The Center for the Study of Democracy

International Education

In 2007, The Center for the Study of Democracy received a 3 year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon foundation to stimulate the academic conversation regarding the emergence of democracy in international countries. The Center for each of the three years will hold an international symposium focusing on a specific area of the world that is showing signs of the early emergence of democracy.

The 2008-2009 symposium will focus the European region titled "Democracy in Old and New Europe: from Oxford to Istanbul." The Center will work with the various disciplines across campus to offer the students and the College community a wide range of speakers and events focusing on the political issues and struggles present within this area.

The 2007-2008 first symposium was titled "The Latin American Symposium on Democratic Experiences." The Center worked with six departments throughout SMCM to conduct 13 events and lectures on democratic issues in Latin American countries. These events included poets, political figures, film directors, historians, and policy experts from Latin American think tanks and research organizations. The symposium also hosted a yearlong film series highlighting films depicting current social and political issues prominent in the Latin American region. Speakers included Ms. Pierina Correa Delgado, the sister of the Ecuadorian president, Martin Espada, nationally known poet, Paulo Sotero, director of the Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and Atruro Perez, film writer and director of Super Amigos.

International Student Exchange

The Center received a three-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation beginning January 1, 2004 to conduct international student exchanges between St. Mary's College of Maryland and the developing democratic countries of Senegal, The Gambia, Brazil, and Thailand.

Mellon Scholars receive room, board, tuition for a semester or year of study at St. Mary's College of Maryland. Students are expected to study in the social sciences. The Center funds special lectures, lunches, dinners and trips for the Mellon Scholars during their stay at St. Mary's.

In March 2005, Mellon Scholars participated in a Center panel, "At Home Abroad: Perceptions of America and Americans," that was featured in the Washington Post, The Mellon Scholars also visited Washington, D.C. in the spring 2005 for a study trip where they toured CNN's Washington bureau, lunched at Union Station and toured the Capitol and the Library of Congress.

SMCM students are also eligible for Mellon scholarship stipends to study abroad in The Gambia, Brazil, Senegal or Thailand. 

The Center's International Mellon Scholars