Meet Our Partners
ACCELS American Councils for International Education
(ACTR/ACCELS) is an international not-for-profit organization leading
the development and exchange of knowledge between the US and Eastern
Europe/Eurasia. Its mission is to foster independence and democratic
development by advancing education and research, cultivating
leadership, and empowering individuals and institutions through
learning. Founded in 1974 as an association for area and language
professionals, ACCELS has focused its expertise on the design and
implementation of academic exchange, professional training, distance
learning, curriculum and test development, delivery of technical
assistance and consulting services, research and evaluation, and
institution building.
ACCELS programs include the Future
Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX), which offers scholarships to secondary
school students from the countries of the former Soviet Union to live
in the United States for one academic year, and the Junior Faculty
Development Program (JFDP), which is a non-degree, professional
development program intended to provide opportunities for young faculty
to develop new courses and implement curriculum reform at their home
institutions and cultivate teaching skills and techniques.
The University of Balamand The University of Balamand
is a private, non-profit, independent Lebanese institution of higher
learning. The university is committed to raising future generations in
the immutable Eastern values, to promoting Christian-Muslim
understanding and to enhancing national and political unity in a
society proud of its diversity and plurality. It performs its mission
through teaching, research, and service to the community. The
university grew out of its Eastern Orthodox tradition, a tradition open
to the other, accepting the other, and working with the other in the
promotion of the national interest. While the university teaches in
three languages: Arabic, English and French, it emphasizes English as
the prevailing universal language, especially in science and
technology.
The university’s civic engagement program is called SEED, which stands for the Service Experience: Education through Doing,
a mode of education in which students combine academic study with
practical service work in the community. The service work is directly
related to classroom content, and is intended to provide students with
real life experience of their academic subject and the opportunity to
do good in their community. Moreover, their participation in
communities with which they do not ordinarily come into contact
encourages them to think about and discuss questions such as “what does
it mean to belong to a community,” “what is the relation between a
community and the larger society,” “how is citizenship fostered and
developed through service,” and “what are the reciprocal rights and
obligations of individuals to community and society.” These questions
and the issues that stem from them are tied into the academic component
of the course through reflection in the classroom—structured class time
specifically devoted to thinking about the meaning of service and its
relation to issues of citizenship as well as to course content. It is
our hope that by combining citizenship and course content in this way,
we may produce not only better prepared professionals, but also
citizens who are conscious of their obligations to their community and
committed to the preservation and building of a unified society.
CEPO
Since 2002 Rutgers University and Moldova State University have collaborated to develop a Civic Engagement Program Office
(CEPO) at MSU and to integrate service-learning across the MSU
curriculum. With funding from a United States Department of State NIS
College and University Partnerships Program grant, Rutgers and MSU have
exchanged faculty teams, undertaken joint research and faculty
development programs, developed shared program management and Internet
tools, and extended technical assistance to other universities in
Moldova . On May 25, 2004 the MSU University Senate voted to make civic
engagement (CEPO) courses a mandatory part of the curriculum in all MSU
faculties.
Civic Education Project
The Civic Education Project
(CEP), an international non-profit organization, has supported
grassroots efforts to reform higher education in Central and Eastern
Europe and Eurasia since 1991. In 2004 CEP completed its work in Europe
and Eurasia and is now taking its highly successful programs to other
world regions. Centered on the belief that democracy requires
critically minded and informed individuals, CEP’s network of scholars
touches hundreds of students, faculty, and broader communities in the
areas in which they teach.
Cracow University of Economics Established in 1924, the Cracow University of Economics
underwent serious restructuring that included changes to the curriculum
itself. The most recent change, carried out between 1991 and 1992,
shifted the University's structure to meet contemporary requirements
arising from the emergence of the country as a market economy. Master
degrees and specializations were transformed. The contents of degree
courses underwent particularly radical change. Teaching methods became
more modern and more attractive. In 1992 the following new faculties
were established: the Faculty of Economics, the Faculty of Management,
and the Faculty of Commodity Science. Cracow University of Economics
not only offers full-time day studies but also extramural and evening
studies, which lead to a Bachelor's or Master's degree. The university
is located in Cracow , Poland .
Foundation for Democratic Youth (DIA)
Foundation for Democratic Youth/Demokratikus Ifjúságért Alapítvány
(DIA) is a Hungarian non-political, non-profit organization that builds
a youth service infrastructure for people between the ages of 14 and 25
in Hungary and seven neighboring countries from Eastern and Central
Europe . Above all, DIA is an educational organization. In the past,
little emphasis was placed on critical thinking, leadership development
and student participation in civil society. As a result, the younger
generation harbors a sense of fatalism about prospects for positive
social change and pessimism about their career options.
The
DIA program model was developed in partnership with Youth Service
International. The model blends youth service, civic education and
active learning methodologies, so that young people learn actively
through direct participation in their communities. DIA works directly
with local youth groups supported by local coordinators. These young
people provide volunteer service in their communities and attend weekly
reflection sessions to analyze their experiences. DIA has built a
framework around these local activities that includes trainings,
conferences, financial support, exchange programs and thematic
materials.
Kaunas University of Technology
Kaunas University of Technology
(KTU), the largest technical university in the Baltic States, is the
second largest institution of higher education of Lithuania. More than
17 thousand undergraduate (B.S.) and 450 graduate (Ph.D.) students are
enrolled in KTU's eleven faculties. Undergraduates have a choice
of 32 majors, and graduate students may choose among 41 graduate areas
of study leading to the master's degree and among 17 graduate areas of
study leading to the Ph.D. degree.
Moldova State University Established in 1946, Moldova State University
was the first institution of higher education accredited by the
independent Republic of Moldova . MSU enrolls 16,500 students,
including 650 M.A. and Ph.D. candidates, in the university's 12
faculties, 51 departments and 72 majors. The university boasts 100 full
professors, 344 associate professors, and 1,380 research fellows, as
well as cooperation agreements with 60 university centers from 25 other
countries.
The Faculty of International Relations, Political and Administrative
Sciences
at MSU is the first political science faculty in Moldova, created in
1995 and accredited by the Republic of Moldova in 2000. The faculty
consists of the Department of International Relations, the Department
of Political Sciences, the Department of Public Administration and Law,
and the Department of Foreign Languages. It aims at:
- Renovation of academic strategies and objectives.
- Promotion of a university curriculum to European and international levels.
- Excellence in studying and teaching.
- Faculty transformation in accordance with the international professional dialogue.
The Department of International Relations was established in 1995 with
the mission to train international relations specialists who can
contribute to the promotion of the Republic of Moldova ’s foreign
policy. The curriculum consists of in-depth study of the history,
theory and practice of international relations, and one or two foreign
languages. The professors come from Moldova , Europe and the US . In
2002, an international cooperation project, the Civic Engagement
Project Office, was launched at the Department of International
Relations. The project aims to change the curriculum and educational
process at Moldova State University . In addition, MSU students and
professors are involved in international research programs and projects
in collaboration with students and professors from Rutgers University .
The project is funded by the US Department of State University
Partnerships Program.
Tallinn Pedagogical University
Tallinn Pedagogical University
(TPU) has acted as a promoter of new educational ideas and as a center
for teacher training in Estonia for more than 80 years. The number of
students has grown from 2,200 in 1992 to 6,976 in 2002. Today TPU is a
central training and research establishment in Tallinn, focusing its
activities besides teacher training also on humanities, social and
natural sciences, developing programs in sports and fine arts.
The university aims to offer highly qualified and modern education at
the Bachelor, Master and Doctoral levels, to facilitate high level
research and to disseminate humanistic and democratic values in
Estonian society. The language of instruction at TPU is Estonian. There
are study programs and subjects available also in other languages
(English, Russian and others). The university is located in Tallinn,
Estonia.
The University of Natal The University of Natal
is internationally renowned as a center of excellence in Africa and a
leader in multi-disciplinary studies. It has formal ties with more than
240 universities in Africa , the United States , the United Kingdom ,
Australia , the Far East and several other countries. There is constant
cross-fertilization between Natal and these leading institutions.
Currently, some 1,500 international students from 70 countries attend
the University of Natal . Despite attempts by the apartheid government
to limit enrolment to white students, the University of Natal has
fought consistently for academic freedom and has been admitting
students of all races since 1936. Today the university has more than
26,000 students, reflecting the broad demographics of South Africa ’s
population, spread over its Pietermaritzburg, Durban , Edgewood and
Medical School campuses. The University offers a range of undergraduate
and postgraduate programs in ten faculties and 44 schools.
Vytautas Magnus University
Reestablished in 1989, Vytautas Magnus University
(Vytautas the Great University ) was the first school of higher
education independent of governmental institutions. Academic freedom
became the foremost principle of the university, while its main purpose
was to prepare graduates with a broad humanistic orientation for
Lithuania 's needs in research, culture, education and economy.
A common program of study in humanities and general education for the
first two years of study for all students appeared in 1990. Its aim was
to develop well-rounded individuals who were free and creative. In
1991, the university was the first in Lithuania to establish a system
of study based on several levels, the completion of which resulted in
the granting of bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. The
university’s liberal academic policy—students are admitted into fields
of study, not into specializations—make it unique in Lithuania today.
The students put together their plan of study and make a final choice
of their program after the first two years of study. Foreign languages
and computer skills are particularly emphasized. The number of students
and teachers grew more than twenty times during the university's first
decade. The university is located in Kaunas , Lithuania .
Women For Social Progress Women for Social Progress (WSP)
is a leading civic organization in Mongolia that aims to strengthen
civic society and bring people into government process. WSP has led
voter education programs that have contributed to remarkably high voter
turnout rates, and it works tirelessly to make the parliament in
Mongolia more transparent. One of WSP's most notable projects is its
"Government Owner's Handbook" that makes it possible for citizens to
interact with government as never before, publicizing previously
unpublished state officials' phone numbers and teaching Mongolians how
to make their representatives more responsive. We are recognized in
Mongolia and in the international community as an organization leading
positive social change.
Zoon Politikon Zoon Politikon
is a nonprofit student association at the Faculty of Political Science
at the University of Zagreb. It has existed for more than 10 years, but
has operated in its present form since the fall of 2001. The
organization aims to promote and improve cooperation between student
associations in Croatia and abroad in the area of education and
scientific work. It also aims to popularize and affirm political
science and journalism. In addition, Zoon Politikon acts as a mediator
between students and faculty or the university administration
concerning student rights, and organizes conferences, roundtables,
seminars and student exchanges. Zoon Politikon is a member of the
International Association of Political Science Students, which includes
member societies from 24 countries from around the world. |
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