{"id":1979,"date":"2026-09-01T17:18:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T17:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/president\/?page_id=1979"},"modified":"2026-09-01T20:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T20:12:19","slug":"athenaeum","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/president\/athenaeum\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Mary\u2019s Athenaeum"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bringing together scholarship, civic dialogue, and public leadership at the National Public Honors College.<\/h2>\n

The St. Mary\u2019s Athenaeum is a signature institutional platform created to spark intellectual exchange and illuminate the critical questions facing our world today. Through dynamic lectures, monthly forums, and interdisciplinary scholarship, the Athenaeum invites students, faculty, staff, alumni, and our local community to engage with transformative ideas and public leadership.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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\"The St. Mary\u2019s Athenaeum reflects what it means to be the National Public Honors College. It gives us a way to bring scholarship, dialogue, and different perspectives together around questions that matter.\"<\/p>

- Rhonda Phillips, Ph.D., FAICP, President of St. Mary\u2019s College<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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2026\u201327 Essential Question<\/strong><\/h2><\/div><\/div>
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Theme of the Year: \"What is Community?\" Every academic year, the Athenaeum centers its programming around a single, vital inquiry. For 2026\u201327, we are exploring the concept of community across disciplines, international boundaries, and lived experiences.<\/p>\n