UC Berkeley is launching the Nancy Pelosi Institute, which aims to serve as a nonpartisan hub for \u201cstrengthening American democracy.\u201d Pelosi, Speaker Emerita of the House and the Representative for California\u2019s 11th Congressional District, will co-teach a course on Congress with political science professor Eric Schickler.<\/p>\n
Launching in January 2027, the Nancy Pelosi Institute, or NPI, will encompass faculty research, teaching undergraduate courses and a visiting fellows program within the campus\u2019s political science department.<\/p>\n
According to UC Berkeley News, the NPI has received more than $35 million in philanthropic commitments, primarily earmarked for a permanent endowment, with a fundraising goal of $50 million to establish the institute as a national leader in research and fellowships.<\/p>\n
The NPI is aiming to prepare UC Berkeley undergraduate students for public service, advocacy and future leadership, according to the Monday press release. It also plans to \u201cbring high-profile national and world leaders for a semester\u201d and host an annual nonpartisan forum.<\/p>\n
Scott Straus, chair of the political science department, said in a press conference the department will be actively involved in managing the NPI. According to Straus, the institute\u2019s core curriculum focus will be a public leadership track, with an overview course on national challenges and potential solutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs political scientists, fundamentally, we are asking questions about politics and we are using evidence to answer those questions,\u201d Straus said at the press conference. \u201cWe are committed to nonpartisan teaching in the classroom \u2026 Our instruction is designed to help people think critically and analytically about politics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faculty research at the institute will involve finding solutions to national issues, including climate change, criminal justice reform and how AI can \u201cenable instead of undermine\u201d democracy, according to the press release.<\/p>\n
Political science professor Gabriel Lenz said he is \u201cthrilled\u201d that the Nancy Pelosi Institute will reside at UC Berkeley, especially considering Pelosi\u2019s success as a public servant. Although Lenz is not directly involved with the NPI, he noted that almost all American politics faculty have been involved in some capacity or have projects they hope to take on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is kind of the next best thing to a presidential library,\u201d Lenz said. \u201cThe other component is fundraising. When someone prominent steps down and then sets up an institute like this where their papers will be kept \u2026 it\u2019s an opportunity to raise funds for all these programs. You just don\u2019t get these kinds of opportunities very often.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the spring of next year, the Bancroft Library is slated to host an exhibit on Pelosi\u2019s life and career in the House of Representatives. Pelosi was the first female Speaker of the House, served as chair of the California Democratic Party and has held her position in the House of Representatives since 1987. She is not running for reelection this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cUC Berkeley has a long, proud history of challenging the status quo and producing leaders who run toward the greatest challenges of our time,\u201d Pelosi said in a press release. \u201cI am honored to partner with this exceptional community of scholars and students so we can equip the next generation with the tools they need to strengthen our democratic institutions and forge a future that serves the public good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UC Berkeley is launching the Nancy Pelosi Institute, which aims to serve as a nonpartisan hub for \u201cstrengthening…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[114370,154372,1752,154373,11272,8669,154291,143,145,144,127574,82857],"class_list":["post-382044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-bancroft-library","tag-charles-and-louise-travers-department-of-political-science","tag-congress","tag-gabriel-lenz","tag-house-of-representatives","tag-nancy-pelosi","tag-nancy-pelosi-institute","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-scott-straus","tag-speaker-of-the-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}