FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Press Release #08-207

Symposium on Democracy in Europe Continues with Films and Lecture Series

(St. Mary’s City, MD) Oct. 24, 2008 – The St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) Center for the Study of Democracy continues its international program offerings with the Symposium on Democracy in Old and New Europe: From Oxford to Istanbul, which is made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon foundation. The symposium explores current social and political issues facing European countries and the history of democracy and dictatorship in Europe, with a special focus on European Union enlargement. As part of the 2008-2009 symposium series, the Center for the Study of Democracy presents the following upcoming films and lectures. For more information, contact Abby Thompson at 240-895-6432.

Symposium Film Festival:
On Monday, Nov. 3, the symposium opens its film festival with director Wolfgang Becker’s 2003 film, Good Bye Lenin!  The film will be shown in the Cole Cinema of the Campus Center at 8:00 p.m. Set shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it is about a son’s struggle to protect his mother, who is newly awakened from a long coma, from the shock of learning that East Germany as she knew it has disappeared.

On Monday, Dec. 8, director Jasmila Zbanic’s 2006 film, Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams will be shown in the Cole Cinema of the Campus Center at 8:00 p.m. It is the story of a woman and her daughter struggling in the aftermath of the Balkan War.

Upcoming Symposium Lecture:
On Monday, Nov. 10, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Samuel Lewis gives the lecture “Europe and Israel: Awkward Historical Partners” in recognition of Israel’s 60th anniversary. The lecture will take place in Cole Cinema at 4:30 p.m.

Ambassador Lewis spent his Foreign Service career on tours of duty in Italy, Brazil, Afghanistan, Israel and Washington. His senior posting was as ambassador to Israel for eight years under Presidents Carter and Reagan, from 1977 to 1985, a period which spanned negotiation of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty and the 1982 war in Lebanon. He also held positions of assistant secretary of state for International Organization Affairs, senior staff member for Latin America at the National Security Council, special assistant to the deputy secretary of state, deputy director of the policy planning staff under former Secretary of State  Henry Kissinger, and as chargé d’affaires in Afghanistan. Since retiring from the Foreign Service in 1985, Lewis has been affiliated with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy as counselor and senior advisor, the Brookings Institution, the Johns Hopkins Foreign Policy Institute, and with research centers at Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is now senior policy advisor to the Israel Policy Forum. 

In 2007, the Center for the Study of Democracy received a three-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to expand the center’s International Program offerings at SMCM. During the 2007-2008 school year, the center and six SMCM departments conducted events and lectures on democratic issues pertaining to Latin American countries. Also thanks to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant, SMCM had its first student, David Stamm, graduate with a minor in Democracy Studies. Other program achievements include the creation and offering of a class on civil engagement and helping students apply for internships and study tours that focus on democracy and the democratic process.

Regarding this school year’s symposium on democracy in Europe, Center for the Study of Democracy Director Michael Cain said:  “It’s important that students understand the diversity of democratic countries in Europe. The European Union is one of our most important trading partners and offers large markets. We also have several programs with St. Mary’s students throughout the European continent and host many exchange students on campus.”

The Center for the Study of Democracy is a joint initiative of St. Mary’s College of Maryland and its affiliated institution, Historic St. Mary’s City. It explores contemporary and historical issues associated with democracy and liberty in national and international contexts. The center provides a forum for presentations by government officials, journalists and scholars; publishes scholarly writing on subjects of civil governance; encourages and supports public participation in political processes; and engages undergraduate studies in study and research on related subjects.
 
St. Mary’s College of Maryland, designated the Maryland state honors college in 1992, is ranked one of the best liberal arts schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, The Princeton Review, and Kiplinger’s.  Founded in 1840 as Maryland’s “monument school” commemorating the state’s first capital, SMCM is the state’s only public honors college, offering “an Ivy-level College with a public-school price tag” (Newsweek).
Some 2,000 students attend the college, which has the highest graduation rate for all Maryland public colleges and universities, and an SAT average for student admissions of 1252. The school’s waterfront campus along the St. Mary’s River in Southern Maryland is home to the 2007 National Intercollegiate Sailing Association Women’s, Sloop and Team champions.