The Summer Seminar is an annual summer lecture series typically encompassing three consecutive days that provide in-depth background about a particular topic, country or region.   Each lecture focuses on a different aspect, addressing a region’s history, art and culture.  Attend all lectures or choose the days that cover the themes that interest you most.  The series often culminates with a panel discussion by several presenters, creating a better understanding about how each facet has affected the others and providing the framework to understand current events.  Presenters are typically distinguished scholars from top universities.

CIR provides scholarships to qualified students so that they may receive college credit for attending the Summer Seminar and doing independent study.  This scholarship program is currently provided in collaboration with Santa Fe Community College.

The 2008 Summer Seminar was on the Art, Culture, and History of Korea.  Entitled Korea:  Peninsula of Beauty and Conflict, it was held at the Santa Fe Community College on June 9, 10, and 11.  Professor Bruce Cumings, Head of the History Department at the University of Chicago, and Dr. Cheeyun Kwon, Curator of the Koret Foundation Korean Galleries at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, were our speakers.  The 2007 lectures provided background to understanding 21st Century Iran in a series called Bridges to Iran: Persian Art, Culture and History.  The 2006 Summer Seminar provided a contextual base for current events in Iraq in a series called From Mesopotamia to Modern.