Upcoming Events
Tuesday - WednesdayApril 23 - 24Patuxent Defense Forum 2013:
"Rivalries and Conflicts
in the South China Sea:
How Can the U.S. Promote
Greater Stability?8:00 am Cole Cinema
Recent Events:
Thursday, April 18 2013
The Legitimate Role of Government
in a Free Society
Lectures on Liberty
Lecture by Walter E. Williams
George Mason University
4:00 pm | Cole Cinema
Co-sponsored with
Lectures and Fine Arts Committee
Departments of Economics,
Political Science, History
and the Economics Club
2013 Maryland
Legislative Wrap-Up
1:00 pm
Daughtery Palmer Commons
St. Mary's County delegates
John Bohanan (D) and
Anthony O'Donnell (R)
will offer their assessment of
the 2013 Session of the
Maryland General Assembly
Friday, April 5 2013
Margaret Brent Lecture:
"Notes to My Daughter: On Becoming A Woman"
Lecture by Elsa Walsh
Author, New Yorker contributor
5:30 pm | St. Mary's Hall
Co-sponsored with
Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Thursday, March 28
Free Trade vs. Fair Trade:
Where Economists
Get it Right, and Wrong
Lecture by George DeMartino
Josef Korbel School of International Studies
University of Denver
6:00 pm | Cole Cinema
Global Economic Integration
After the Great Recession,
and the
Importance of Free Trade
with Simon Lester
of the CATO Institute
5:30 pm | Cole Cinema
Monday, February 25
The Future of Fracking
in the Chesapeake
5:30 PM | St. Mary's Hall
Co - sponsored with the
St. Mary's River
Watershed Association
League of Women Voters
of St. Mary's County
and the
Natural Science and
Mathematics Colloquium
A discussion of gas
extraction on the
East Coast and the
new gas revolution
associated with fracking
Program Highlight
William Donald Schaefer
Internship for Government Service
A tribute to Governor Schaefer's many contributions to St. Mary's College and the State of Maryland, the Schaefer Internship for Government Service aims to allow undergraduates hands on experience in public policy with the hope that they will be inspired to choose public service as a calling.
Student Spotlight

St. Mary's Votes!
Since its inception in 2004, the club has registered over 850 young people to vote in State and National elections. In 2008, the club expanded its role in civic engagement to include working as election and poll judges during primary and general elections.
Directions:
For directions to St. Mary's College, please click here.
Schedule:
8:00 am - 8:45 am
Check-In and Continental Breakfast
8:45 am - 11:45 am
Panel I:
Balancing Economic and Maritime Interests in the China Seas
11:45 am - 1:00 pm
Lunch
1:15 pm - 2:30 pm
Panel II:
U.S. Defense Policies in South Asia
2:45 pm - 4:45 pm
Panel III:
South Asian Perspectives on China Sea Tensions
5:15 pm - 6:30 pm
Reception
Dinner
For a more detailed schedule, click here.
Questions may be directed to:
Dr. Michael Cain, Director240-895-4215
mjgcain@smcm.edu
Kristen Bergery, Program Assistant
240-895-6432
democracy@smcm.edu
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 21st 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 reached a $2 million endowment in late 2009.


