Live Now
Cato University

Cato University 2026: Summer Term I

Date and Time
August 2, 2026 — August 5, 2026
Location
Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC
Share This Event

Applications Are Closed

Cato University is the Cato Institute’s premier educational conference for college and graduate students. Each program will explore classical liberal philosophy as a foundation for considering current policy issues. While the topics for each conference will vary, the goal of Cato University is to foster an enduring community of outstanding faculty and participants who share a commitment to liberty and learning.

Cato University is for United States based students. Benefits include room and board, 20+ hours of academic programming, networking opportunities, resources for further study, and a $500 travel stipend upon completion of the program.

Applications for the 2026 summer terms will open in the last quarter of 2025. Applicants will be notified of their status on a rolling basis. If you have any questions or need assistance applying, please email our staff at events@​cato.​org.

Schedule

Sunday, August 2

4:30 - 5:30 PM

Registration

5:30 - 6:30 PM

Welcome Reception

6:30 - 7:30 PM

Dinner

7:30 - 8:30 PM

Keynote Address: Proclaiming Liberty

Timothy Sandefur, Vice President of Legal Affairs, Goldwater Institute

Monday, August 3

8:00 - 8:45 AM

Breakfast

9:00 - 10:00 AM

Cato’s Letters and the American Founding

Paul Meany, Intellectual History Editor, Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org
10:00 - 10:30 AM

Break

10:30 - 11:45 AM

The Grievances of the Declaration of Independence at 250

Clark Neily, Senior Vice President for Legal Affairs, Cato Institute

in conversation with

Thomas A. Berry, Director, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute
11:45 AM - 12:45 PM

Lunch

12:45 - 1:45 PM

U.S. Trade Politics: Just as Adam Smith Predicted?

Scott Lincicome,Vice President, General Economics and Stiefel Trade Policy Center, Cato Institute
1:45 - 2:00 PM

Break

2:00 - 3:00 PM

Breakout Sessions

Session A: Data and Dollars

Jennifer Huddleston, Senior Fellow in Technology Policy, Cato Institute
Nicholas Anthony, Research Fellow, Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, Cato Institute

Session B: Clinician Licensing: An Obstacle to Universal Health Care

Michael F. Cannon, Director of Health Policy Studies, Cato Institute
3:00 - 3:15 PM

Refreshment Break

3:15 - 4:15 PM

Breakout Sessions: Communicating with Each Other 

Session A: Rhetoric and Strategies for Civil Discourse

Erec Smith, Research Fellow, Cato Institute, and Cofounder, Free Black Thought

Session B: Public Speaking

Stephen Rowe, Cato Courses Director, Cato Institute
4:15 - 4:45 PM

Debrief and Discussion

4:45 - 6:00 PM

Free Time

6:00 - 6:30 PM

Reception

6:30 - 7:30 PM

Dinner

7:30 - 8:30 PM

Dinner Program: From Tea Parties to TikTok: Free Speech at 250

A conversation with

Nadine Strossen, Former President, ACLU

Tuesday, August 4

8:00 - 8:45 AM

Breakfast

9:00 - 10:00 AM

The International Impact of the Declaration of Independence

Gabriela Calderon de Burgos, Fellow in Latin American Studies, Cato Institute

in conversation with

Paul Meany, Intellectual History Editor, Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org
10:00 - 10:30 AM

Break

10:30 - 11:30 AM

Affordability and Abundance 

Ryan Bourne, R. Evan Scharf Chair for the Public Understanding of Economics, Cato Institute

in conversation with

Chelsea Follett, Managing Editor, Human​Progress​.org, Cato Institute
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Debrief and Discussion 

12:00 - 1:15 PM

Lunch

Lunch Program: Inside the Cato Internship

Cortez Bartolome, Student Programs Manager, Cato Institute
1:15 - 1:30 PM

Break

1:30 - 2:45 PM

Breakout Sessions: Policy Briefings

2:45 - 3:15 PM

Refreshment Break

3:15 - 4:15 PM

Professional Development Workshops

4:15 - 6:00 PM

Free Time

6:00 - 6:30 PM

Reception

6:30 - 7:30 PM

Dinner

7:30 - 8:30 PM

Dinner Program: The Universalist Principles of the Declaration of Independence

Ilya Somin, B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute

Wednesday, August 5

8:00 - 8:45 PM

Breakfast

9:00 - 11:00 AM

Workshop: Civil Discourse and Communicating Classical Liberalism on Campus

11:00 - 11:15 AM

Closing Remarks and Group Photo

11:15 - 11:30 AM

Stipend Distribution and Departures

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.