Looking Back on This Year's Summer Academy

This May, we had the pleasure of gathering a fresh cohort of graduate students, junior faculty, and mentors for our annual CAPE Summer Academy.

For four days, the group convened at UC Berkeley’s Social Science Matrix for a series of presentations by APE scholars on a variety of topics, including money in American politics, the rise of right-wing populism, and the dynamics of city and state politics in the American political economy. Throughout the event, junior scholars were introduced to the APE framework and had the chance to debate and reflect with more experienced scholars during the formal sessions, over shared meals and even while hiking in the Bay Area mountains.

The Academy also offered participants the opportunity to present their own work and receive feedback from faculty and peers. These exchanges sparked new ideas and strengthened connections across institutions and research interests.

We are deeply thankful to our facilitators at UC Berkeley, the mentoring scholars who generously shared their time and experience, and all the participants, for making this year’s Academy such a success. This event is a fantastic way to join our community, and we highly encourage graduate students, post-docs, and junior faculty interested in APE to apply for next year’s Academy!