The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate.

Hello All!

I hope this finds all my readers well. I wanted to take a minute to write to you all about the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate. It's a non-profit that will be located on the U. Mass. campus in Boston. The intended purpose of the institute is to be a teaching/education tool for the general public, students of all ages, and for newly elected members of the Senate as well as their staff. No matter if your a fan of Senator Kennedy or not, you can't deny the importance of this project. I believe it to be very beneficial to both the general public and our elected officials, regardless of political belief or affiliation.


Below is some information from the institute itself. You can also visit their website at http://www.emkinstitute.org/ I hope that you will check it out, and consider making a tax deductible contribution - I just did!

Thanks!

Take care,
Aaron

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*Via EMKI


The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate will be located on the campus of the University of Massachusetts, adjacent to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library on Columbia Point in Boston. The Institute, UMASS, and the JFK Library will work closely together to take advantage of their proximity and enhance the strengths of all three institutions.

The Institute will be dedicated to educating the general public, students, teachers, new Senators, and Senate staff about the role and importance of the Senate. In keeping with Senator Kennedy's lifetime of public service, a major goal of the Institute will be to improve civic education in the nation and educate and inspire a new generation of active citizens and legislators. In all of its programs, the Institute will draw heavily on Senator Kennedy’s extensive papers and oral history materials covering his more than four decades in the Senate.

The Institute will have museum and exhibit space, ceremonial and reception spaces, a library, research area and several classrooms. Through innovative, participatory educational programs, the Institute will bring the general public inside the legislative process. Programs for the public will be designed to develop and support a well-informed electorate and encourage participation on a local as well as national level, through mock Senate sessions, seminars, lectures, and symposia. Working closely with UMASS, students will study and debate contemporary issues and examine historical topics through re-creations of significant moments in Senate history. Online pre-visit materials will prepare them for their experience, and post-visit materials will build upon their time at the Institute.

The Institute will also host a "Summer Senate" for high school students. Two students from each state will come to the Institute each year to study a topic, hold mock hearings, draft legislation, and debate the topic. Educational programs for college students will emphasize an interdisciplinary approach to the study of government, through guest faculty and speakers from many organizations and sectors.

Teachers will be able to work closely with the Institute to create courses and programs that add new dimensions to the study of history and government. Teacher-training programs also will be conducted at the Institute in coordination with leading colleges and universities.

Programs for incoming Senators and their staff will include in-depth training sessions to prepare them to analyze issues and communicate about them effectively, both in the Senate and with the citizens they represent.

Other educational resources will include materials on the history of the Senate, videos of historic Senate hearings and debates, humor from the Senate floor, materials on state legislatures, and a digital library with far-reaching access to Senate records in archives across the United States.

As historian Joseph Ellis has written, the framers of the Constitution created a government that was "not about providing answers, but rather about providing a framework in which the salient questions could continue to be debated." No place reflects that spirit of debate better than the Senate, and no Senator reflected that spirit better than Edward M. Kennedy. The fundamental mission of the Institute will be to invigorate that spirit for generations to come.