Faculty Development Program Spring Conference 2009

The following is a brief summary of the Undergraduate Exchange Program 2009 spring conference.

On a spring weekend in California, Faculty Development Program grantees in the first to the third years of their grant enjoyed the spring conference hosted by the University of California–Berkeley from April 20-21, 2009. 

Focusing on the contemporary climates of Central Asia and the Caucasus, a series of innovative presentations marked the first day of the event.  The challenges posed by the changing face of conditions in Eurasia for the new US administration were outlined by Professor Edward Walker, Executive Director of the Berkeley Program in Eurasian and East European Studies, a theme which was carried forward by Professor John Connolly in his assessment of the strains placed on academic freedoms in transition nations. 

As faculty members themselves, grantees kept educational issues close to the forefront of the event though a panel discussion on curriculum design and professional faculty development by grantees from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.  Theresa Khorozyan (Armenia) outlined the obligation of teachers to promote human rights as educators in order to develop a “rights-based approach to education” during her presentation on political culture and human rights education. 

In a diversion from the educational focus, Irina Koshoridze (Georgia), gave an interesting presentation on the changes which have taken place within Georgian art collections, a talk which outlined the incorporation of many Georgian works at internationally-renouned US museums. 

As with many other spring conferences this year, the focus on open access sources of information and freely-accessible platforms provided interesting lines areas of research potential for participants.  Speaking on the Connexions open repository platform was Community Development Specialist, Jonathan Emmons, whilst Dr. Diane Harley of Berkeley’s Center for Studies in Higher Education highlighted a selection of research findings conducted under the umbrella of open scholarship and teaching. 

After a tour across the water into neighboring San Francisco, the group dispersed for another year.  The links between the departing third year faculty grantees and the incoming first year cohort are well established, and we very much hope to learn from all FDP grantees in the future.