Bennington College Hosts Learning Democracy, A Multi-National Conference of Democratic Nations

October 12, 2005

As part of its major new curricular initiative, the Democracy Project, Bennington College is bringing together distinguished leaders and scholars from five nations that have undergone a noteworthy democratic transition. Representatives from Argentina, Indonesia, Poland, South Africa, and Turkey will join College students, faculty, staff, and more than a dozen high school students from across the country for several days of in-depth discussion about democracy¯in itself, a word that calls up competing, if not contradictory, social priorities, cultural associations, and forms of political practice¯at this extremely complicated moment in history.

Learning Democracy will be held October 16-19, 2005, on the Bennington College campus. A keynote address by Larry Diamond, leading democracy scholar and author of the recently acclaimed book, Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq, will open the conference. His address will be held on Sunday, October 16, at 8:30 pm in Usdan Gallery in VAPA. The event is free and open to the public.

The public is also invited to participate in a panel discussion on Tuesday, October 18, at 2:00 pm, also in Usdan Gallery.

High school students from around the country were invited to apply to attend this conference in an effort to extend the reach of the Democracy Project beyond Bennington College to the very people who will help shape the democracy of tomorrow. More than a dozen students from California to Missouri to Washington, DC, will attend the sessions and have the opportunity to meet and engage with our international guests:

Argentina

• Gustavo Beliz: Former Minister of Justice, Security, and Human Rights and former Minister of Home Affairs
• Ernesto Seman: Co-founder of Argentina Observatory, which monitors political reform and reconstruction in Argentina; Political and Community Affairs Officer at the Consultate General of Argentina in New York

Indonesia

• Bahtiar Effendy: Author and public intellectual, especially on the issues of religion and state
• Smita Notosusanto: Electoral reform activist; Executive Director of Centre for Electoral Reform and founder of National Commission on Violence Against Women
• Muhammad Member of the National Parliament and former minister
• Ryaas Rasyid: for administrative reform and regional autonomy

Poland

• Zbigniew Bujak: Former Minister of Ports; leading underground figure in Solidarity
• Janina Ochojska: Founder and president of the Polish Humanitarian Organisation
• Jerzy Osiatynski: Former minister of economy; critical figure in the structuring of Poland's new economy

South Africa

• Mohammed Bhabha: Member of the negotiating team of the African National Congress during South Africa's constitution-making process

Turkey

• Egemen Bagis: Foreign policy adviser to Turkish Prime Minister; member of Turkish Parliament
• Atilla Yayla: Political philosopher, professor, author; President, Association for Liberal Thinking