Educating for Democracy: Designs for Learning in the Balkans and Beyond

Peer Review, Winter 2004 by Chuleva, Galina, Phillips, Robert Jr

With world attention focused oil events in Iraq, it is easy to forget that it was only a few years ago that the world witnessed the violent disintegration of Yugoslavia and its repercussions throughout the Balkans. Unfortunately, no news is not necessarily good news. In the newly reconstructed federation of Serbia and Montenegro, as well as in neighboring Croatia, nationalists have done well in recent elections. Ethnic tensions permeate the situations in Kosovo and Macedonia. Throughout the region, organized crime is developing new caravan routes for arms, drugs, and persons. Economies remain rather sluggish, particularly in rnral areas and smaller cities, compounding the difficulties laced by reform-minded governments.

Against this gray and sometimes discouraging backdrop, governmental and nongovernmental organizations continue to build working democracies and economies. While governmental funding from United States and the European Union and foreign direct investments from private corporations provide some of the necessary resources, the construction of particular infrastructure projects and the adoption of best practices will not complete the task by themselves. As domestic leaders and foreign delegations have recognized, the development of market economies, democratic norms, and the administrative capacity necessary to enforce legislation require educated and open-minded young people ready to face the regions continuing challenges.

With foreign assistance shifting to other areas of the world, it is easy to argue that developing human potential in the region is even more important; more will have to be done with less. For those committed to building healthy, deeply rooted democracies, this makes the American University in Bulgaria's (AUBG) mission of educating a new generation ol leaders more relevant than ever-in the Balkans and beyond.

The Right Place at the Right Time

When it was founded in 1991, just after the fall of totalitarian regimes in Eastern Europe, the American University in Bulgaria enjoyed a base of support that gave the institution what it needed to succeed. Tasked with the broad mission of educating leaders for the Balkan region, the institution was seen by its founders from the United States, Western Europe:, and Bulgaria alike as a means to advance the values common to democratic societies with free-market economics. Resources to implement this educational partnership came from philanthropist George Soros, the United States Agency for International Development, and the government of Bulgaria, which provided buildings for instructional and residential facilities at no cost.

Functioning democracies require individuals throughout the public and private sectors who can rationally evaluate and choose policies in a complex environment. While amassing knowledge and specialization are important to these ends, the ability to critically analyze information, select appropriate options, and clearly communicate them to increasingly skeptical and impatient populations are the central tasks facing leaders in Southeast Europe, the Caucasus, and the Central Asian republics. When AUBG opened in 1991, regional institutions of higher education tended to focus on developing specialists who were deeply immersed in the theories and detailed knowledge of a particular field of study. While AUBG's academic curriculum emphasizes fields of study in such regionally critical areas as economics, computer science, business administration, political science, journalism, and European studies, AUBG is a traditional liberal arts institution. In practice, this means that all students are required to complete several core courses and to experiment in areas outside their selected majors through the University's general education requirements.

In the early years, a lack of experience with this approach to education caused misunderstandings, as many of the first students wanted the "secrets" of American success unveiled to them and assumed that these were based upon deep concentration in particular fields of study. The broad-based core and general distribution requirements appeared analogous to their high school experiences and, thus, were initially discounted.

In time, however, students came to appreciate the logic of a focused major built upon an effective foundation. For example, traditional composition courses in the basics of writing arguments are complemented by a writing-across-the-curriculum requirement as students progress through the University. In the same vein, a core course in statistics helps students better understand the statistical information and opinion polls that regularly contribute to democratic debate.

As an English language institution in the American tradition, all majors and other courses are designed in the familiar credit system of American institutions of higher education, and they are arranged in standard sequences that maximize opportunities for seamless study abroad at U.S. institutions. All credits are fully transferable because AUBG is accredited by the New England Association of Colleges and Universities. In fact, AUDG is also accredited by the Bulgarian educational authorities and occupies a special place in Bulgaria, having been founded by a special act of the Bulgarian Parliament.