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News Release

Last modified: Thursday, March 24, 2011

National Endowment for Democracy president to speak at IU

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- National Endowment for Democracy President Carl Gershman will present a public lecture Friday (March 25) at Indiana University Bloomington, highlighting the organization's work at a time when popular uprisings are spreading throughout North Africa and the Middle East.

Gershman will give the keynote address for the 2011 spring conference of the International Public Affairs Association, a graduate-student association in the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He will speak on "Democracy's New Moment: A Forward Strategy for Advancing Freedom in the World," at 12:15 p.m. in SPEA room 167. The lecture is free and open to the public.

The National Endowment for Democracy is a private, congressionally supported grant-making institution with the mission to strengthen democratic institutions throughout the world. It is dedicated to fostering the growth of a wide range of democratic institutions abroad, including political parties, trade unions, free markets and business organizations, as well as the many elements of a vibrant civil society that ensure human rights, an independent media, and the rule of law.

Gershman, in addition to presiding over the endowment's grants program in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Latin America, has overseen the creation of the quarterly Journal of Democracy, the International Forum for Democratic Studies and the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows program. He also took the lead in launching in New Delhi in 1999 the World Movement for Democracy, a global network of democracy practitioners and scholars.

The International Public Affairs Association (IPAA) at Indiana University provides a forum for international public affairs and policy issues, helping graduate students achieve careers in the field. It is based at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs but is open to all members of the IU community, including undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff.

Its fourth annual spring conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday in SPEA rooms 167 and 169. Panels will explore issues including environmental sustainability, foreign aid and economic development, international law, marginalized communities and public administration.

Faculty, students and guests are encouraged to attend and may register for free by emailing ipaa@indiana.edu. The conference schedule can be seen at https://ipaa.tumblr.com/springconference.

News media: Carl Gershman may be available for interviews between 10:30 a.m. and noon Friday. To make arrangements, contact Maggie Sullivan with IPAA at sullivms@umail.iu.edu or 314-952-4992.

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