• Recent
  • Towns
  • Topics
    • Arts
      • Language
      • Museums & Galleries
      • Public Art
    • Civic Life
      • Citizen Engagement
      • Governance
      • Health & Well-Being
      • Refugees
    • Community Heart & Soul
    • Economic Development
      • Breweries & Distilleries
      • Entrepreneurs
      • Transportation
    • Education
      • K-12
      • Community Colleges & Technical Training
      • Colleges & Universities
    • Environment & Sustainability
      • Parks & Recreation
      • Trees
    • Local Institutions
      • Libraries
    • Local Journalism
    • Travel
      • Aviation
  • Homepage
  • About
  • Donate
  • Newsletter
  • Recent
  • Towns
  • Topics
    • Arts
      • Language
      • Museums & Galleries
      • Public Art
    • Civic Life
      • Citizen Engagement
      • Governance
      • Health & Well-Being
      • Refugees
    • Community Heart & Soul
    • Economic Development
      • Breweries & Distilleries
      • Entrepreneurs
      • Transportation
    • Education
      • K-12
      • Community Colleges & Technical Training
      • Colleges & Universities
    • Environment & Sustainability
      • Parks & Recreation
      • Trees
    • Local Institutions
      • Libraries
    • Local Journalism
    • Travel
      • Aviation
  • Homepage
  • About
  • Donate
  • Newsletter
  • Citizen Engagement

Civic Engagement Talk in America’s Original Engaged Communities

The Chautauqua Institution is one of America’s great centers for civil, cultural, and intellectual engagement. A talk about 21st-century American renewal, at a place whose history traces to a great 19th-century reform movement.

  • James Fallows
  • February 8, 2016
The Athenaeum hotel and restaurant at Chautauqua in August, 2015. (James Fallows)
The Athenaeum hotel and restaurant at Chautauqua in August, 2015. (James Fallows)

Share

In the new March, 2016 issue of The Atlantic, Deb Fallows and I have articles about what we’ve seen in the past few years of “American Futures” travel and reporting across the country. Hers is here; mine is here; and a video of the two of us in Mississippi, plus other info, is here.

Last summer, in a session at the Chautauqua Institution, we gave a preview of the findings. Chautauqua is indeed one of the great institutions in American civic, cultural, and intellectual history—it’s only 17 years younger than the Atlantic itself!  — and we were glad and honored to be part of their presentation. The official video of the talk is below.


After the talk, we went to another great New York institution, the Southern Tier Brewing company in nearby Lakewood.  A theme of this article is that the presence of craft breweries is a jokey-seeming but real indicator of entrepreneurial activity. Here we are confirming that view, with Matt Ewalt and Jordan Steves of the Chautauqua staff.

With Matt Ewalt (center) and Jordan Steves at Southern Tier Brewing (Deborah Fallows)
Tweet
Share
Share
Share

Newsletter

For more from Our Towns, please sign up for our newsletter here.


Latest

  • Image of children playing around a water tower, with bright paintings on it and the message "You Have Found Lost Hills" 1
    Finding the City of Lost Hills
    • June 4, 2025
  • Library building on a sunny day in San Diego. 2
    How Libraries Are Becoming ‘Sustainable’
    • August 6, 2024
  • Children doing nature drawings, in antique photo. 3
    Sustainability: Suddenly the action is local.
    • May 9, 2024

Related Articles

Image of children playing around a water tower, with bright paintings on it and the message "You Have Found Lost Hills"
View Post
  • Civic Life

Finding the City of Lost Hills

  • Deborah Fallows and James Fallows
  • June 4, 2025
Children doing nature drawings, in antique photo.
View Post
  • Environment & Sustainability

Sustainability: Suddenly the action is local.

  • Deborah Fallows
  • May 9, 2024
A man and a woman in a rural setting
View Post
  • Civic Life

The Enduring Power of Place

  • James Fallows
  • March 21, 2024

STAY CONNECTED

Receive the latest news and updates

SUBSCRIBE

© 2025 Our Towns Civic Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Republishing Policy

Input your search keywords and press Enter.