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Dr. Tudor Vlad participating in Communication course at Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. |
Postgraduate Program Organized By Cox International Center And Carl Vinson Institute At Romanian University
Dr. Tudor Vlad, associate director of the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research, and Dr. Rusty Brooks, director of the International Center of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, taught a course on Communication and Urban Development in late February and early March at Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
The program was created as a partnership between the College of Political, Administrative and Communication Studies, Babes-Bolyai University, the Cox International Center, and the Carl Vinson Institute, both at the University of Georgia.
The faculty of these three units were involved in designing the curriculum and in teaching.
The Cox Center is the international outreach unit of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
“This is a continuation of the partnership between our university and University on Georgia initiated four years ago,” said Dr. Calin Hintea, dean of the College of Political, Administrative and Communication Studies. “Our collaboration has had a multidisciplinary approach, with programs focusing on journalism, public administration, agriculture communication and political science.”
The program consisted of six courses taught to 30 participants over weekends from November to May, followed by individual project assignments and a final exam.
“Following the major changes in communication technologies and the global economic crisis, traditional media have been unable to offer complete coverage of certain communities and of the issues that are crucial for them,” said Dr. Vlad, who spoke about new channels of communication with the audiences. “As a result, we need to better understand how to efficiently use digital media to stimulate the open dialog and deliberation with the citizenry.”
Dr. Brooks shared with the participants his experiences in working with public administrators in the United States, Australia, Ukraine, Croatia and South Korea. “Every time when we talk about urban development initiatives, the first reaction of the participants is ‘Good idea, but we have no money.’ What I keep saying is that the major challenge is finding a great idea: the money will follow that idea.”
While in Cluj-Napoca, Drs. Vlad and Brooks also met Dr. Emil Boc, mayor of the city, and talked about plans and actions designed to make the city the IT capital of East and Central Europe.
