Although the Transregional Center for Democratic Studies is primarily focused on the activities in the region, its very existence has contributed to the intellectual life of the Graduate Faculty itself. Both the scholarly commitment on the part of the faculty to issues of the transition to democracy and the growing interest on the part of students in the problems of comparative transitions, led to the establishment of the Committee for the Study of Democracy. It enables students to pursue interdisciplinary training focusing on contemporary problems of building and developing democratic political and social institutions. Building on the Graduate Faculty's interests in East and Central Europe, Latin America, and other developing regions, as well as the United States and Western Europe, is thematic and comparative in nature.
The Committee deals with both empirical and normative problems in pursuing the following themes: foundations of democracy, processes of democratization, constitutional and political design of different democratic models, threats to democracy in different world contexts, problems of citizenship, and modes of democratic political action and participation.
The Committee draws on the work of a diverse faculty and its international associates who are involved in democratization of both intellectually and politically. In its courses, seminars and tutorials, the Committee members build on the research and political experience of NSU students, external associates, and faculty. The Committee sponsors both a formal course of study at the Graduate faculty and a series of student and faculty exchanges with associated institutions abroad.
Students in the MA programs in Political Science or Sociology may pursue a course of study within their departments that include courses offered by this Committee. Upon completion of Committee requirements, students receive a Certificate in Democratic Studies.
The interdisciplinary and interdepartmental Committee was officially opened in the fall of 1994 with a series of guest lectures conducted by Adam Michnik.
For more information about the Committee, click here
See also: Associated Faculty and Collaborating Senior Scholars