Bad News:
Due to the poor U.S. economy, THE AMERUS EXCHANGE, LTD has cancelled its Education Exchange 08 scheduled to work in Russia during April of 2008. There were too few participants to create a viable seminar in Kursk. We realize that there was no way to avoid your individual cancellations at this time. Your work of citizen diplomacy is very important to our country so we will continue looking for ways to ease the financial burden of participation and will reschedule an Education Exchange as soon as possible.
Good News:
The university partnerships between John Jay College (CUNY) and The Regional Open (ROSI) and Iona College and ROSI are in their initial stages.The other good news project is also in very early stages but looks very promising.
Dr. Lizinsky of the prestigious PEDAGOGICHESKII POISK(Pedagogical Search) publishing house of Moscow, Russia, approached THE AMERUS EXCHANGE, LTD recently. Dr. Lizinsky has asked us to co-find a Russian/American, education oriented, electronic journal. Presently, there are education e-journals available on-line from most parts of the world with the exception of Russia.
Our experience working with Russian schools has shown us that innovative and energetic Russian educators have tremendous ideas that could prove valuable to American teachers. An education-oriented e-journal would make Russian ideas, strategies, and techniques available to an American audience. The on-line journal could also serve as a platform for American educators interested in sharing their findings, experiences, and theories with enthusiastic Russians. TAEL’s mission is to support this kind of intellectual exchange. The e-journal’s scope and reach would be practically unlimited.
A successful Russian/American, education e-journal could serve to support our university partnership projects and could certainly stimulate interest in Education Exchange visits to the United States and to Russia. On-line collaborators and friends might want to meet and work together with their colleagues, in person.
This new year has already had its setbacks but also its promises of great progress toward developing cultural and professional understanding between the US and Russia. We look forward to bringing each of these projects to fruition. We hope that you will come along for the ride. Translation costs for the e-journal are our biggest obstacle. Perhaps you have ideas or resources that can be of help. We are searching for an American university with both education and Russian programs that might be interested in becoming a sponsor of the e-journal. We appreciate every bit of your interest, your ideas, and your financial support.
This is a message from the President – Jack McGurgan.
