Live Now
Cato University

Cato University 2025: Summer Term I

Date and Time
July 31, 2025 — August 3, 2025
Location
Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC
Share This Event


Applications for Cato University close Monday, June 30 at 5:00 pm EDT. Please click here to apply.

Applications for Cato University are open. Please click here to apply.

Cato University is the Cato Institute’s premier educational event for college students. Each program will explore classical liberal philosophy as a foundation for considering current policy issues. While the topics for each Cato University program will vary, the goal remains to bring together outstanding faculty and participants from across the country who share a commitment to liberty and learning and to provide participants an opportunity to form an enduring community through a one-of-a-kind experience.

Cato University is for United States based applicants; we are currently not accepting applications from internationally based attendees.

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.

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. 

Apply for Cato University

Cato University Program

July 31

5:30 — 7:00 PM

Registration and Welcome Reception

7:00 — 7:15 PM

Welcoming Remarks

7:15 — 9:00 PM

Dinner and Opening Keynote Address

The Classical Liberal Diaspora

Michael Munger, Professor of Economics and Political Science, Duke University

8:00 — 8:45 AM

Breakfast

9:00 — 10:15 AM

Bettering Humanomics: A New, and Old, Approach to Economic Science

Deirdre N. McCloskey, Distinguished Scholar, Isaiah Berlin Chair in Liberal Thought, Cato Institute
10:15 — 10:30 AM

Break

10:30 — 11:30 AM

Defending Globalization

Veronique de Rugy, George Gibbs Chair in Political Economy, Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center

11:30 AM — 1:00 PM

Lunch Program

Telling the Story of Human Progress

Chelsea Follett, Policy Analyst and Managing Editor of Human​Progress​.org

Erec Smith, Research Fellow, Cato Institute

1:00 — 1:50 PM

Session A: The Foundations of Classical Liberalism

Jonathan Fortier, Director, Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org

Session B: Non-Western Liberals

Paul Meany, Intellectual History Editor, Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org

2:00 — 3:00 PM

A Roadmap for US Foreign Policy in a Multipolar World

Emma Ashford, Senior Fellow, Reimagining US Grand Strategy, Stimson Center

3:00 — 3:15 PM

Break

3:15 — 4:15 PM

Professional Development Workshops

4:15 — 4:30 PM

Break

4:30 — 5:30 PM

Workshop: Debrief and Application

5:30 — 6:15 PM

Free Time

6:15 — 7:00 PM

Reception

7:00 — 9:00 PM

Dinner

Dinner Program: Justin Amash

Justin Amash, Former Member of the US House of Representatives

8:00 — 8:45 AM

Breakfast

9:00 — 10:15 AM

Understanding the Constitution

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

Alex Nowrasteh, Vice President for Economic and Social Policy Studies, Cato Institute

10:15 — 10:30 AM

Break

10:30 — 11:30 AM

A Consequentialist Approach to Limited Government

Jeffrey Miron, Vice President for Research, Cato Institute

11:30 AM — 1:00 PM

Lunch

Lunch Program: Making a Convincing Case for Classical Liberalism in Polarized Spaces

Allan Carey, Director of Sphere Education Initiatives, Cato Institute

1:00 — 1:50 PM

Unlocking America’s Potential through Immigration

David Bier, Director, Immigration Studies, Cato Institute

2:00 — 3:00 PM

Policy Briefings

3:00 — 3:30 PM

Break

3:30 — 4:30 PM

Professional Development Workshops

4:30 — 5:30 PM

Workshop: Making a Convincing Case for Classical Liberalism

Allan Carey, Director of Sphere Education Initiatives, Cato Institute

5:30 — 6:15 PM

Break

6:15 — 7:00 PM

Reception

7:00 — 9:00 PM

Dinner Program: Nadine Strossen

Nadine Strossen, Former President, American Civil Liberties Union; and John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita, New York Law School

8:30 — 10:30 AM

Farewell Brunch

Certificate and Stipend Distribution

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