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Center for Politics Delegation Returns from Afghanistan
(CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.) – After hosting two visiting delegations of Afghan women from high levels of government and civil society last summer, staffers from the University of Virginia Center for Politics traveled to Kabul where they reunited with the Afghan delegates of the U.S.-Afghanistan Professional Partnership Program exchange.
While attending the Center's program in Charlottesville, the delegates learned about the foundational principles of American democracy and civic engagement in a democratic society and participated in job shadowing opportunities throughout the city. The return portion of the exchange was organized by Relief International and sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. While in Kabul, Irby and Heubeck met with government officials involved in women's affairs, the justice system and nonprofit organizations that focus on women and children's issues and civic engagement.
"While Afghanistan obviously has major hurdles to clear, there is a passion among many in the country for establishing a greater level of freedom and stability. In the U.S., the tragedies are what make the news, but significant progress is being made," Irby said.
"What will be integral to Afghanistan's future will be to develop a culture of civic engagement where citizens plan an active role in day-to-day decision making both in their communities and in the nation as a whole. They are taking the first steps to make that happen," Heubeck said.
Read an opinion piece published about this mission in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The Center for Politics will host two additional Afghan delegations this spring.
YLI to host Super Student Day Mock Election!
The Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) is proud to announce that it is holding the first National Super Student Day Mock Election from March 1st through March 5th, 2012. All registered YLI teachers will be able to engage their students by allowing them to weigh in on the GOP Presidential primary. The event is planned to coordinate with Super Tuesday on March 6th in which ten states will hold primaries to determine the Republican candidate for president in 2012.
As this is a new program, YLI is offering a standard ballot for all states. The ballot will contain:
+ Race for GOP Presidential Candidate
+ Race between a possible GOP Candidate and President Obama
+ Survey on political ideology
+ Survey on issues important to the 2012 elections
Teachers have the opportunity to customize their ballot and the program is supported by online lesson plans, downloadable resources such as teacher and student instructions, and classroom lesson plans. All materials and programming are available FREE of charge to teachers registered with YLI. To register with YLI visit www.youthleadership.net
Educators already registered with YLI need only to login at www.youthleadership.net and click the Mock Election link from the Welcome page. The Getting Started tab will have all of the resources necessary to make voting in the National Super Student Day Mock Election a success.
YLI hopes this first National Super Student Day Mock Election will increase student interest in the election and engage students in American democracy. Have questions? Call toll-free 1.866.514.8389 or email ylihelp@virginia.edu for more information.
Get in the game with YLI's National Super Student Day Mock Election!
Director Larry Sabato to Match Gifts to the U.Va. Center for Politics
(CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.) – University of Virginia Center for Politics Director Larry Sabato has pledged to personally match gifts to the Center in an effort to raise $500,000 between now and December 31, 2011.
Sabato, the Robert Kent Gooch and University Professor of Politics, will match 100% of every contribution to the Center until the end of the year to reach the fundraising goal, for a maximum donation of $250,000.
The Center encourages donations of any amount, and reminds those whose companies provide charitable contribution matches that those gifts will have three times the power to improve the civic life of our nation.
Money raised will support the Center's many programs and initiatives, including the Youth Leadership Initiative, which provides civics education to students in all 50 states, and Global Perspectives on Democracy, which fosters citizen-to-citizen dialogue among the United States and other democratic societies around the world.
Former Sri Lankan President to Speak at University of Virginia Rotunda
(CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.) – As a part of its Global Perspective on Democracy program, the University of Virginia Center for Politics will host former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Badaranaike Kumaratunga on Monday, Nov. 14, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Rotunda Dome Room.
As Sri Lanka's president from 1994 to 2005, Kumaratunga led the island nation through a trying period of civil war. The 26-year-long conflict between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels only concluded in 2009, marking the beginning of a new era for the nation. As the country moves forward, questions remain about pluralism, civic engagement and reconciliation in the aftermath of the civil war.
Registration for the event is now full, but members of the media interested in covering the event are welcome to attend.
The Center for Politics' Global Perspectives on Democracy (GPD) program is aimed promoting the exchange of democratic ideas and improvement of civic engagement, citizen participation and civil discourse around the world.
The visit by President Kumaratunga follows a series of official exchanges between the Center for Politics and Sri Lanka. In 2009, the Center hosted a visiting delegation of 18 young professionals from Sri Lanka who participated in a three-week internship program organized in partnership with Relief International and funded by the U.S. Department of State. As a reciprocal part of that program, Center representatives then traveled to Sri Lanka to conduct workshops on civic engagement, federalism, and new media applications. In June 2010 a second delegation from Sri Lanka spent four weeks learning about new media journalism, freedom of the press, pluralism, and civic engagement.