Group to bring acclaimed ‘Bowling Alone’ author Putnam to R.I. in April
Susan, can you please tell us about RENEWport’s mission. You touched on it in an interview in April 2024, but please tell us more.
RENEWport brings together nonprofit and business leaders, government officials, community organizations, and citizens to tackle local challenges. RENEWport is committed to creating a caring pipeline into the public schools and connecting individuals of all ages with needed resources. By fostering engagement in focused projects and events, RENEWport strengthens community bonds and helps all Newport residents flourish.
And you have some very big news: esteemed political scientist and author Robert D. Putnam is coming to Salve Regina University to speak at 5 p.m. on April 15. For those who may not know about Putnam, can you please tell us about him? His 2000 book “Bowling Alone” has been recently updated and continues to sell briskly.
Although I have not met Prof. Putnam yet personally, in 2012, President Barack Obama awarded him the National Humanities Medal, the nation’s highest honor for contributions to the humanities, so it’s no surprise that he is extremely intelligent and very thoughtful. He is also unexpectedly funny and self-deprecating, as you can see from his recent appearances on The Daily Show, PBS NewsHour, and Trevor Noah’s podcast, What Now? Prof. Putnam’s decades of research and data reveal that Americans have grown less engaged in clubs and organizations, in civic participation, and with each other since the 1960s. This decline in our social capital is detrimental to our own wellbeing, to our communities and to the United States.
Putnam’s topic will be: “What is the state of American democracy today?” And this is the description online: “Deep and accelerating inequality; unprecedented political polarization; vitriolic public discourse; a fraying social fabric; public and private narcissism—Americans today seem to agree on only one thing: This is the worst of times. How did we get here and what can we do about it?” Could any topic be more timely?
The short answer is no!
The longer answer is: In his most recent book “The Upswing,” Prof. Putnam examines a longer historical time period and finds that Americans have gone from being more “I focused” during the Gilded Age to more “we focused” from the early 1900s to the 1960s and back to more “I focused” over the past 60 years.
We are left with the question: Are we on the verge of swinging back to a more “we focused” era?
We should note that his talk is free and open to the public. People can register here.
You have built a series of “Newport Together” events around Putnam’s talk. Let’s learn about a few of them, starting with “Tell Newport ‘Bowling Alone’ hosted by Jesse Stokes.”
Each month, Stokes hosts a Tell Newport event at the Firehouse Theater, with themes such as At Sea, Modern Love, and Last Night. “It really is an effective model on how to bring people together to meet in a venue that isn’t related to work or social obligations,” he says. “It is almost like a piece of community artwork.” (from The Newport Daily News)
What about World Café, hosted by RENEWport, led by Steve Heath and Gene Thompson-Grove
Café Conversations bring people together for meaningful and engaging discussions about what truly matters. Steve Heath, executive director of FabNewport, and Gene Thompson-Grove, transformational learning coach and consultant, will moderate. “We believe everyone has valuable ideas and insights to share, and together, we can tackle even the toughest challenges. Our conversations will focus on building a stronger sense of community and belonging in Newport,” Heath and Thompson-Grove said.
And Nee Jam, hosted by New England Music Organization
The NEE Jam celebrates the talents, diversity, and joy of the community through music. Held twice monthly at the Firehouse Theater in Newport, RI, this free and interactive concert series provides any musician the opportunity to perform on a professional stage with a professional house band in an open and improvised environment. The bi-monthly shows are professionally live-streamed and publicly shared, increasing access for the public through a historic catalog and furthering the educational opportunity for the performers.
And “Not Always Bowling Alone in America – A Cultural History of American Civic Associations,” a talk and discussion with Jere Wells.
In his 2000 bestseller Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Harvard Professor Robert Putnam issued a compelling warning: that the recent trend of dramatically declining participation in American civic associations of all kinds, from the bowling league of his book’s title to worship communities of all faiths, threatened the very fabric of American democracy. In preparation for Putnam’s visit, educator Jere A. Wells, formerly of Yale Divinity School, will discuss the distinctive history of American participation in civic associations of all kinds, a defining feature of our culture dating back to colonial times. “To once again be a nation of joiners who seek the common good,” Wells argues, “is not only our obligation but our cultural birthright.”
All events can be found here.
We should note that these events and Putnam’s appearance are made possible by RENEWport, Salve Regina University, the Rhode Island Foundation, the Preservation Society of Newport County, Memorial Funeral Home, and private donors. How did you build this coalition?
Once Prof. Putnam agreed to come to Newport to speak, institutions, nonprofits and engaged individuals promptly and generously lined up to offer RENEWport help to make his visit possible. It’s been a good illustration of what makes Newport such a remarkable and unique community. Not perfect, but striving to be a city where all can thrive.
Finally, what’s on the horizon after April 15 for RENEWport?
RENEWport has planted daffodils in Miantonomi Park, hosted community dinners at Pell Elementary School, invited Prof. Putnam to Newport and coordinated a series of events surrounding his visit. We are striving to strengthen community bonds for the benefit of all. We are working, in cooperation and collaboration with other organizations and individuals, to help shift the dynamic back to a focus on “we” at the local level for the health of individuals and the country.
On April 10, just before Prof. Putnam’s visit, RENEWPORT will host our second Pell Community dinner, this time, for 3rd and 4th graders and their families, featuring short kid-centric performances by Newport Sings, Newport Contemporary Ballet, and Newport Children’s Theater, as well as hands-on activities provided by other organizations.
In January, we held a dinner for grades K to 2, featuring an “Instrument Petting Zoo” provided by Newport Festivals Foundation, Newport Classical and Newport Strings. Save the Bay brought a touch tank, and TeamFAME offered tennis games. Other participating organizations were Bike Newport, Conexion Latina, the Girl Scouts of Southern New England, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, Newport Bridge, the Newport Historical Society, Newport Public Education Foundation, the Newport Tree Conservancy, Sail Newport, Strategic Prevention Partnerships, and the Women’s Resource Center.
We will continue these community dinners in the upcoming 2025/2026 school year.
This spring, we plan to launch a volunteer initiative at Pell Elementary School in cooperation with the Edward King House. RENEWport Co-President Ellen Pinnock and I are also working on a project to hang banners in downtown Newport that celebrate notable graduates of the Newport Public Schools.
Lastly, we’ve just launched a searchable database of free, ongoing community resources provided by Newport nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and businesses that are available to individuals of all ages. We will continue to build this database in the months ahead; our list of resources can be accessed on RENEWport.org or through the City of Newport’s website.
Correction: Susan Sipprelle’s name was misspelled in the original post. It has been corrected.
