Liberal Arts, Performing Arts: "The America Project"

This was a significant new program area for Imagining America, designed to link academics, performance, and public engagement. During its first phase, this program centered on “The America Project,” a work in progress by Sekou Sundiata, a leading African-American poet-musician and a faculty member at New School University. “The America Project” is a “dramatorio” on “the soul of America” and an invitation to critical patriotism. IA was co-producer of “The America Project,” in partnership with MultiArts Projects and Productions, directed by Ann Rosenthal and representing Sekou Sundiata.

The work took shape in 2004-2006 through developmental residencies at six IA member institutions. Once based at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, the project included a first-year academic program based on the residency, with undergraduate classes, community events, citizen interviews, and college-wide required reading. For more on the Lafayette first-year program and the residency, visit http://www.lafayette.edu/news.php/view/5564/.

This project accomplished two goals: first, to support the development of a new work of art through residencies at colleges and universities, and, second, to turn this model of art-making into a viable option for any campus serious about integrating liberal arts education, the performing arts, and civic engagement.