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Dr. Ardyth Sohn, evaluator of the program, |
Serbian Professor Says Visit to Grady and Clark Atlanta Contributed to His Understanding of Journalism Education
“This has been the best professional experience in my life!”
Dr. Branimir Stojkovic of the College of Political Science at the University of Belgrade gave this assessment of his one-month visit to the University of Georgia during his final meeting with Drs. Lee B. Becker and Tudor Vlad, director and assistant director of the Cox Center, on October 11.
“I’ve learned a lot and I also have the feeling that I have made a contribution to the classes where I was invited to lecture,” Dr. Stojkovic said. “In addition, I know now that I have good friends in the United States.”
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Drs. Stojkovic and Becker in Mrs. Holland Garden. |
Professors Branimir Stojkovic and Marijan Zivanovic were hosted by the Cox Center in the fall of 2006 in a faculty exchange that is a part of a three-year project funded by a $195,000 grant to the University of Georgia from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.
The program, which is a partnership between the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Department of Journalism (in the College of Political Science) at the Belgrade University, Serbia, and the Department of Mass Media Arts at Clark Atlanta University, is designed and coordinated by the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research. The center is a unit of the Grady College.
Total cost of the project, including the contributions of the three universities, is more than $300,000.
Dr. Stojkovic is an expert on media policy and media systems and European cultural policies, while Professor Zivanovic teaches broadcast journalism and has been sound and TV editor and production director at various radio and TV stations in Belgrade.
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Dr. Stojkovic in Grady journalism graduate class. |
The schedule for the two guests was designed to address their professional interests: Dr. Stojkovic attended most of the courses in the Journalism Department, while Zivanovic spent more time in the Telecommunications Department.
Zivanovic had to cut short his visit to Athens due to family emergency.
For two days, Dr. Stojkovic was the guest of the Department of Mass Media Arts at Clark Atlanta University, where he gave two lectures to the students in the Public Relation Media Development Class and in the Fundamentals of Radio Production Class. He also toured the WCLK and WSTU radio stations.
“This visit at Clark Atlanta University was very informative to me, as the focus of their mass media program is very different from what I’ve seen in the Grady College,” the Serbian professor said. “In addition, I had the opportunity to talk with Jim McJunkins and Brenda Wright, the two CAU professors that participated in our workshops in Belgrade, and learn more about their experiences in Serbia.”
On September 24-26, Dr. Ardyth Sohn, director of the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies in Las Vegas and evaluator of the partnership, visited the Grady College and interviewed Dr. Stojkovic and UGA and CAU faculty that have been involved in the project.
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Guests at a UGA football game. |
Dr. Robert Stevenson, the original evaluator on the program, became ill in the summer of 2006 and later passed away on November 26.
At the end of the program, Dr. Stojkovic talked with Drs. Becker and Vlad about media and diversity, the topic of the third workshop that will be organized in Belgrade in the spring of 2007.
“This topic will be interesting not only to our journalists and journalism faculty,” Dr. Stojkovic said. “I will talk with my colleagues from the Political Sciences Department and I’m sure some of them will want to contribute to the workshop.”
“Hosting you here in the Cox Center has been a wonderful experience,” Dr. Becker told the Serbian guest. “I’m sorry that Marijan had to leave earlier than planned, because our colleagues in the Telecommunications Department certainly enjoyed having him in their classes. We really appreciate very much your willingness to get involved in so many courses and to talk with our students and faculty.”
