Last week, we were delighted to see so many friendly faces at our 2025 Program Directors Conference at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. Hosted by the superb Skidmore campus team–President Marc Conner, Program Director Eric Morser, Periclean Faculty Leader and Associate Professor of Dance Sarah DiPasquale, and Director of Conferences and Events Wendy LeBlanc–our conference brought together Periclean Program Directors from across the country to reflect, ideate, and collaborate.
The three-day gathering featured sessions focused on exchanging civic engagement practices, storytelling to convey impact, and generating feedback for future Pericles programming. We were also fortunate to hear reflections from President Marc Conner about his commitment to community-engaged civic learning, along with a tour of the Tang Teaching Museum.
Skidmore College students, faculty, and campus staff also impressed the participants with their presentations about their civic engagement work. Notably, Associate Professor and Director of the John B Moore Documentary Collaborative (MDOCS) Adam Tinkle, and Angela Beallor-Press, Documentarian in Community Co-Creation, provided an overview of Skidmore’s Co-Creation Initiative. They shared how robust community-partnerships could deepen relationships between students and off-campus partners and foster new narratives about community histories.
Naturally, storytelling ran throughout the conference as a key theme. Many sessions explored the power of storytelling. Program Directors exchanged ideas about resilience, adaptability, and reimagining engagement beyond traditional models, in addition to the challenges they faced on their respective campuses. Common areas of discussion included inter-campus leadership, intergenerational dialogue, and creative funding strategies.
As one participant noted, “just hearing the variety of things going on across campuses was rejuvenating.” In this vein, our Program Directors also considered new possibilities for collaboration, including a cross-campus program to improve civil dialogue and “micro-residencies” for directors to learn from each other throughout the upcoming year. In the spirit of partnership, each Director also engaged in an exercise where they offered something to “give” and something to “get” from the network; their asks and offers ranged from interdisciplinary civic learning models to guidance about the tenure and promotion policies.
Beyond the formal programming, the Skidmore team also provided enrichment through dance and the arts. A visit to the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, coupled with a “Living Art” improv performance, provided an inspiring experience for the participants while a dance-infused “Brain Break” kept us energized.
The energy and ideas shared at Skidmore will shape our next steps in supporting faculty, students, and community partners. We look forward to continuing these conversations through future programming, cross-campus collaborations, and new initiatives.
You can view photo highlights from the conference here. A warm thank-you again to our hosts at Skidmore College and to all of our participants. Each contributed to a meaningful and restorative gathering.