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NextGen Leadership Institute

The NextGen Leadership Institute

Session 1: Monday, June 29 - Friday, July 17, 2026

Session 2: Monday, July 20 - Friday, August 7, 2026

The NextGen Leadership Institute places academics at the center of a New York City summer. Choose one of three tracks that align with your interests: STEMinist, Writing and Literature, or Global Humanities. In small classes taught by expert instructors and Barnard faculty, you will analyze texts, conduct experiments, draft original work, and connect theory to practice through curated NYC learning experiences such as museum study, guest talks, and site visits. Your academic schedule is paired with our weekly Leadership in Action series, which introduces practical tools for working with others and thinking strategically. By the end, you will have sharpened your academic skills, and built a toolkit you can use in school and beyond.

Applications for Summer 2026 open December 1.

 

 

STEMinist Track

Turn New York City into your STEM playground. In this track, you will investigate real questions in biology, chemistry, physics, and data science with Barnard faculty and instructors as your guides. Design and run experiments, build and test models, analyze data, and learn to communicate results with clarity. Your coursework is paired with curated NYC learning experiences that show science at work in research labs, world-class museums and more. Leave with sharper quantitative skills, confidence with the scientific method, and a clear sense of how STEM connects to the world around you.

 

Program and Course Information

Writing and Literature Track

Find your voice in a city of storytellers. In the Writing and Literature track, you will read closely, think critically, and write across genres on the same campus where writers like Greta Gerwig, Zora Neale Hurson, Jhumpa Lahiri got their start. Build craft in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and literary criticism while studying authors and writers who have shaped New York and the wider world. 

 

Program and Course Information

Global Humanities Track

Read the world as closely as a text. In the Global Humanities track, you will explore ideas, cultures, and systems that shape life across regions and time. Work with instructors and faculty to study primary sources and contemporary media, connect philosophy to politics, trace histories through art and archives, and ask how identities, beliefs, and power travel and transform.

 

Program and Course Information

Leadership in Action Series

Leadership in Action, hosted by Barnard’s Athena Center for Leadership, brings all NextGen students together each week to connect learning with impact. Hear from changemakers across sectors, try out practical tools, and map concepts onto real challenges. Through these workshops you will build confidence, practice inclusive habits, and identify actions you can take now in your school or community.

 

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