world’s most pressing problems are your subject matter and doing something about them is your aim. That’s the Advancement of Public Action.

Profoundly interdisciplinary courses like Design Labs focus on understanding the complex variables that define critical public issues, while Modules help you build the capacities necessary to engage the world and effect change.

The Environmental Studies program provides an interdisciplinary look at the natural and social dimensions of environmental issues and how they impact our world. It also supports student research and related internships, facilitates campus-based sustainability initiatives, and expands relationships with outside environmental organizations and consortia.

And The Mediation Project provides mediation education for Bennington students, mediation training for members of the community, and pro bono mediation and conflict resolution services for community members involved in neighborhood disputes.

Through the Plan process, the structure Bennington students use to design individual courses of study, you can choose to center your work in public action or incorporate it into work in another field.

Opening in 2011, the Center for the Advancement of Public Action (CAPA), is a $20-million, state-of-the-art, green, academic facility for Bennington's new citizenship curriculum. It morphs the studio of the artist, the laboratory of a scientist, the workshop of a craftsman, and the think tank of a policy wonk.