St. Cloud State University will be welcoming bestselling author Robert Putnam to the Atwood Memorial Center’s Cascade Room for the 54th Annual Winter Institute.

Putnam’s latest work, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, explores the consequences of increasing economic inequality over the last half century and the erosion of social mobility within the United States. This program will take place Wednesday and Thursday.

On Wednesday, the program will consist of a panel and a small group discussion. Putnam will be delivering the Winter Institute Keynote Address on Thursday, February 11. This event will begin at 9 a.m. each day. It is free and open to the public.