Salzburg Global Seminar

The Salzburg Global Seminar has been one of the world’s leading forums for dialogues about critical international concerns ever since it was established by three Harvard students in 1947, when Margaret Mead chaired Session #1.  Each year the Seminar offers a variety of sessions that encourage the free exchange of ideas, diverse viewpoints, and common understandings in a neutral cross-cultural environment.  All sessions are held at the Seminar’s home in the historic Schloss Leopoldskron, a magnificent 18th-century rococo Castle (familiar to many as the Von Trapp family home in the Sound of Music) that is nestled at the foot of the Austrian alps and within easy walking distance of Old Salzburg (UN World Heritage Site, birthplace of Mozart, and home to the world-renowned Salzburg Music Festival).  Information about the Seminar can be found in the most recent edition of the President’s Report.

The Seminar established the International Study Program in Global Citizenship in 2004 with a major grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, a long-time supporter of Seminar work.  The purpose of the ISP is to promote better global citizenship by helping participants from American colleges and universities develop the leadership competencies needed to thrive in an increasingly interconnected society.  The ISP offers two related kinds of intensive week-long sessions – one for Faculty and Administrators, the other for Students – to work with a group of distinguished ISP Faculty drawn from all over the world.  The 60+ participants who attend each session are provided with a Syllabus and Bibliography of critical resources to develop a common basis for learning.  In addition to the plenary presentations, workshops, and small group projects that constitute the formal basis for every session, discussions often stretch well into the evening out on the terrace or downstairs in the bierstube – broken at intervals by classical or jazz concerts and strolls around the lake.

The ISP is led by Dr. Jochen Fried, Director of Educational Initiatives at the Seminar and ISP Academic Director, who also served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at SJSU when he was here as a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence during the Fall 2007 semester; Astrid Schröder, ISP Program Director; and David Goldman, ISP Coordinator.  Since its modest beginnings in 2004, the ISP has grown into a Network of nearly 80 institutions of higher education across the United States with 1,400+ alumni who are connected through an electronic discussion group supported by the Seminar and other activities like the ConnectEd Conference on Global Education.