Center for the Study of Democracy

Announcements

2009 Chaney Visiting Scholar

I am pleased to announce that the Center for the Study of Democracy named, Thomas Penfield Jackson the 2009 Chaney Visiting Scholar.  This is the third visiting scholar hosted by the Center and it is one of several endowed programs at the Center, this one made possible by a gift from the Chaney Foundation.

As part of this program, the faculty asks Chaney Visiting Scholars to join them in the classroom to provide students with scholarly perspectives on their fields of interest and work with students in small group settings.  Judge Jackson will join my colleagues at the College, Professor Charles Holden¹s Democracy Studies class, Professor Helen Daugherty¹s Sociology class and Professor Christine Adam¹s History class, discussing with students various topics on Law and Politics.  We are delighted he accepted this honor.

Spring 2009 Upcoming Events

 Spring 2009 Democracy Studies Minor classes are now posted

 
Welcome 

The Center for the Study of Democracy focuses on different dimensions of liberty and democracy in national and international contexts.  The Center regularly investigates and discusses Maryland democratic history and contemporary Maryland politics; international dimensions of democratic development and U.S engagement in world affairs.  Students, faculty, and community members are encouraged to join our programs and participate in understanding our history and in discussing democracy in our world today.

The Center promotes a wide range of student activities that include curricula and coursework, special educational events and community activities.  The Center currently provides support for the democracy studies minor at St. Mary’s College and funds summer internship offerings in state, federal and local government service.  The Center also promotes citizen engagement in the political process by supporting student organizations that advocate for student participation in elections and government. 

The Center supports student organizations interested in the many languages of democracy by funding activities of interest to them—whether they are speakers, exhibits, literary or artistic performances.  We ask students to join the discussions we host on campus and to recommend new speakers and dialogues on contemporary problems we face. 

The Center strives to give SMCM students the intellectual and experiential foundations for all aspects of responsible citizenship and to empower them with the knowledge that they can make a positive difference.  Through its programs and activities, the Center promotes a diverse set of democratic practices, including the importance of engaging in civil discourse, illustrating a wide range of free speech activities to enable respect of diverse opinions, service to the community and civic engagement activities for students.  

The Center has also helped foster discussion and debate about what democracy means in the 21^st century, while promoting scholarly discussions about Maryland’s democratic promise and failures.  The Center’s programs benefit SMCM’s nearly 2,000 undergraduates, the larger college and local communities, and Marylanders as a whole. International students from diverse parts of the world have been awarded scholarships from the Center while other foreign visitors have been hosted to investigate and explore American democracy. 

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) We the People initiative awarded the Center a $500,000 challenge grant in September 2004. In 2008, the Center certified $1.5 in private and non-federal funds to receive the full $500,000 federal matching grant. The Center expects to reach a $2 million endowment in late 2009.