The Faculty and Course Development in International Studies hosted its 39th annual workshops on the theme Challenges Facing Democracy in October. This year’s workshop topic – Challenges Facing Democracy – was approached from two areas of the world, East Europe and Latin America.
David Ost (East Europe) from Hobart and William Smith College and Jonathan Hartlyn (Latin America) from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill addressed how those two areas of the world are coping with challenges such as economic inequality, immigration, polarization, electoral reform, populism, and globalization.
In addition, we were delighted to have as our opening speakers Maryanne Reed, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Gregory Dunaway, Dean of Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. The consortium is grateful for Reed’s and Dunaway’s generous support of their work.
FACDIS is a West Virginia Consortium housed at West Virginia University with the mission to promote undergraduate teaching of contemporary international issues and foreign languages, and to provide educators with opportunities for professional development. The consortium believes that professors and institutions of higher education play a crucial role in informing and challenging the thinking of the next generation.
There are currently 19 West Virginia institutions of higher education that are FACDIS Member Institutions. After 39 years, workshop participants continue to value the professional development that FACDIS workshops offer on topics of international significance and the yearly camaraderie of meeting old and new colleagues in the field.