The task of hopeful citizenship: studying leadership and authority in our organizational systems

We are delighted to co-sponsor this conference with Teachers College, Columbia University.

Dear prospective member

The concept of “hopeful citizenship” preoccupied us last year as well. We believe this is the primary task of our times, and its exploration and study, using the group dynamics lens, continues to be important and relevant. 

Being, or becoming, a Hopeful Citizen requires us to engage with the complex, often unseen forces that govern our groups and organizations. 

When we enter any social system, be it a workplace, community, or a nation, we carry an “organization in the mind.” This internal picture shapes our expectations, our understanding of authority, and our sense of belonging. 

Yet, we often operate under the unconscious assumption that our peers and leaders hold the same picture. Only when these internal models inevitably collide does the profound tension between the individual, the group, and the wider system become fully visible.

In times of uncertainty or conflict, this tension creates anxiety, which groups frequently and unconsciously project onto “the Other,” often the leaders or figures of authority. However, even here, our picture-in-the-mind of authority and leadership varies substantially depending on who we are, where we come from, and what our experiences have been in relation to those. 

One of our emerging core dilemmas is: how do we exercise hopeful citizenship when we feel disconnected from the very institutions that we rely upon?

This conference provides a temporary institution to study these conscious and unconscious dynamics, as they occur and unfold in the here-and-now. Our joint task is not to force a singular, unified vision upon the group, but rather to recognize, tolerate, and explore the different frames of reference we each hold. 

By examining how we project our emotional realities onto authority and how we navigate our disparate internal pictures, we hope that we can discover new ways to collaborate. 

We invite you to explore what it means to explore and experiment with hopeful citizenship (even as we realize we hold fundamentally different pictures of the system) and consider how we might find the capacity and courage to create something meaningful together.

Eliat Aram

Conference Director

Sasha Wells

Associate Director, Administration

Lamya Razzou

The Administrative Team

Brochure

Registration

To secure your spot in the conference, please complete your online registration by 11:59 PM ET, November 6, 2026. (No refunds are issued once the online registration closes.)

Register

If you have questions, please email the Administrative Team: teacherscollegeGRC@gmail.com