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Democracy Education Grows in Universities November 16, 2005
The Center for Democracy and the Third Center and Georgetown University’s Department of Government have announced the creation of a new masters degree program in democracy studies, to begin in the Fall 2006 semester. According to the program website, “The aim of the program is to ensure that those entering careers related to democracy and democratization possess the conceptual and practical knowledge, and the analytic tools, to perform effectively, and to place the immediate demands of their positions in a broader perspective.” The program will cover: history and theories of democracy, governance and representation, democratization in theory and practice, and democracy and development.
Georgetown University is one of a number of schools that has begun to add democracy to its curriculum and research aims. Bennington College in Vermont, under the guidance its president, Elizabeth Coleman, who is also a CCD board member, has re-organized as “The Democracy Project” the entire social sciences and humanities undergraduate curriculum. The focus is on a single subject, Democracy, to which each discipline contributes its unique perspective and from which the student gains an integrated understanding of all disciplines as each bears on this central theme. As part of this curricular initiative, Bennington held the multi-national conference “Learning Democracy” on October 16-19, 2005. The conference brought students together with leaders and scholars from five countries that have undergone democratic transition to discuss democracy.
American University is also involved in democracy education. The university’s Center for Democracy and Election Management is not only a research center, but it also provides education and training to students and professionals. The center will conduct an institute for professionals in democracy and election management in June 2006. American also offers several courses in democracy for its students. CCD president Dick Rowson and executive director Bob LaGamma, with the assistance of ten CCD board members and the Center’s Daniel Calingaert, will be teaching the course “Global Democracy and its Promotion” during Spring 2006.
"This course explores the spread of democracy around the world focusing on the past two decades and assesses the progress and challenges of U.S. and international efforts to promote democracy. These efforts range from global movements, such as the Community of Democracies, to U.S. government policy initiatives and to programs of civil society organizations to assist democratic transitions and consolidation. The course will draw on the literature and case studies of democratic transitions and on the rich experience of CCD’s leading practitioners of democracy promotion from government and civil society.” |
