About Us
Created by Harvard and Oxford academics, the Franco-American British Fund for the Study of Liberal Democracy is both a civic and educational organization dedicated to three ideals: equal opportunity and access to the highest echelons of decision-making in our longstanding democracies, scholarly excellence and genuine academic innovation and finally, to the cultivation of fraternal ties and intellectual dynamism between student leaders from the world over.
Equal Opportunity
The F.A.B. Fund honors the ideal that each and every serious and dedicated citizen in our democratic societies deserves an opportunity to experience an exceptional education. All our seminars are taught by outstanding academics from Oxford and Cambridge as well the Ivy League (Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Columbia). We are a transatlantic partnership of experts in their fields, committed to the art of teaching and to infusing a degree of intellectual empathy and subtly into historic and often tragic relations between nations and peoples. We understand that one inspirational teacher or leader or experience can suddenly change the direction of a students’ life, their intellectual journey or even their personal identity. The F.A.B. Fund is committed to providing these transformative possibilities for everyone who demonstrates a genuine passion for knowledge and a willingness to take on new challenges and push beyond their boundaries.
Intellectual Excellence and Innovation
Our approach to learning is distinct. First, our Summer Seminars treats each candidate to the ancient ‘tutorial’ teaching method, meaning a one-on-one Socratic interchange between student and professor that is exclusive to the Oxford and Cambridge tradition. Secondly, our programs are unique and groundbreaking in that your intellectual experience moves well beyond the classroom. Our invigorating tutorial based system is just the first step; the F.A.B. Fund then takes you into the ‘real world’ with a fascinating daily program of ‘practical engagement’ as you meet the world’s leading practitioners and experts in your field of study or interest. That is precisely why our intensive and cutting-edge ‘Power and Democracy’ Seminar is held at Georgetown University in the very heart of Washington DC. We complement your foundational and vigorous intellectual training with an exciting and exclusive battery of ‘real world’ experiences; deliberately collapsing the boundary between academic thought and practical experience, between ideas and action.
Whilst Plato, the remarkable Athenian philosopher, was the first to conceive of this combination of study and practical engagement, our inspiration also stems from two more contemporary sources. The annual ‘Rhodes Scholarship’ program is the most competitive and elite academic scholarship in the United States. The fortunate few Rhodes scholars not only receive two years of free study at Oxford University, but they are also exclusively invited to ‘real world’ meetings, dinners and debates with the world’s most accomplished individuals in their respective fields. The F.A.B. Fund has taken this elite Rhodes Scholar experience and institutionalized it, before democratizing it. It is this remarkable combination of study and experience that our programs in the study of liberal democracy will provide you. Your daily our program schedule is thus uniquely composed of a deliberate design: morning lectures on the most astute and profound scholarship along with afternoon practical engagement sessions in the very hallways of power and policy-making.
Our second source of inspiration is a philosophical one, stemming from the on-going debate within the social sciences over the merits of the ‘empirical’ approach versus the merits of the ‘theoretical’ tradition. Putting the complex and fascinating tensions between these two contending methodologies aside, we have decided to carefully combine the best of both. Indeed, we will expose you to the most profound ideas at the heart of our discipline and subsequently immerse you into the rich complexity of the political world, of living experience. We understand the importance of witnessing the power of ideas in action. At the F.A.B. Fund, ‘First think, but then do’ is not simply a slogan – it’s at the core of our philosophy and sits at the heart of all our programs.
Fraternal Ties
At our most ambitious, the F.A.B. Fund aspires to help reduce, preempt or eliminate the social, political and ideological barriers and misunderstandings at an individual level; barriers that have plagued relations between diverse peoples and cultures from all over the world since time immemorial. We hope to change the world, one mind at a time. Beyond the brilliant and spontaneous stimulation inherent to the ‘practical engagement’ sessions in the rough and tumble of the political realm, their larger purpose is to bring people together, to encourage stimulating intellectual exchange in the context of unforgettable experience. Whilst academic study is crucial, the chance to actually sit down face to face and talk with leading policy makers, politicians, public intellectuals, financial experts, ranking military officials, ambassadors, economists, journalists, film-makers, and so forth … cultivates and engenders a kind of knowledge that cannot be taught in books.
Conclusion
In light of our commitment to equal educational opportunities, our programs are open to all people. Once in Washington, D.C., you will quickly sense the impact of our intensive programs – whether it is your first ‘tutorial’ session with a world class academic, your first debate with a seasoned Wall Street Trader at the Federal Reserve Bank, your first lecture by an award winning Film Director, your first encounter with a Naval Commander at the Pentagon, or your first feisty question and answer session with a United States Senator – the F.A.B Fund learning experience is unparalleled.
Finally, your time living in the United States, housed in some of the world’s top academic institutions and most vibrant cities, will not only bring you to a more sophisticated and empathetic understanding of American culture, but the daily contact with a diverse group of your fellow F.A.B. colleagues will once again bring the richness and diverse vitality of the world into the classroom. If you believe in the ideals of greater educational equality and opportunity, in outstanding academic achievement and personal growth, and in an abiding sense of global civic commitment toward mutual understanding – then you are more welcome to join the Franco-American British Fund for the study of liberal democracy.