CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — Chautauqua Institution today announced a new partnership with Academic Travel Abroad, Inc. (ATA) that will take the Chautauqua experience “on the road” to introduce, extend and supplement the Institution’s iconic Summer Assembly thematic-based programs. This represents the Institution’s second partnership with ATA, a Washington, D.C.-based international travel organization that first collaborated with Chautauqua in the 1980s for the historic Chautauqua Conferences on U.S.-Soviet Relations.

Named Chautauqua Travels, this one-of-a-kind group travel program will curate unmatched experiences in the U.S. and abroad, leveraging Chautauqua’s distinctive mix of interdisciplinary and intergenerational explorations of the best in human values and the enrichment of life with an untiring commitment to civil dialogue.

The inaugural Chautauqua Travels program, Nov. 7–11, 2021, will take participants to Louisiana’s Gulf Coast for an exploration titled “Responding to a Changing Climate: Resilience and Adaptation in New Orleans.” This five-day, four-night program will explore the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the delicate ecosystem of the Gulf Coast as well as the region’s recovery through the eyes of business owners, everyday citizens and scientists intertwined with “The Big Easy’s” culture of music, celebration and resilience. The theme of climate change builds upon the Institution’s 2020 week of online programming, and also the forthcoming launch of the Chautauqua Climate Initiative, to be announced later this spring.

Future programs will trace the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama (spring 2022), ecology in Iceland (summer 2022), and art as protest in Cuba (fall 2022). Selected programs, such as the summer 2022 program in Iceland, will be curated especially for family travel.

Registration and program information can be found at travel.chq.org.

“Our strategic plan calls us to extend the mission of Chautauqua beyond the Summer Assembly,” said Chautauqua Institution President Michael E. Hill. “Extending our conversations through travel is a natural and long-desired extension of our mission that also gives us the opportunity to more deeply and meaningfully inspire positive action.”

“At ATA, we believe that learning through travel is an enriching, life changing experience; we are proud to amplify Chautauqua’s important work to expand opportunities for intentional exploration,” said Chase Poffenberger, executive vice president and co-owner of Academic Travel Abroad.

Through the partnership with ATA, Chautauqua Travels participants have access to a trip-specific website that facilitates best-in-class travel planning support. ATA has implemented enhanced COVID-19 safety and health protocols and maintains a certified commitment to sustainability through EarthCheck.

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ABOUT ACADEMIC TRAVEL ABROAD, INC.

Academic Travel Abroad, Inc. is an educational travel provider for some of this country’s most prestigious organizations. Riding the post-war wave of interest in travel to Europe, ATA launched operations in 1950 by assisting universities and cultural institutions in the creation of group travel programs for their members. Today, ATA is a leader in cultural and educational group travel and serves partners such as The New York Times, Smithsonian Institution, The Great Courses and Yale Alumni Travel.

ABOUT CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION
Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer — and year-round through the CHQ Assembly online platforms — with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. As a community, we celebrate, encourage and study the arts and treat them as integral to all of learning, and we convene the critical conversations of the day to advance understanding through civil dialogue.