The Sixth International Conference on American Studies

“Strengthening Democracy through Civic Engagement”

December 11, 2010

Organized by the American Studies of Moldova in collaboration with IREX/Moldova

On December 11, 2010 the American Studies Center of Moldova, in cooperation with IREX /Moldova organized its 6^th International Conference entitled “Strengthening Democracy through Civic Engagement". Presenters included American Embassy officials, Peace Corps volunteers, Fulbright scholars and students, English Language Fellows, professors from local universities, alumni USG programs and students from the USM American studies Masters degree program - all those who are interested in promoting democracy in Moldova.

The conference was dedicated to a very relevant and meaningful issue: civic engagement. It provided a unique opportunity for academia to discuss strategies for broader participation of every citizen in democratic changes for the benefit of the society. Civic engagement should become an essential learning goal for all educational institutions. It is an instrument of educating students to become active community and global citizens of an interdependent and diverse world as a morally and civically responsible individual is capable of responsible decision-making.

The more educated people are, the more likely it is that they will participate in community life. Communities with the greatest and most diverse citizen participation are often strong: community schools flourish, sports develop, clubs, youth centers and non-governmental organizations increase membership and cities look renovated and sanitized.

The Conference provided the opportunity to identify and discuss the most important issues of public and covered such areas as politics, economics, public policy, culture and education.

American Studies Center and IREX/Moldova staff undertook a careful selection of the topics for the Conference as well as the  presenters (Frank William McCarty, Fulbright Scholar, Professor Emeritus of Commercial Law at the Western Michigan University, USA; Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan, PhD, Fulbright Scholar, Founding Director of the Center for Civic Engagement, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of South California St Petersburg, USA; Malina Dumas, Fulbright Student, USA; David Norton, English Language Fellow, USA).

The members of the American Studies Center and its administration stress the importance of collaborative efforts of IREX/Moldova in organizing the event, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank the IREX/Moldova for their tremendous support.

Out of 13 presenters 5 were the specialists from the USA, 6 were the Moldovan professors, Alumni of different programs (Men presenters - 4; Women presenters – 9)

Out of 60 invited guests (American representatives/guests – 4, Chisinau guests- 54; outside Chisinau - 2) among whom there were University Professors: the heads of the departments and vice-deans - Moldova State University, Agrarian University, Slavonic University, ASEM, IRIM, FRISPA, Tiraspol State University and representatives from various organizations – IREX, Youth Governing Institute of Moldova, the Peace Corps, teachers from lyceums who specialize in American Studies, the 1st and the 2nd Master’s Degree students and representatives from Academy of Sciences of Moldova).

The key – note addresses were given by Frank William McCarty entitled “Civic Engagement: Participating in Society-PHASE 1” and Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan entitled “Incorporating Civic Engagement in the Curriculum”. They both gave very interesting talks in which they stressed out that a democratic society depends on a well-informed and engaged society thus teachers need to stress in the classroom and lead by example outside the classroom that it is everyone’s responsibility to help build and strengthen democracy in Moldova because one person makes a difference and that we each need to do our part to strengthen.

There were two broad areas of studies during the Conference that had been covered by the presenters, these were: Politics, Economics & Civic Engagement and Society, Education & Civic Engagement, however, some cross sectional topics were welcome as well.

Daniela Munca (Edmund S. Muskie Program Alumna) spoke on “The Use of Social Media in Promoting Civic Engagement in Moldova – Facebook Networking within the Alumni Community”. She introduced and spoke about one of the most recognizable Web 2.0 social media tools, Facebook, presented as an interactive means of strengthening the US alumni community in Moldova and as a very effective tool to share information about the most successful alumni projects in Moldova and as an online device with multiple features allowing the implementation of various community development projects with an educational purpose.

Malina Dumas (Fulbright Student, USA) made a presentation on “Preparing Women for Global Leadership: The Albright Institute Case”. Her presentation presented an overview of the newly established “Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs” at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, USA. She also explained the goals and strategies of the Institute and gave her perspective on how similar programs could be adopted in Moldovan universities in order to empower young Moldovan women to make a difference in their communities and in the world at large.

David Norton (English Language Fellow, USA) spoke on “Education for a New Democracy”. In his talk he discussed the role of the educational system in modern democracies, while highlighting in particular the role of the English language for the empowerment of new democracies and the critical roles of the citizen and the media in modern democracies with a focus on civic engagement in the Republic of Moldova.

Thus, the International Conference helped scholars  and graduate students get the first hand experience of American scholars in public policy planning, social, educational, economic and political advance of the modern society with the view of educating the new generation of society builders in Moldova in the spirit of democracy to meet the challenges of the new millennium.

In the Evaluation survey, offered after the Conference, the presenters and guests stressed the exiting experience of the discussions that followed excellence of administering the event and usefulness of such events for future professional and research goals.