The ICNC Summer Institute for the Advanced Study of Nonviolent Conflict (also known as the Fletcher Summer Institute) was held annually from 2006-2016.  It was a pioneering advanced 5-6 day course in movement organizing and nonviolent civil resistance. Out of a competitive pool of thousands of applicants, nearly 500 talented people around the world attended the 11 Institutes, and many are sharing and putting into practice the concepts, strategies, and skills learned.

The program was taught by leading international scholars, practitioners, organizers and activists from past and current struggles. It provided both a firm academic grasp of the subject of civil resistance as well as a practical understanding of the use of nonviolent struggle in a variety of conflicts for a wide range of goals. Graduates received  a certificate in the Advanced Study of Nonviolent Conflict. We are grateful to be connected with these remarkable individuals.

The results of this decade-long program have been remarkable and exceeded our most positive expectations.  At the same time, with demand growing rapidly across all of our program areas, we have decided to focus on developing a series of Regional Institutes around the world to reach more people in more languages. Stay tuned for the full list of Regional Institutes in 2018, and learn more about our premier Regional Institute at the University of FLACSO in Quito, Ecuador.

To learn about past ICNC Summer Institutes, you can watch presentations from 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 or 2010.

The ICNC Summer Institute is dedicated to improving knowledge of how grassroots civil resistance movements form, organize, strategize, mobilize, build coalitions, communicate, select tactics, negotiate, and create change. Diverse movements for diverse causes are discussed, and complex issues such as the role of external actors in supporting or suppressing civil resistance, civil resistance movements and the challenges of democratic transitions, and strategies that movements use to respond to violent repression and armed insurgency are also addressed.

The aim of the ICNC Summer Institute is to increase understanding of civil resistance so that participants can integrate that knowledge into how they do their professional work. International professionals will come away with a better understanding of how civil resistance movements function and the dynamics of nonviolent power and change. Journalists will obtain a better understanding of how to analyze and cover civil resistance movements. Civil society leaders and other practitioners will acquire rich ideas about strategy, tactics, communications and a variety of other areas that movements must consider. Educators will discover new ideas about how to teach and share knowledge about civil resistance. All participants will come away with new information about case studies, comparative analyses, and the global scope of civil resistance taking place in the world today.

In addition to the knowledge imparted through the various presentations during the week, a great deal of knowledge is contributed by the ICNC Summer Institute participants, who are expected to actively share their experience, perspectives, and ideas to enrich the discussions. Historically, the ICNC Summer Institute has been a place where interdisciplinary learning, creativity, networking and new friendships have flourished.

As interest in this field has increased globally over the last decade and word of the ICNC Summer Institute has spread, entry into the ICNC Summer Institute has become an increasingly selective and competitive process.

Strong applicants are engaged in work that is related and relevant to the field of civil resistance. In the past, the ICNC Summer Institute has included activists and grassroots organizers; members of civil society organizations; professionals in intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations; journalists; and others who are either directly in contact with, or whose work would benefit from a stronger analytical understanding of, civil resistance campaigns and movements.

In addition, all applicants must be fluent in written and spoken English. All program activities will be conducted in English, and there is a considerable amount of discussion and dialogue throughout the week. No translation services will be available.

Duration: Round trip travel to Boston, Massachusetts, USA is required in order to participate in the ICNC Summer Institute, which will be held from June 19 to 24, 2016. Participants are expected to arrive in Boston no later than 2:00pm on June 19 and attend the entire program through the night of June 24. Therefore, participants depart Boston on June 25.

Participation and attendance: We find that people get out of the ICNC Summer Institute what they put into it, and so we expect people to come ready to work hard, participate fully, and share their thoughts in sessions throughout the week. Most days are full from 9am all the way through to an evening program, and all participants are expected to attend all programmed activities during the week.

Online preparation: The ICNC Summer Institute experience includes a required online component that runs for about two weeks before everyone convenes in Boston from June 19-24. The online component is designed to familiarize participants with fundamental concepts of civil resistance. It also is an opportunity for participants to get to know one another before the week of the ICNC Summer Institute in Boston. Applicants should expect to make a time commitment of approximately 5-10 hours per week for the online learning portion of the ICNC Summer Institute during these two weeks prior to the institute.

Costs: Participants or their sponsoring organizations are expected to pay for roundtrip travel to/from Boston, Massachusetts, USA as well as an ICNC Summer Institute registration fee (explained in the next section). Scholarships can be applied for to cover either or both of these expenses if applicants do not have the funds to do so, and this can be done in the process of filling out the application.

ICNC covers food, accommodation, educational materials, and other expenses. Participant registration fees help offset costs of the institute, and are based on a scale ranging from $500 to $2000, depending on the annual budget of the organization or department (if any) with which you are affiliated. Please refer to the following scale to determine your registration fee. The figure on the left represents the organizational or department annual budget. The figure on the right represents the respective registration fee.

Budget:      Registration fee
$0* – $100,000 USD:      $500 USD
$100,000 – $500,000 USD:      $1,000 USD
$500,000 – $1 million USD:      $1,500 USD
$1 million+ USD:      $2,000 USD

*Includes unaffiliated individuals.

The ICNC Summer Institute registration fee is the only charge requested to participate in the institute. Accommodation (in the dormitories of Tufts University), all meals, and learning materials for the entire institute are paid by ICNC.

In addition to the the ICNC Summer Institute registration fee, participants or their sponsoring organizations are expected to cover their own travel expenses to and from Boston, MA.