Program

Challenge Programs: Special Initiatives

Period of Performance

9/1/2003 - 7/31/2011

Funding Totals (matching)

$500,000.00 (approved)
$500,000.00 (offered)
$500,000.00 (awarded)


The Center for the Study of Democracy

FAIN: CZ-50092-05

St. Mary's College of Maryland Foundation, Inc. (St. Mary's City, MD 20686-3001)
Zachariah Paulo Messitte (Project Director: February 2004 to August 2007)
Michael J. Cain (Project Director: August 2007 to January 2011)

Endowment for staff and curricular programming in the Center for the Study of Democracy, in collaboration with Historic St. Mary's City.

The Center for the Study of Democracy (The Center), a joint initiative of St. Mary's College of Maryland and Historic St. Mary's City, explores contemporary and historical issues in democracy. The Center focuses on an interdisciplinary and hands-on understanding of early Maryland as an "emerging democracy," and applies the lessons of the region's history to a domestic and international discussion of democracy's role in the modern world. The political leadership of the State of Maryland has directed the Center to make the legacy of the founding of the state come alive in ways that inspire fellow Marylanders and all Americans to think more progressively about their own democratic communities. We anticipate that The Center will play an important role in the ongoing domestic and international dialogue concerning democracy, modernization, and globalization--topics at the core of fundamental social and political issues in the twenty-first century. The Center seeks We the People support to endow its administrative and programmatic future. The Center, in collaboration with St. Mary's College of Maryland faculty and researchers at Historic St. Mary's City, will use the funding to bolster the newly created concentration in Democracy Studies for undergraduates. The proposed endowment will underwrite faculty course releases, a visiting scholar's program, the salary of the Center's Director, a guest lecture series, and publication support.