Conferences

The Clausen Center for World Business, Adult Education, and the Marvin Wachman Fund for International Education, a Project of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, (a highly effective educational and research center based in Philadelphia) have developed a continuing program of conferences geared to professional enrichment of high school teachers. The most recent was Civilian Control of the Military and American Democracy, held April 2-3 2011 at  Cantigny, the conference center of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. We have also co-sponsored Understanding China, a History Institute for Teachers on October 21-22, 2006. The Institute was designed to help teachers make China relevant for students. Leading academic experts examined China's history, economy and relations with the outside world; the list of presenters is available at http://www.fpri.org/education/china/. The entire weekend was webcast and videos of the presentations are available on the website of FPRI. On May 17-18, 2008 an Institute was held on teaching about the Civil War era (http://www.fpri.org/education/americacivilwarera).

With support from the Bradley Foundation, the Clausen Center is implementing a continuing project on Values and Vocation, designed to relate important concepts in ethics, philosophy and religion to very practical service work. The Great Ideas faculty are a substantial and growing resource for this effort.

As part of this initiative, the Clausen Center had a very successful summer program for youth sponsored by the Racine YMCA. This was followed by Saturday sessions at the Center for a wider range of young people, focused on the practical impacts of globalization.

The Center has sponsored a series of brown-bag, lunch-time discussions devoted to a variety of topics. On December 6, 2005, Thomas Noer, Valor Distinguished Professor in the Humanities and Professor of History, discussed his award-winning new book on G. Mennen Williams. On March 7, 2006, Professor Jonathan Marks presented a lunch-time discussion on Jean Jacques Rousseau's "Politics of Compassion." On November 28, 2006, Dr. Jeff Roberg presented a discussion on The Galapagos Islands and Human Rights. On May 1, 2007, Dr. Yuri Maltsev led a discussion on "Civil Society in Russia and Eastern Europe." In each case, discussion emphasized the relationship between ideas and real-world impacts.

During the summer of 2005, the Clausen Center helped engage Carthage faculty in the Chiwaukee Academy, a summer professional enrichment program held at the University of Wisconsin Parkside.