In addition to facilitating these community-to-classroom projects, the New Orleans Initiative is in the process of establishing a series of free, college credit-bearing courses in local public high schools, offering students at low-performing schools the benefits of a high-quality liberal arts curriculum as well as an invaluable tool for accessing higher education. Courses, which will be taught after school by New Orleans-based scholars, will focus on the social, political, and economic landscapes of the city. In this way, these students — the same young people who will go on to inherit a troubled New Orleans — will be uniquely prepared to involve themselves critically and productively in the revitalization of the city.

The Initiative is also establishing a Semester in New Orleans program for undergraduate students from Bard and other liberal arts colleges. Students in the program will take rigorous courses in urban planning, legal studies, and human rights, while serving as interns with a range of local community-based organizations and neighborhood associations. Informed in the classroom, their work as interns and research assistants will be a powerful tool for communities seeking to analyze and address their needs.