Romanian Scholar Extends Stay in Cox Center for Second Year
Dr. Tudor Vlad, chairman of the Department of Journalism of the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, will continue his work in the Cox Center for a second year, helping the Center and the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication find alternative ways to provide training abroad.
Dr. Vlad arrived at the Cox Center and the University of Georgia in the beginning of September of 1999 as a Senior Fulbright Visiting Scholar, accompanied by his wife and 13-year-old daughter. He spent the year in the Grady College developing a curriculum in public relations for his Home university and editing a book on copyright developments in Eastern and Central Europe, and the United States.
During his second year, Dr. Vlad will develop journalism training materials to be distributed via satellite, video cassette, cd-rom, and the Internet. The goal is to make the journalism training resources of the Cox Center and the Grady College available more widely.
"This is an extremely important initiative for the Cox Center and the Grady College," Cox Center Director Dr. Lee B. Becker said. "And we're extremely pleased to have Dr. Vlad's leadership and expertise available to us as we undertake it.
"Tudor Vlad has been a wonderful contributor to a large variety of Center programs and activities during this past year. It has been wonderful having him here, and we're glad it will be possible for him to stay with us a second year," Dr. Becker said.
Dr. Vlad's work is being supported by the Office for the Vice President of Instruction at the University of Georgia and the Cox Center.
The book on copyright is being edited by Dr. Vlad and Dr. Becker and will be published in the United States by Hampton Press and in Romania by Dacia Publishing House. The book contains contributions from participants in a workshop in 1998 in Cluj-Napoca organized by the Department of the Journalism of the Babes-Bolyai and the Cox Center. The scope of the book was expanded to include contributions from many countries in Eastern and Central Europe.
During the first year in the Cox Center, Dr. Vlad, working with Dr. Becker, outlined a Master's Degree Program for the Department of Journalism in Cluj-Napoca. The program included instruction in public relations and other aspects of journalism and mass communication education.
Dr. Vlad also was an active participant in a variety of programs at the University and Georgia and elsewhere in the country during his Fulbright stay. At UGA he participated in Dr. Becker's class, Mass Communication Research, where he gave a lecture on media and public opinion in Eastern and Central Europe, and in Prof. Lynne Sallot's course, Advanced Public Relations. He also gave a lecture on "Challenges of Transition in Eastern and Central Europe" to sophomores and juniors in the Honors Program at UGA.
In March, together with Dr. Leara Rhodes of the Department of Journalism in the Grady College, Professor Vlad gave an online conference for all the Fulbright scholars in Georgia, focused on the intercultural and professional experience provided by the Fulbright program.
In September of 1999 Professor Vlad was one of the speakers at the International Conference on Political Sciences Education in Eastern and Central Europe and the Capstone Seminar of the Social Sciences Curriculum Development Program in Washington. The project was sponsored by the United States Information Agency and administered by Internatiional Reseach and Exchange Board, in partnership with the American Council for Learned Societies.
In early April of 2000, Dr. Vlad participated, as a feature speaker, in the 18th Annual Fulbright Symposium organized by the Fulbright Institute of International Relations at the University of Arkansas. His presentation was on "Media in Eastern Europe after the Fall of Communism".
Also in April, Dr. Vlad gave a presentation on "Eastern Europe in Transition: The Worst of Both Worlds," at the Johnson State College near Burlington, Vermont, and gave a lecture on "Journalists and the Media in Post-Communist Europe" at Cortland University in upstate New York.
Professor Vlad traveled to Boston at the end of April for the annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the World Free Press Institute.
At the request of the Office for Academic Affairs of the University of Georgia, Dr. Vlad wrote a project on the development of a virtual university during his first year.
Dr. Vlad's project for his second year in the Cox Center will focus on various aspects of distance learning in mass communication in emerging democracies. He and Dr. Becker will work with a number of other groups in the U.S. to develop the expertise to expand the types of training available to journalism professionals and journalism students around the world.
