ANN ARBOR—Nineteen institutions have identified projects and programs on their campuses that support the mission of “Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life.”

From the California Institute for the Arts’ computer video teleconferencing systems for Los Angeles inner-city youth isolated in their own city because of an urban environment fragmented along racial and economic lines to Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s program to encourage conversation, members of the Imagining America Presidents Council are forming partnerships with their communities to expand public and community engagement through the arts and humanities. With the Council chaired by University of Michigan President Lee C. Bollinger, the presidents and chancellors of 19 universities and colleges have committed to these programs.

In a collaborative project with the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, Imagining America has posted a Web site as a tool kit for building regional campus/community networks. “Imagining Your State” can be found at www.iys.umich.edu and offers tools such as “10 Principles of Effective Campus/Community Partnerships” and “Goals of a State Cultural Caucus” as well as additional Web resources. The site also offers communities and campuses an opportunity to contribute their own experiences.

“This tool kit outlines a flexible model for cultural caucuses in each state aimed at bringing together the arts agency, the humanities council, and the higher education community,” says Julie Ellison, director of Imagining America; Gail Leftwich, president of the Federation of State Humanities Councils; and Jonathan Katz, president of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. “The goal of such cooperation is to strengthen citizenship and learning through the arts and humanities in way suited to each geographical region.”

Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public LifeLee C. BollingerFederation of State Humanities CouncilsJulie Ellison