American Studies Periodical

International Black Sea University

Faculty of Humanities Direction of American Studies

4th Edition

American Studies International Research Conference Materials

Tbilisi

2011

Chief Editor: Prof. Dr. Tamar Shioshvili, The Dean of the Faculties of Humanities and Education International Black Sea University

Computer and Editorial Assistance: Tea Chumburidze, B.A., Research Assistant of the Faculty of Humanities International Black Sea University

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

TAMAR SHIOSHVILI Why does “Culture Shock” Occur? Cross-Cultural Adjustment Stress...... 5 NINO GAMSAKHURDIA The Leadership Styles of African Americans in the First Decades of the 20th century ...... 12 IRINA BAKHTADZE Main Criteria for Measuring Excellence of College Teaching in the U.S...... 24 TEA CHUMBURIDZE President Barack Obama Health Care Policy: Implementation and Results ...... 33 LASHA KURDASHVILI The Methods and Role of Lobbing System in the U.S...... 39 TAMAR MKALAVISHVILI Print Medium and Its Impact on Society (On the example of TIME magazine) ...... 48 KETEVAN ROSTIASHVILI E-government in the U.S.A. & World Comparative Tendencies ...... 55 ANASTASIA ZAKARIADZE Current Tendencies in American Moral Philosophy ...... 62 IRINA MILNIKOVA Methods of Unitary Scaling and Evaluation of Quality Standards in Education………………..68 JOACHIM FAUST Global Integral Humanities- the Experience of an Exchange Program between IBSU and Washington University in St. Louis……………………………………………………………..76

SECTION II: Literature and Women's Issues

TAMAR CHEISHVILI Writing ‘Race’: Fences by August Wilson ...... 82

IRMA GRDZELIDZE & NINO PKHAKADZE The Significance of Discourse Analysis in Language Teaching and Learning ...... 88 OMAR TSERETELI International Alliance of Women in the United States ...... 96 GEORGE SHADURI What Jonathan Edwards Did Not Mention ...... 101 TAISIA MUZAFAROVA Private Life of Edgar Allan Poe and Its Influence on His Literary Works ...... 109 ELENE MEDZMARIASHVILI Some Problems of Women's Political Activity in the United States, European Countries and Georgia (Comparative analysis) ...... 120 BAIA KOGUASHVILI Main Tendencies of the Development of New American Drama (Plastic Theatre) ...... 128

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

DAVID APTSIAURI Brief Overview of the Economic Cooperation between Georgia and the United States of America (Main trends and recent developments) ...... 135 LELA VANISHVILI Media, PR & Globalization...... 141 NINO DANELIA African-Americans in the Past and Present ...... 150 NICKOLAS MAKHARASHVILI Communicating Reforms: Some Aspects of Practical Public Relations Strategy for Local Government (USA-based Research)……………………………………………………...…….157

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

Why does “Culture Shock” Occur? Cross-Cultural Adjustment Stress

TAMAR SHIOSHVILI

Domestic and International issues increasingly mix together. It is difficult to separate the local from the global in today’s shrinking world. The community requires that we become more than simply “global citizens”- who are informed and involved in international affairs. We also need to become more adapt at interacting with those who are different. Cross-cultural communication barriers must be overcome in the world of the 21st century. One of the barriers of cross cultural communication is culture shock that is so very common among sojourners. We have decided to make some observations on some widespread factors, causing the culture shock. The phrase “culture shock” was first created by Cora Dubois in 1951 and was first used in the cross-cultural literature by anthropologist Kalvero Oberg to describe problems of acculturation and adjustment among Americans who were working in a health project in Brazil. He viewed it as “an occupational disease of people who have suddenly been transplanted abroad. Culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse”. (K. Oberg, 1960, 177-182) Oberg considered culture shock as a specific illness with its own symptoms and cures. However, in the past four decades the phrase has become the main part of the international traveler’s jargon and is now very often used to describe almost any physical or emotional discomfort experienced by those adjusting to a new environment. “Homesickness”, “nostalgia”, “adjustment difficulties” and many other terms are often used to describe the same phenomenon as culture shock, but as these labels are more euphemistic, culture shock is more frequently used, because of historical tradition and the attention-getting of the words. Manifestation of culture shock may range from mild emotional disorders and stress-related physiological ailments to psychosis. The types and intensity of reactions to a new cultural environment depend upon the nature and duration of the stressful condition and more importantly, the psychological makeup of an individual. Some people promptly develop useful adjustment strategies which allow them to

 Prof. Dr., Dean of the Faculties of Humanities and Education, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues adapt easily, while at other times, some apply to the use of progressively more inappropriate and maladaptive neurotic defense mechanisms which may actually develop into such severe psychological disorders as psychosis, alcoholism, and even suicide. Most researches propose that such severe reactions represent less than 10 percent of all travelers, and it may also be that they were predisposed to an inability to cope with sudden traumatic stress before they traveled overseas. Great majority of travelers experience moderate reactions and successfully defeat culture shock. In fact, some may actually come through culture shock more psychologically unhurt than before they left their own culture. About two decades ago in the United States severe culture shock was measured in terms of so-called “dropout rate”, It was informally estimated, that the Peace Corps had a dropout rate of between 30 and 40 percent. These were volunteers who returned home before completing their term of service overseas. The inference is that these volunteers terminated their stays because of the stress of cross cultural adjustment or an inability to adapt overseas. Although, there may be many other factors to lead to such termination, including family difficulties, health problems unrelated to stress, or differences with management overseas. The intensity of culture shock is generally much greater when the adjustment involves a completely different culture, because there is a greater loss of familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse in a completely new environment. On the other hand, expectation of a stressful event affects the intensity of the reaction. Most evidently, if we do not anticipate a stressful event we are less capable of coping with it. This would explain why we still experience culture shock when entering a slightly different cultural environment or when returning home to our native culture. Scholars say most Americans do not expect stress when adapting to London and few anticipate the stress reentering their home culture. Subsequently the psychological makeup of the individual may be the most crucial factor. Some people can tolerate a great deal of stress caused by change, vagueness, and unpredictability while others demand an unchanging, unambiguous, predictable environment to feel psychologically secure. According to Richard W. Brislin (R. W. Brislin, 1981, 40-71) psychological traits, rather than cross-cultural adjustment skills or cultural awareness may be of primary importance in determining the success with which one adapts to another culture.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

While Oberg considered culture shock to be a separate “sickness”, therefore suggesting a medical disease model to explain the phenomenon, some, for example Nancy J. Adler and Peter S. Adler, have come to consider it a normal and natural growth or transition process as we adapt to another culture. (N. J. Adler, 1985, & P. S. Adler, 1974, 23-71) With adaption there is disorientation, ambiguity, and pain, but we often come through this state more stable than ever before. The thing is not to eliminate or avoid culture shock but rather to make it less stressful and more positive experience. Culture shock is most evidently the result of a normal process of adaptation and may be no more harmful than the psychological reactions we experience when adapting to such new environmental situations as entering college or moving to another city in our own culture. Those who claim they have never experienced any kind of culture shock overseas are either completely unaware of their own feelings or have never really cross-culturally adjusted. Tourists and those who remain involved within conational groups generally do not experience culture shock.

Causes of Culture Shock Scientifically there are three main causal explanations: 1) the loss of familiar cues, 2) the breakdown of interpersonal communication, and 3) an identity crisis. All three disoriented states occur in adjustment to any new social environment. However, in a cross-cultural situation they are greatly exaggerated and intensified by cultural differences. They overlap and supplement each other. We’d like to consider the first and the second cause.

Loss of reminders or supporters This interpretation primarily focuses on that which is tangible, observable. We are surrounded by numerous physical and social signs which have been present since childhood and therefore are taken for granted until they are absent. Signs and signals provide order in interpersonal relations. Physical signs include objects which we have become accustomed to in our home culture and which are changed or missing in a new culture. These familiar signs make us feel comfortable and make life predictable. When they are absent we begin to feel like a fish out of water. These cues guide us through our daily activities in an acceptable fashion which is consistent with the total social environment. They

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues may be words, gestures, facial expressions, customs which help us make sense out of the social world that surrounds us. They make us feel comfortable because they seem automatic and natural.

Breakdown of Interpersonal Communication Another cause of culture shock is the break-down of communication. Basic Cybernetics Model of Communication

Media

Encoder Decoder (putting a message into (converting from code) a code into text)

Sender Receiver (one that receives)

Feedback (return of the information)

The breakdown of any part or link between parts in the system causes the entire system to break down. Focusing on the sender and receiver, it is clear that we send messages, not meanings. If the sender and receiver come from different cultures, the same messages may draw out completely different meanings in their minds. At the encoder and decoder stages, the obvious source of breakdown implies different languages. Although, nonverbal codes are, most presumably, even more important in cross- cultural communication because these codes are learned implicitly, and thus are generally unconscious. They are mostly culture-specific. (A. Mehrabian, 1968, 53-55) When communication breaks down or becomes ineffective, we experience pain.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

When any animal experiences pain, it reacts by fleeing the source of pain (escape or avoidance behavior), displacing aggression (fight behavior) or simplifying, and denying the complexity and reality of the painful situation. Whereas in human beings, all these reactions when carried to extremes, are both unconscious and highly neurotic. People going through culture shock are not aware of what is causing them pain or why they often behave in such irrational ways. They have a sense of hopelessness and helplessness. The situation is ruling them, and unless they understand the system of communication breakdown, they are useless to work out coping tactics; lose their sense of control, and cannot find alternative ways of behaving. Instead of acting, they end up reacting. We conducted a mini research among the Turkish students studying at the International Black Sea University in Tbilisi, Georgia to get practical data concerning culture shock, based on the following questionnaire:

Is Georgian culture completely different from your culture? 1. Are you in a slightly different cultural environment in Georgia? 2. Did you have culture shock in the first period of your arrival in Georgia? 3. If you had, what was it based on: a) Lack of physical signs, symbols, objects, words, customs, family members, house? b) Different housing conditions c) Food d) Relationship at the university e) Language barriers f) Transport

4. How did you overcome culture shock? a) Learning more about Georgian culture, people. b) Developing friendship with Georgian students.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

Transportation Relationship at House Lack of Physical Language System the University Conditions Signs Barrier

The survey showed that 100% of foreign students consider themselves in slightly different, not completely different cultural environment in Georgia. Nevertheless, the majority of them 73% had culture shock in the first period of their stay. The least amount of shock was caused by the transportation system (20%), relationship at the university (26%), food (40%), housing conditions (40%); lack of physical signs, symbols, objects, words, customs, family members, and house (46%).The biggest amount of culture shock was caused by the language barrier (93%). When we enter another culture, the program which has worked so smoothly since childhood no longer is adequate. The ways in which we have been programmed by our culture to solve problems no longer work efficiently. The environment brings about new demands upon us. However, ultimately as with any other identity crisis, culture shock allows us to give up an inadequate perceptual and problem-solving system to allow another more amplified and adequate system to be born. This explanation is especially useful for helping travelers understand the dynamics of culture shock. It suggests that culture shock is an inevitable but natural process of cross-cultural adjustment which can be overcome with conscious awareness of one’s own reactions; it will help sojourners replace emotional reactions with coping strategies. A

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues great deal depends upon the predisposition of the individual and his or her psychological makeup. Besides the predisposition of the individual, according our survey, 60% of IBSU foreign students think that to overcome culture shock, of paramount importance is learning more about the cross culture and developing friendship with the host society- (73%) students. Thus we can conclude that diminishing of the culture shock among people of different nationalities is possible if the number of international communicators and representatives increases, because of their sincere interest, desire to share, caring for other’s concerns and recognition of the importance of understanding between cultures.

References:

1. Karlevo Oberg. K, “Cultural Shock: Adjustment to New Cultural Environments”, Practical Anthropology 7 (1960):177-182 2. Richard W. Brislin, Cross-Cultural Encounters: Face-to Face[interaction (Elmsford, NY: Pergamon, 1981) : 40-71 3. Nancy J. Adler, International Dimensions of Organization Behavior (Cambridge, MA: Kent 1985) 4. Peter S. Adler, “Beyond Cultural Identity: Reflections on Cultural and Multicultural Man”, Topics in Culture Learning 2 (August 1974): 23-71 5. Albert Mehrabian, “Communication without Words,” Psychology Today 2 (4), 1968: 53-55

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

The Leadership Styles of African Americans in the First Decades of the 20th century

NINO GAMSAKHURDIA I believe that the problem of leader, or leadership problem in African American community as everywhere else, is of great importance. Today when there is a frequent question why did Obama receive such a high level of support? Or, conversely, those who criticize him of not being direct when it comes to the question of fair treatment of African Americans in the United States. I think that the history will judge whether Obama has been a good president or not, with his policies and reforms. One should never forget what inheritance he received from the previous administration. Perhaps people have already been tired of the gradualism of changes and they again want to see radical changes in their lives. Henry Luis Gates in his Book “America Behind the Color Line” argues “leaders must be certain of who they are and what they stand for. They have to be rooted and grounded in that process and stay with what they believe” (Gates, 2004). Even though people possess great power, they need someone who will set the pace and the tone for their future. Before talking about post-civil rights era leaders, especially President Clinton who played a crucial role for the advancement of Barack Obama, it is essential to analyze the leadership styles of other prominent African Americans. Since these people laid a foundation in the first part of the twentieth century for the future advancement of African Americans. In the beginning of twentieth century, African Americans faced the question of finding the means to achieve equality. Though slavery had been abolished, the race prejudice still existed. After the death of Frederick Douglass (1895), African Americans were “left without leadership capable of uniting the diverse elements within the movement” (Coombs, 2004).

 Ph.D,. Faculty of Humanities, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

These people had to be accepted, but without losing dignity. Undoubtedly there were people inside the African American community who could lead, however, there lacked some factors which played crucial role in effective leadership, such as, money, power and media, press in particular. Those key instruments were in the possession of the white people, who believed that former slaves had to be left alone with their own problems. However, there were African Americans who were not willing to live in degrading life, and with limited resources assisted the emergence of new leadership within the community. During the passionate discussions concerning the segregation and discrimination there was a clash of wide variety of views. Some believed that no assimilation was possible with the white society; others wanted to return to Africa and fight for independence. There were people who wanted to stay but not to mingle with whites. The majority, being African immigrants claimed to have the right to all privileges of an American. There were people, who wanted to assimilate with whites, willing to accept their values and traditions. Some of them “while wanting to find their place within the American nation, insisted that the country might be transformed into a genuinely pluralistic society. At the same time as they wanted to be integrated into the nation, they did not want to join the white society. Instead of assimilating into Anglo-Saxon culture, they wanted American civilization to become multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and highly fluid” (ibid.). Different leaders suggested diverse strategies of achieving these goals: aggressive and nonviolent techniques. The latter received the preference in the first half of the twentieth century. I would like to write about: Booker T. Washington, Web Dubois, Marcus Garvey, and A. Philip Randolph, since in their ideas we are able to find an outline of the main ideas and driving forces of African Americans in their struggle for” remaking the black role in white society” (ibid).

The leadership style of Booker T. Washington The leadership style of Booker T. Washington, a son of a slave woman and unidentified white father, focused on the “model of the old plantation house servant”

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

(ibid). Through submissiveness and flattery he thought to act against the racial discrimination. In 1872, at the age of sixteen he arrived at Hampton Institute, founded by Samuel Chapman Armstrong. Armstrong believed that practical education was important. “he emphasized the value of acquiring land and homes, vocations and skills” (Franklin, 1988). His teachings and views had an enormous impact on Washington and by the time he was ready to graduate, Booker T. Washington strongly believed, that for achieving the success, his people had to do useful service. After the graduation he became an instructor at Hampton. In 1881, he was invited to Tuskegee, to establish the similar school. This school was a result of a deal between freedman Louis Adams and political representatives, in return for the Negroe vote. Washington can be regarded as supporter of gradualist economic strategy. The national prominence came to him in 1895, when he addressed the integrated audience at the exposition in Atlanta, revealing his philosophy and strategy. This is known as the Atlanta Compromise. Washington believed in economic security and that the vocational education would provide it. The economic security was more valuable than higher education, politics or social advantages. Political and social equality were not immediate goads, Washington argued that with strong economical background, the civil rights and political equality would be gained eventually. African Americans were advised to accept the white supremacy for a while and “Cast down your bucket where you are”, because “No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities (Harlan, 1974). In terms of racial relations, Booker T. Washington outlined his ideas, asserting that “In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress” (ibid). In return, the white community needed to accept responsibility for improving the social and economic conditions of all Americans regardless of skin color, Washington argued.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

The speech received an enormous success: Washington received an honorary Master’s degree from Harvard; the press quoted his speech, Even President Grover Cleveland, wrote Washington and thanked him. Tuskegee received additional funds. In the African American community, however, there were people who did not share the views of Mr. Washington; in fact they had radically different approach. They argued during the expansion of racism and Jim Crow legislation that refusal to demand rights was equal to emasculation. John Hope, Web Dubois, Monroe Trotter, and others wanted to fight more radically against racial discrimination, segregation, and lynching. This group under the leadership of Dubois established the Niagara Movement, aimed to challenge the Washington’s Tuskegee. In his collection of essays, The Souls of Black Folk, in 1903, Dubois highly criticized Booker T. Washington, writing that “Mr. Washington distinctly asks that black people give up, at least for the present, three things: First, political power; second, insistence on civil rights; Third, higher education of Negroe youth, and concentrate their energies on industrial education, the accumulation of wealth, and the conciliation of the South... As a result of this tender of the palm-branch, what has been the return? In these years there have occurred: 1. The disenfranchisement of the Negroe. 2. The legal creation of a distinct status of civil inferiority for the Negroe. 3. The steady withdrawal of aid from institutions for the higher training of the Negroe”. (Dubois, 1996) Several years before his death in 1915, Washington wrote some articles showing disappointment about the results of Atlanta Compromise. He was not happy with the fact that more money was allocated for the education of whites than of blacks. He criticized Jim Craw legislation and segregation. When Booker T. Washington argued the Negroes should concentrate more on vocational jobs rather than setting higher ideals, he leaned on his own experience, of former slave “rising from obscurity to the fame“(Coombs, 2004). As Coombs argues, “Washington seemed to be unaware that a race which began at the bottom could stay at the bottom. In an age of rapid urbanization and industrialization a strategy which emphasized craft and agriculture was drastically out of step with the

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues economic realities. Moreover the nation did not accept its part of the compromise. The flood of immigration continued unabated for another two decades. When Afro-Americans were given opportunities in industry, it became clear that there were black jobs and white jobs. The former were always poorly paid” (ibid.).

The Leadership Style of Web Dubois In contrast to Booker T. Washington, the leadership style of Web Dubois was more militant and aggressive. Dubois, the first black American to receive the degree of doctor of philosophy from Harvard. Dubois was the great African American intellectual of his time. It must be said, that he conducted the first sociological study of African Americans. He had a chance to receive his elementary and secondary education in an integrated surroundings which prevented his becoming conscious of his color. However, when he headed South for college education, he encountered with discrimination and segregation. This shocked him. He returned north to continue his education at Harvard. Dubois believed that the education led to advancement, arguing that African Americans were not inferior; their status was a result of the unjust treatment in America. Dubois had his own theory of leadership, arguing that people needed leaders for advancement; however he did not trust the white leaders. “Dubois” philosophy of the “Talented Tenth” was that college-educated elite would chart, through their knowledge, the way for economic and cultural elevation for the black masses” (Gibson, 1972). The success of "the talented tenth" would prove that the racial stereotypes held by white extremists were not accurate. He argued that, "the talented tenth" would eventually win acceptance in the white community, and “they would provide the wedge which would break open the walls of prejudice and discrimination forever”. (Coombs, 2004). In 1905, the group under the leadership of Dubois met in Canada, at Niagara Falls, in order to plan an aggressive action for the protection of full citizenship. Their demands included freedom of speech, suffrage, the elimination of all differences which were based on race, and the most important they demanded respect.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

In 1909 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded. This organization intended to work on the elimination of segregation, equal education for children, “the complete enfranchisement of Negroe, and the enforcement of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments (ibid). Dubois became an editor of “Crisis” and turned into “passionate journalist”. In the first year, NAACP started a program for expanding the industrial opportunities of blacks; to greater policy protection in the South and fight against lynching and lawlessness. The NAACP expanded and established branches in different cities. The first branch was in Chicago. By 1921 there were more than four hundred branches throughout the country. It must be said the NAACP was denounced and criticized by the white philanthropists, and even by some blacks, arguing that the factor of biracialism would reduce its militancy and proficiency. NAACP was biracial organization. White and black lawyers worked together on the legal issues. Dubois was the only black on the executive board of NAACP and people questioned the biracial participation during the decision making process. Eventually Dubois became disappointed with the tactics of NAACP, which were gradualism and conciliation. Although he had a faith in integrated society, DuBois questioned the value and effectiveness of a biracial organization for achieving important changes. Before leaving the NAACP, in his article published in Crises, he argued that black separatism or black unity was better tool for attacking the discrimination and segregation than collaboration with white society. His goal, he insisted, was still to make ten million of his people free. He still wanted to free his people from the burden of economic oppression, from discrimination and segregation. This kind of freedom was consistent with self-organization for self-advancement. His critics argued that Dubois” ended where Washington Began” (ibid.). Dubois rejoined the NAACP staff after the World War II for a short period. However, he was angry with the society and, he had more radical solutions than before. Dubois argued that racism was not purely an American problem, it has been the problem of entire world, he assisted the organization of several Pan-African Congresses. During these events, he noticed some links between American racism and European imperialism in Africa. It must be said that, in the

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues meantime communism was fighting against the both racism and imperialism, and for many, “throughout the world the communist claim had become attractive”(Ibid. 218). Dubois was asked to leave the NAACP, due to his new visions and ideas, which did not serve to the image of the organization. Finally, Dubois became a communist and left for Africa in 1960. Initially, Dubois believed that through scholarship it was possible to eradicate the prejudice. "The talented tenth" had not reached any success, because White racists were irritated and annoyed by educated blacks. The black solidarity failed to develop because the intellectuals had become alienated from the masses”. The assimilation into the white society was very slow, almost impossible and newly acquired education, values, and middle-class style of life prevented them from returning to their people. Dubois's work while being in NAACP did not bring social changes he desired, feeling frustrated about the failure of racial advancement in America, Dubois decided to work for it in Africa (ibid).

The Leadership Style of Marcus Garvey Another man, who was the complete opposite of Dubois emerged on the scene during the first decades of the twentieth century. Marcus Garvey and his Universal Negroe Improvement Association, (UNIA) founded in his native Jamaica. Garvey has been influenced by Booker T. Washington’s writings. It was his great desire to meet Washington in person that made him visit the United States. However, by the time he arrived, Washington had died. After the World War One, African Americans had high expectations; however they had vanished in the reality. They had fought distinguishably in the war and expected at least some acknowledgement “that they too were equal citizens”. Racial tensions increased with the return of black troops and increased numbers of African-Americans which moved into urban areas. Between the periods of 1917 to 1919, race riots exploded in East St. Louis, Chicago, Tulsa, and other cities. Whites were demonstrating that did not intend to treat African Americans any differently than they had before the war. All of these made Garvey think that the integration would never be possible and “that only economic, political, and cultural success on the part of African Americans would bring

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues about equality and respect” (ibid.). In 1917 Garvey organized the headquarter of UNIA in New York. By the middle of 1919, the organization had more than 30 branches. It has been a long discussion about the exact number of members of the organization; however, everyone agrees that “it was clearly the largest mass organization in African American history. Its membership has been estimated between two and four million” (ibid.223). According to Franklin, the number of members of UNIA “were perhaps half a million members” (Franklin, 1988). Gutknecht argues that “Garvey’s political movement may be identified as the form of emerging urban nationalism” (Gutknecht, 1982). Mr. Garvey’s extensive appeal to the race pride gave him a wide popularity. He showed off his blackness, arguing that black meant strength and beauty. Moreover, “he asserted that Africans had a noble past, and he declared that Negroes should be proud of their ancestry” (Franklin, 1988). Garvey strongly supported the idea of blacks returning to Africa and building up their own country. Garvey believed that blacks were prejudiced for the reason of not accomplishing significant changes; for not building nation and government on their own and for being dependent politically and economically on whites. In 1918 he issued the newspaper, the Negroe World. By 1920 had a circulation between 50,000 and 200,000. Marcus Garvey requested the permission from the League of Nations for establishing a colony in Africa. He organized the Universal African Legion that wore military attire. Other organizations were the Universal Black Cross Nurses, the Universal African Motor Corps, the Black Eagle Flying Corps and the Black Starr Steamship Line. As Franklin notes, Marcus Garvey proclaimed “the formal organization of the Empire of Africa and appointed himself provisional president” (Franklin, 1988). Together with Black Nationalism, Garvey promoted capitalism, telling his people that economic success was the effective way of achieving independence. From 1919 the newly established the Negroe Factories Corporation was selling stocks for African Americans. UNIA had some small businesses, grocery stores, laundries, and restaurants, along with larger ones, including a printing plant and a steamship line, the Black Star Line. The company was intended for those who wished to return to Africa. The shipping company finally proved to be unsuccessful owing

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues to mismanagement, expensive repairs, and corruption. In 1923 Marcus Garvey went to the trial, being accused in certain kind of fraud. He was found guilty and put to the prison for 5 years. President Coolidge pardoned him in 1927. Marcus Garvey had been deported from the country. In 1940 he died in London. It must be said that even though UNIA had a vast number of followers and Marcus Garvey had been regarded as very alluring leader, who was bale to lead the masses, his personality and his appeal for black separatism had been denounced by other black leaders. The idea of blacks immigrating to Africa, according to Dubois and James Weldon was simply “a form of escapism” (Coombs, 2004). The UNIA did not survive without its charismatic leader and eventually collapsed. Undoubtedly Marcus Garvey had been an extraordinary person, whose ideas about black identity and black pride provided a basis for the ideology of other organizations.

The Leadership Style of Philip Randolph My analyses of African Americans’ leadership styles and leaders in the first decades of the twentieth century will not be comprehensive, unless I do not mention A. Philip Randolph, who Martin Luther King, Jr. called ‘‘truly the Dean of Negroe leaders’’. He played a crucial role in gaining recognition of African Americans in labor organizations (King, Papers.).Randolph is the most prominent of all African American trade unionists and was one of the key figures in the fight for civil rights and racial equality. Randolph was a socialist and pacifist. He joined the Socialist Party of Eugene V. Debs. In 1917 Randolph along with Chandler Owen founded and African American socialist journal – the Messenger. The journal denounced the American participation in World War One. He believed that political freedom of African Americans was impossible without economical security. In 1925 Randolph founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first African American union in the United States. This movement was strongly opposed by the Pullman Company, which was the largest employer of African Americans in the United States. However, in 1937 the union signed the first contract with the Pullman Company, this was the first contract ever signed “by a white employer with an African American labor leader.” Even though that the NAACP played a key role in the legal struggle against the discrimination, Randolph criticized

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues this organization for being biracial. He believed that the people “who were neither blacks nor workers were incapable of articulating the needs of the masses. The organization should not be led by whites” (Coombs, 2004). In 1936, Randolph played an important role in forming the National Negroe Congress (NNC). The congress was an alliance of a number of groups, which aimed to create a Black mass movement, to progress the welfare of a race. Before the Second World War, America’s industry needed additional labor force. African Americans had a hope for new job opportunities; however the discrimination was deeply rooted in defense industries. African Americans had an access only to the menial positions regardless of their skill and training. Before the war, Randolph traveled through the United States, aiming to unite black people against the discriminatory policies. Even though his appeal met skepticism from whites and even from some blacks, soon “all over the United States committees of Blacks were forming to "March on Washington" in protest” (A. Phillip Randolph Institute, 2010). As Ellen Terry recalls, “unlike Walter White of the NAACP and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., who had become a New York City Councilman, Randolph looked like a Negroe. And in spite of a Harvard accent, he told the Negroes what they wanted to hear; namely, that they were Americans and entitled to all the rights guaranteed by the Constitution” (Tarry, 1955).By the beginning of the summer, the whole country was aware the Randolph was planning to march. Many people tried to persuade Randolph to change his mind even the president Roosevelt. As Terry argues, the President desperately asked Randolph not to march. Roosevelt tried to convince Randolph saying that it was the critical time for the nation; it was a time for unity, not for the confrontation. The outcome of this negotiation was that, “Phillip Randolph proposed an executive order forbidding discrimination in industry” (ibid).On June 25, 1941, six months before Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, Reaffirming Policy Of Full Participation In The Defense Program By All Persons, Regardless Of Race, Creed, Color, Or National Origin, And Directing Certain Action In Furtherance Of Said Policy.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

Roosevelt created the Fair Employment Practices Committee to supervise the enforcement of this order. In 1947, Randolph helped to form the League for Non-Violent Civil Disobedience against Military Segregation. This organization influenced president Truman to put an end to the segregation in the Armed Forces in 1948. In 1955, when the American Federation of Labor merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations to form the AFL-CIO, Philip Randolph became an executive council, and one of the first two black vice presidents. As a labor official, Randolph won significant union support for the civil rights movement and allied with King and other organizations on initiatives like the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom. In 1957 Philip Randolph founded the Negroe American Labor Council (NALC), aiming to represent the demand of black labor force. In 1963, Randolph and NALC helped to organize “the famous "March on Washington''. This was the March, where more than 250.000 Americans, black and white, side by side joined together under the slogan of "Jobs and Freedom." This was the March, which triggered the passage of civil rights legislation. It was Phillip Randolph, who initially was influenced by the Ghandian principals of nonviolence, it were his principles which were later embraced by Martin Luther King, it was his philosophy which had a great influence on the famous civil rights movement on its peak. References: 1. Coombs, N. (2004). The Black Experience In America .The Immigrant Heritage of America. 2. Du Bois, W. (1996). The Souls of Black Folk. In W. Du Bois, Writings. New York: Library Of America College Edition. 3. Franklin, John Hope&Alfred A.Moss, Jr. (1988). From Slavery to Freedom. A History of Negro Americans . 4. Gates, H. L. (2004). America Behind the Color Line;Dialogues with African Americans. New York: Warner Books. 5. Harlan, L.R.(1974). The Booker T. Washington PapersUrbana: University of Illinois Press.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

6. King, Outline of Remarks for “A Salute to A. Philip Randolph,” 24 January 1960, in Papers5:350 Available at: http://mlkkpp01.stanford.edu/kingweb/about_king/encyclopedia/randolph_a_philip.htm 7. Leeuwen, V.D., (2000). Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association, National Humanities center. Available at: http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/twenty/tkeyinfo/garvey.htm" \l islam 8. Tarry, E. (1955). The Thrid Door: The Autobiography of an American Negro Woman. (pp.175-175) New York: McKay Company, Inc. 9. Wickham, D. (2004). In D. Wickham, Bill Clinton and Black America.New York: One World Ballantine Books

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

Main Criteria for Measuring Excellence of College Teaching in the U.S.

IRINA BAKHTADZE

Teaching may be compared to selling commodities. No one can sell unless someone buys. John Dewey

Traditional teaching practices have been challenged a lot since application of technologies has become dominant in the university education practices. Dewey published the words I used as an epigram to my article early in the 1933. In the 1960s, philosophers challenged the notion that “teaching implies learning”; instead they promoted the idea that “teaching aims to bring about learning”. But a few philosophers objected even to this. Paul Komisar, for example, said, “It is not some kind of learning, but some form of awareness, which is the intended upshot in the teaching acts under discussion”. (Noddings, 47) While Dewey insisted that teaching should induce learning, he wanted students to be involved at the level of constructing their own learning objectives. “The teacher is a guide and director; he steers the boat, but the energy that propels it must come from those who are learning.” (Nodding, 47) Dewey asserts that learning of the pupils can be increased through enhancing the quantity and quality of real teaching. The two approaches stated above are still debatable and challenges us to analyze the concept of teaching- learning today because the problem has become even more complicated. Teachers, equipped with a wide range of new teaching methods are most likely to produce more effective learning and successfully compete with others, predominantly electronic sources. Though I doubt that a teacher is able to achieve all of his/her learning objectives during each lesson, I assert that teaching should have its intentions, namely to raise the students’ awareness, to inspire and induce the further learning. It should direct the students’ forces to construct their own images, knowledge and objectives. New reality of the 21st century commands changes in policy of education, programs, curriculum, and consequently, in approaches and methods of teaching. University, a kind of enterprise which delivers social services, has to meet the demands dictated by world labor

 Assoc. Prof. Dr,, Faculty of Humanities, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues market. The very last bond in a chain of education reforms has always been a teacher who is to carry out a heavy load of change. This is the most important person who actually has to implement what has been designed by the policymakers, education specialists, and university administrators. Application of methodological novelties in the classroom practices is a rather complicated process and the reasons are apparent to everyone who teaches. We, teachers, deal with young people who are most vulnerable and hard to persuade. We have ambition that we transmit knowledge, shape mentality, outline mode of thinking, morals and ethics of our students. In other words, each time we raise a new generation who has to respond to the challenges of the epoch. I accidentally found out that I have dealt with a number of generations during my thirty years of university teaching career. Each generation has been very different in terms of their thinking, habits, mentality. Significant discrepancy in mentality between generations was the result of those crucial socio-political changes which took place in all spheres of life in Georgia since 1990s. Each generation has to overcome difficulties and bear heavy consequences of revolutionary changes. They expect support from their teachers and mentors, wish for wise and eye-opening discourses held within their university walls, and hope they will get encouragement from elder generation. We, teachers have to back up them and share with them our life-long experience, our vision and critical assessment of reality. So, how successful have I been in fulfilling my mission? Have I met their expectations? Were my teaching goals achieved? Did the knowledge I transmit assisted them to respond to the challenges of new reality in their country or/and worldwide? How much did the vision, knowledge and skills they acquired during their university studies helped them to achieve their career goals? Those are the most critical questions asked by every self- accountable teacher in Georgia, in the US, and elsewhere. The reasons why college teachers always doubt about the extent and quality of the knowledge they transfer are various: firstly, the scope of knowledge is expending in a dramatic speed and the problems of defining framework for the study courses or choosing proper teaching materials are becoming more and more complicated; Secondly, rapid development of technologies has changed teaching paradigm, as well as students’ attitude towards learning. It has become more pragmatic and labor-market oriented. The above-stated reasons are more or less common for both - developing and developed countries. The present article aims to highlight the most important challenges American college teachers face in the

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues second decade of the 21st century. It also offers the results of the critical analysis of Georgian teachers’ attitudes towards their profession. One of the reasons why college teachers face difficulties is that they lack understanding of the students’ problems. For example, in Georgia, very few sociological researches are carried out which aim to study students’ aims, attitudes, or problems. In a sense, the students are also our customers as we produce and update the product called “usable knowledge” for them. Therefore, it is necessary to study the changes in their values, mentality, attitudes, approaches, interests, morals, ethics and habits in order to meet students’ demands. College teachers know so little about the changes a new generation undergoes since they are not provided by researches or social polling results. Usually this is one of the most serious drawbacks of higher education reforms. “Partnership between university teachers and students both - on professional and personal levels is very effective. The trust which emerges during this relationship creates atmosphere of high credibility and is the basis for higher achievements.” Says I. Ketskhoveli, Assoc. Professor of Humanities at Georgian Technical University. Her teaching methods are mostly student-oriented and essays written by her students provide opportunity to get closer to the socio-economic and personal problems which her students encounter. Professor also mentioned in her interview that teacher should ”push” students into a wider intellectual area, which enhances students’ respect towards their teacher and interest towards the study-course. Philosophers of education C.J.B. Macmillan and James Garrison have introduced an “erotetic” concept of teaching. They write: “To teach someone something is to answer that person’s questions about some subject matter”. (Noddings, 54) The authors of this theory draw attention to the fact that the teachers need to know about intellectual dilemmas or problematic situations their students undergo and ought to respond to the questions that logically arise in such situations. “Erotetic teaching” can also be powerful in motivating students to learn. On the other hand, students’ attitudes towards professors also undergo thorough transformation; and in many respects those changes are not in favor of teachers. There is a growing understanding that the role of a college teacher is diminishing significantly in the era of advanced technologies. It is obvious that students expect much more than getting certain amount of knowledge in their fields. Nowadays some teachers deserve more criticism than ever, while others are in a long raw waiting for the moment they receive due attention from the students. Is

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues there a lack of really talented and committed teachers, or is it a problem of rethinking and redefining of the teachers’ mission, role and function? The article deals with those problems and tries to give an insight of the most intricate question: What is the role of a college professor today? What is a college teacher expected to offer to a new generation? What is supposed to be survived from teachers’ past best practices? What makes teachers popular? What should be real results of the teaching?

A shift in teaching paradigm

Does excellence in teaching depend on personal qualities, or rather on teachers’ qualification and practices? We think both factors play a significant role and define teachers’ success. Today, than ever “a divine role” of teachers is being challenged globally. A sound conceptual framework for college effective teaching should be defined to save academic careers of those who are at risk. Though, shifting a teaching paradigm requires careful priority setting: What to keep? What to abandon? What to reduce? What to strengthen? Existentialists emphasize the freedom of human beings. Existence involves conscious awareness of our human condition – of our freedom, choice and decisions. By planning, reflecting, choosing, and acting, people make themselves. (Friedman, ed. 81) I have referred to the well-known definition of the philosophy of existentialism to indicate that thorough understanding of the value of an individual who believes in his free will and in own talents, is free from prejudices and believes in equality, liberty and free choice. He is a true “optimistic hero” of a new reality. Like Sartre, we, teachers ought to teach to our students that “What you and I do defines what it means to be human. “What will it be to be human? To be involved or detached? Energetic or lazy? Heroic or cowardly? Intelligent or stupid? It depends on what we choose, and what we choose is revealed in our action what we do.” (Friedman, ed. 84) Encouraging the students’ individualism by recognizing their freedom of choice is one of the solid bases for building mutual understanding between teachers and students. “Professors monopolize the business of knowledge production in many areas”, argues Louise Menand, referring to the academic freedom of the professors. “Experience shows that you cannot dictate to tenure professor; Administrators come and go, but tenure is forever.” (L. Menand, 133)

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

In 2007 a national survey of the political views of the professoriate was conducted by two sociologists Neil Gross and Solon Simmons working at Harvard and George Mason. The results were quite astonishing: the professors are overwhelmingly mainstream liberals 62.2 percent. What could be the reasons? “There is a high correlation between education and liberal social and political views. For another, professors are trained to question status quo, so they are less likely to be conservative to the extent that conservatism means resistance to change”(L. Menand, 138). Menand continues his interpretation of the survey findings arguing that the main reason of concentration of the liberals in universities is that right-wing conservatives find work in the pro- profit sector as they value making money, while left-wing intellectuals who have less choice make their career in institutions. So, Menand concludes that liberals congregate in universities. (Menand, 138) I would agree with those arguments only partially because being a liberal does not only mean to be affiliated with a definite party or career, but firstly, it is a mode of thinking, a scope of liberal values among which openness to new concepts is predominant. High adaptability to change is I think the main reason why the democrats constitute a majority of the university teachers, and not necessarily because “there are fewer institutional havens for left- wing intellectuals. What is the primary goal of a college teacher? The answer could be various: transferring knowledge and skills, shaping students’ thinking, helping them to achieve excellence in learning, influencing students on how they feel a new world, and much more. Actually the problem is to elaborate the proper strategies to achieve all above-said. In recent times, the focus has been shifted from teaching to learning, and dominant of the classroom environment has become a student. The effectiveness of teaching is evaluated by learners’ outcomes, namely, to what extent the students have developed their ability to analyze, generalize, critically evaluate, interpret, and argue. The result of such teaching is an extensive knowledge, deep understanding of the global processes and new phenomena, also investigating, arguing and declaring skills.

What are main criteria for evaluating excellence in teaching? Generally, teacher’s achievements are measured by exam and test results, but the problem is that not in all fields are the results measurable. Besides, the tests measure the level of factual knowledge and demonstrate the ability of a student to evaluate, compare, analyze and generalize

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues the studied material. The test exams do not demonstrate the students’ deep understanding of the problem, or the effect of teaching on forming students’ ideology and values. A number of surveys are conducted by American universities to draw a portrait of a twenty-first century best teacher. A definition of a best teacher is rather a complex issue because it varies from culture to culture, and from epoch to epoch. Most basic characteristics of the best teachers I present hereby is based on different materials and are supported by my interpretations and comments.

Here is a list of the qualities that have been identified as the most necessary and important for the best college teachers in the 21st century. They are as follows: -Firstly, and foremost, they know their subject very well; -Are accomplished scholars. (Though, I would not put this on the top of my list, because if scholarly approach to the subject were the most important, all great scholars would be great teachers). -Have important and original thoughts on the subject they teach. This character of a teacher, to my mind, plays an exceptional role in class attracting students’ attention and challenging their traditional understanding of the problem. It raises curiosity, urges to further argumentation and develops their critical thinking skills. Also satisfies their curiosity and ambitions -Broadly-thinking persons. They can think meta-cognitively. This is one of those least measurable through the students’ test, but high awareness of the teacher gives a student a unique chance to view a whole picture of the issue, to set up a scale of values and open a door of perceptions. This is maybe what impresses students so much and inspires them for further studies. High awareness in humanities and art plays an outstanding role in inspiring students’ imaginations and motivates them to study the subject in depth. “A demand on providing a wider picture on particular topic, or in a certain area of thinking in my subject – History of World Civilization has been the foremost among my students in the last decade”, says T. Kublashvili, Professor at IBSU., “Students often ask to provide general overview of a certain epoch and event, accompanied by various arguments and discourses”. What my respondent stressed out during the interview fully corresponds with my assumption that the students are more interested in getting high awareness in the subject. One of the reasons could be the possibility of finding some factual information easily applying electronic source.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

-Best teachers should have an outstanding ability how to transfer the knowledge effectively. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to present material in simple and clear concepts. Simplicity is a result of clarity of mind and knowledge one has accumulated. The more profound the knowledge is, the easier is to hand it down. An experienced teacher identifies that it is more effective in terms of learning to operate with the simple formulas because it gives an opportunity to students to construct the reality and provide an individual picture of knowledge in his/her perception. “By giving an outline of the concept to my students I encourage them to think, interpret and construct knowledge themselves,” argues M. Dolidze, Professor at GIPA. Teachers should have an intuitive understanding of human learning. This is a kind of secret between a teacher and a student which is based on trust and care. The recent inquiries show students’ deeper appreciation of this unity which emerges on the basis of teachers’ in-born quality to penetrate into the soul, mind and body of the students and deliver a proper message which is supposed to be understood. -Best teachers are persuasive persons and they all try to make sustained and substantial influence on the way people think. I do not claim that this characteristic has always a positive outcome. The most influential teachers block their students’ individual thinking and become dominant leaders of their understanding. Besides, not all intellectuals manage to split off from the mainstream and develop critical attitude towards the problems. Channeling the students’ understanding has always had a dual consequences and it is a means and a tool in the hands of such influential teacher. -Best teachers give freedom to the students’ intellect, and at the same time, indicate clearly the direction for them to navigate safely amidst all difficulties, through ocean of information and array of perceptions. Without a freedom of choice the teaching is becoming a tool of oppression with a little positive result. I also argue that, as much as professors enjoy academic freedom, the students also deserve their piece of “learning freedom”, and I mean the freedom of choice of interpretation and understanding within the subject framework. -Best teachers try to interpret difficult items in a rich context. In case a student has difficulties in understanding of a new concept, mentor tries to lead him/her to a correct interpretation in a dialogue which highlights the problem and finally gets a student to a right place. -Teachers’ morals and ethics play a very special role in maintaining a necessary contact between a mentor and a recipient. Teachers are appreciated and judged mostly because they are perceived

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues as decent, truthful, honest, just and impartial. The last ones are particularly important because they play a role of a leader in class and the followers have to be sure about the moral values of the leader. This general truth is also crucial in teaching practices and has even greater affect on the students. - Best teachers ought to be good psychologists, analysts to perceive into the world of their disciples and show their careful attitude to them. Teachers’ caring attitude towards students has been identified as one of the most important qualities for the 21st century successful teachers. If we observe universities as one of the successful business enterprises, obviously, “client retention” goes up to the top of the agenda. The significance of the teachers’ caring attitude towards their students has increased dramatically because of the changing attitudes in an ever- competing insensitive world. The deficit of human relationships is becoming more intense which demands careful considerations. -Teachers who are concentrated on the students’ understanding study psychology of the students to identify different types of students, such as, “strategic learners’, “ “task-oriented”, “performance-avoiders’, “surface learners”, “pure intellectuals”, and others. Once a teacher identifies the difference between those types, he/she easily modifies teaching materials and attitudes. For example, Nancy Mac Lean, a professor at Northwestern University bent her syllabus in women history class because 855 of her students showed interest towards it. She built a solid connection between her questions and her students’ lives and interests. (Bain, 96). Teachers usually have to deal with different class management and students’ emotional problems. The forms, scope and range of such problems have increased dramatically in recent years. Therefore, teachers in the 2020s have to be rather flexible; ready to respond to different types of challenges. The most important message of the article is that the successful college teacher is focused on the students’ successful learning. He/she helps the students to construct knowledge which means that they teach to their student how to exercise their intellect and perform difficult tasks themselves. Their teaching is fostering learning process in students. “We can enhance students’ sense of control by offering meaningful opportunities for choice and by supporting their autonomy, which in turn enhances motivation.” (McKeachie, 141). Teach students to reflect on their own learning, or let them judge about the quality of their own work is one of the most

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

sophisticated forms of teachings. Challenging students to rethink their assumptions and examine their mental models of reality is a demand of the 2020s. Best college teachers set high standards, promote intellectual excitement and raise curiosity. They use wide range of teaching methods and tactics, avoid being boring, and offer surprises to their students. Some of the most popular methods of teaching are: student-led discussions, “minute paper” and “written question”, “what I remember from previous lecture”, and others which help student to convert from information receiving passive listeners to active participants. Delivering the basic knowledge, demonstrating caring attitude towards each student personally, motivating and supporting them, so that a student should build up positive power in his/her character in order to seek effective ways of learning and developing are major functions of the college teachers today.

References:

1. Bain, K. (2004). What the Best College Teachers Do. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 2. Friedman, Maurice. ed. (1964). The Worlds of Existentialism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 3. McKeachie,W.J. (2006). Teaching Tips. US: Wardsworth, Cengage Learning. 4. Menand, L. (2010). The Marketplace of Ideas: Reform and Resistance in the American University. New York - London: W.W. Norton & Company. 5. Noddings, N. (1998). Philosophy of Education: Dimensions of Philosophy Series. US: Westview Press.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

President Barack Obama Health Care Policy: Implementation and Results

Abstract

TEA CHUMBURIDZE

The aim of the article is to explore the peculiarities of American health care system, study the American health care policy before the President Barack Obama administration over the past 10 years, the scope of the Obama’s new health care reform, and identify the level of its impact on different groups of society. The research tries to answer the question to what extend does the reform manage successfully health care problems and why the change in American health care system became so necessary in the US in the beginning of the 21st century. Health insurance premiums doubled in the last 10 years in the U.S., increasing co-pays and deductibles threatened access to care. Over 45 million Americans - including over 8 million children- were beyond any health insurance program before Obama administration. In 2008 presidential elections in the U.S. the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama picked up the topic of new health care reform as one of the key policies in his presidential campaign and as the results showed the choice was prudent and it helped to bring support to his election. And finally the article incorporates the role of PR concerning new health care reform. What means of PR were used, reform and PR- as a political step forward.

Key Words: Health-care, Medicare, Medicaid, President, Insurance, Policy, Impact, Health coverage, Reform, Population

 Research Assistant, Faculty of Humanities, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

President Barack Obama Health Care Policy: Implementation and Results

TEA CHUMBURIDZE

The American Health Care Policy before President Barack Obama Administration over the Past 10 Years Health insurance premiums have doubled in the last 10 years in the U.S., rising 3.7 times faster than wages in the past 10 years, and increasing co-pays and deductibles threatened access to care. Many insurance plans covered only a limited number of doctors’ visits or hospital days, exposing families to unlimited financial liability. Over half of all personal bankruptcies were caused by medical bills. Lack of affordable health care was compounded by serious flaws in US health care delivery system. About 100,000 Americans used to die from medical errors in hospitals every year. One-quarter of all medical spending went to administrative and overhead costs, and reliance on antiquated paper-based record and information systems needlessly increased these costs. Tens of millions of Americans were uninsured because of rising costs. Over 45 million Americans — including over 8 million children—were beyond any health insurance program before Obama administration. Eighty percent of the uninsured were in working families. Even those with health coverage were struggling to cope with soaring medical costs. Skyrocketing health care costs were making it increasingly difficult for employers, particularly small businesses, to provide health insurance to their employees. In 2009, Jonathan Oberlander - associate professor of social medicine and of health policy and management at the University of North Carolina together with Joseph White - the Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy in the Center for Policy Studies, Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, Ohio in their article -“Public Attitudes Toward Health Care Spending Aren’t The Problem; Prices Are” - argued that the public was not the main barrier to successful cost control in the United States. The preoccupation with excessive demand as the cause of and rationing as the cure for U.S. health spending overlooked an alternative explanation for that

 Research Assistant, Faculty of Humanities, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues spending: higher prices. There was evidence that price regulation could constrain spending and that the public would support that cost-control approach. (Anderson, & Frogner, 2008) In 2008 presidential elections in the U.S. the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign promises for health care policies included lower costs for the U.S. Health Care System, drug costs as well as quality, affordable and portable coverage for all and new health initiatives. He picked up this topic as the key policy in his presidential campaign and as the results showed the choice was prudent and it brought support to his election. As a candidate from Democratic Party Obama should have focused his attention on domestic affairs.

Barack Obama Campaign Promises: Health Care Reform President Obama signed sweeping health care reform legislation into law on March 23, 2010, hailing the moment as the latest example of America facing up to major challenges for the benefit of its entire people. Barack Obama told Congress - “Our health care problem is our deficit problem, nothing else even comes close.” He stated to Congress about previous tactics used by opponents to dissuade support for his health care plan - “The time for bickering is over…Now is the time to deliver on health care.” (WiredPRNews, 2009) The bill constitutes the biggest expansion of federal health care guarantees in more than four decades, and its enactment was a giant victory for Obama and Democrats after a brutal legislative battle dating back to the start of his presidency. The attitude of the society toward new health care policy was released in the study by the Greenlining Institute during the summer of 2010. According to gallop polling 44.3% of all Americans backed healthcare reform, 35.8% opposed it and 19.8% had no opinion. The article incorporates the role of PR concerning new health care reform. What means of PR were used, reform and PR- as a political step forward. President Obama has been lobbying Americans on his reform bill for more than a year, beginning on March 5, 2009, at the opening session of the Forum on Health Reform, according to CBS Radio’s Mark Knoller, who keeps scrupulous records on the president’s daily events. Since then, Mr. Obama has delivered 52 speeches, statements and remarks on health care reform across the country. (Jessup, CBN News, 2009) Appearing on various television network

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues interviews, the president tackled everything from foreign to domestic issues, but his main objective during this period of time was to sell his plan for health care reform.

Implementation and Results Sweeping health care reform legislation, signed into law on March 23, 2010, is in the process of implementation. The impact of new health care policy on disadvantaged, disabled groups of society is apparent. Over seventy-five percent of total health care dollars are spent on patients with one or more chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Many patients with chronic diseases benefit greatly from disease management programs, which help patients manage their condition and get the care they need. New health care project required that plans that participate in the new public plan, Medicare or the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) utilize proven disease management programs. This will improve quality of care and lower costs, as well. New policy intends to support providers to put in place care management programs and encourage team care through implementation of medical home type models that will improve coordination and integration of care of those with chronic conditions. Furthermore, better benefits and better health care for young adults and for women have been provided. Several years ago, young adults and women were one of the most vulnerable groups of Americans in the health insurance market. However, since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, many of them can now stay on their parent’s family plan until they turn 26. It doesn’t matter whether young adults married, living with their parents, in school, or financially independent. This is a huge improvement that is freeing people to make decisions about their education, their careers, and their lives without being hemmed in by outdated insurance rules. Moreover, the Affordable Care Act is bringing much needed changes to the insurance market for women. For too long, too many women could not get the affordable, high quality coverage they deserved. Some insurance companies considered simply being a woman a “pre-existing condition” and charged more or covered less. The Affordable Care Act guarantees, that’s all changing and women and their families are eligible for important new benefits that will ensure they have access to better care at a lower cost.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

The Cost of Bills The Congressional Budget Office estimates the total cost of these bills would be about $1.5 trillion over the next decade. Members of Congress are trying to make changes that would bring the price tags to under $1 trillion, but few of their amendments would amount to savings even close to the amounts needed to achieve this target. Private research analysts put the 10- year cost of the plans being considered at the time of this writing at close to $4 trillion. (HSI Network, LLC, 2009)

Conclusion The process has not always been smooth, nevertheless, the reform is claimed to be successful. The evidence is a wide range of public support, and the rating (the standing) of the president Obama, which rose in the result of effective implementation process and the first positive affect. Nowadays, the project is in the process of implementation and the real affect of it will be evaluated in the following years.

References: 1. Aaron, H. J. & Schwartz W. B. (1984). The painful prescription: rationing hospital care. Washington (DC): Brookings Institution 2. Alvarez, M. (2011). The White House Blog, Better Benefits, Better Health for Young Adults See at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/03/25/better-benefits-better- health-young-adults 3. Anderson, G. F. & Frogner B. K. (2008). Health spending in OECD countries: obtaining value per dollar. Health Aff (Millwood). 27(6):1718–27. 4. Baker, J. B. (2007). Medical Diplomacy in Full-Spectrum Operations, Military Review, 5. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Health Program 6. Bono found the One Campaign, an anti-poverty advocacy NGO that works on global health problems. One Campaign, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Available at: http://one.org/issues/hiv_aids.html. 7. Centers for Disease control and Prevention, (2010). Available At: http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/overview/index.htm

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

8. Chan, M. Director-General of the World Health Organization, Return to Alma Ata. Available at: http://www.who.int/dg/20080915/en/index.html. 9. Chan, M. (2008).World Health Organization: Globalization and Health, Remarks at the United Nations General Assembly, Available at: http://www.who.int/dg/speeches/2008/20081024/en/index.html.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

The Methods and Role of Lobbing System in the U.S.

LASHA KURDASHVILI

The system of lobbying in the United States is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (First Amendment to the Constitution). The mentioned above right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances is still the basis of lobbying activities. As we can judge throughout the history of the United States, never arose a question of whether the lobbying is a crime and politicians turned a blind eye on the activities of the lobbyists till today. On one hand lobbying is serving the interests of masses defending their interests and rights in front of the Congress, somehow being a protector of the check and balances system, on the other hand often the interests of the masses suffers because of the lobbyist who try to push the interests of their client, and so slowing down the legislative process. Besides lobbyist also very in their powers, as one lobbyist can have much more influence then another. The level of influence commonly is determined by how much money and time a lobbyist can spend to achieve his goal. Some people think lobbyists a gaining too much power. So the lobbyist is pushing the lazy lawmakers to create legislation. Without the lobbing wheels Washington would be for long stacked in one place. Why? The reason is that the most powerful congressmen and senators rely on the lobbyists in the voting Issue. Lobbyists can help the lawmaking process work more successfully by providing lawmaker trustworthy data and accurate assessments of a bill's result. The question how to vote, sometimes forces them to learn the facts. In the early 2000s lobbyists practiced their skills not only in the halls of the U.S. Capitol and the corridors of state legislatures, but also in boardrooms, in manufacturing plants, at cocktail parties, and in retirement homes.

 M.A. Student, Faculty of Humanities, Direction of U.S. Foreign Affairs, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues A good example to show the work of the lobbyist is: the majority leader in the House of Representatives, was sent to the Mariana Islands, of course on the lobbyist’s and his client`s spending. There his client`s the textile-manufactures make a designer clothes without paying even a minimum wage to the workers. And so your fashionable jeans will cost you no more than 20 dollars as the coast of the work-power on the Mariana Islands is low. Lobbyist arranges an elegant tour for the Majority Leader on the resorts of Mariana Islands at the same time showing the happy faces of the workers of the textile factories, who are willing to work for such a paltry price, as they themselves are the immigrants from China and the received money is enough for them and to send some to their families in China. And so the lobbyist pushes the majority leader so that he would not involve in the laws of minimum wages. And what we get is that the American average citizen is pleased because he can wear designer clothes for a minimal fee, the workers on Marianne are satisfied too, the client`s of the lobbyists get their profit and the lobbyist himself his share of the pie. In this case we see situation where all the members are pleased though it leaves a tint that something is not right. We see that no law was violated, it cannot be called a bribe and at the same time it is. A lot of people think that lobbyists are trying to influence the government only in the interests of the minority, a little group of people who are rich. Lobbyists disagree with that statement saying that they have been given an unattractive and absurd stereotype as influence peddlers. There are almost fourteen thousand potential organization, corporations and firm only in the Washington D.C. and it is clear that they can defend their interest in Congress, by introducing each an official to be elected in the Congress. The size and difficulty of the federal government have, in large part, driven the need for lobbyists to help define positions on issues of public policy. Moreover, on all issues of prevalent anxiety, lobbyists are found on both sides, producing a bigger set of checks and balances that undercuts the naive picture of corruption and favoritism. A lot of people mix lobbying with other political activates but we need to understand the main nuances of the lobbying process: 1) Lobbying is only associated with public decision-making. Decisions made by individuals, organizations or corporations, can also be influenced by the interests of certain constituencies, but this effect is not known as lobbyists.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

2) All kinds of lobbying are motivated by a desire to make an impact. Many of the actions or events could influence the process of government decision-making, but if they are not caused by the desire to have an impact, it is not lobbying. 3) Lobbying means the presence of a mediator or a representative as a liaison between the group of citizens and public officials. Citizen, which by his own volition seeks to influence a government official, cannot be considered a lobbyist. 4) Any lobbying invariably associated with the establishment of contacts to send messages, because it is the only path that can carry influence. Thus, in the broadest sense, lobbying - is the establishment of contacts and sending messages addressed to the authorities with the intent to influence their decisions. Although the majority of lobbyists represent groups with special interests, lobbying cannot be identified with the activities and behavior of such groups in general. Firstly, not only groups but also individuals can perform lobbying. Second, groups pursuing common interests may be involved in many other activities in addition to lobbying, some groups, in fact, may not engage in lobbying. Third, groups or individuals can find a way to direct representation, without intermediaries, intercessors lobbyists. Almost everyone who seriously thinks about the lobbying faced the question of how it can be controlled. It is quite obvious that if the process is left unchecked, then the public good might suffer. Many abuses that have occurred in the past, allow us to conclude the correctness of this assumption. There are two generally accepted standards that must be met when formulating measures to regulate lobbying. The results of measures already taken legislative or otherwise, must meet these two requirements. The first of them - is to be sure that the control over the lobby would not oppose the constitutional right of petition. This right is fundamental for democratic and liberal-democratic regime, it is better to tolerate the possible negative phenomena arising in lobbying, than to abandon this right. So, possible measures to prohibit the obstruction or other legislative lobbying is automatically excluded from consideration, since the interpretation of lobbyists, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (which gives citizens the opportunity to appeal to the government to redress of grievances) sounds like: "the most persuasive petition is well compiled by the lobbyist bill. The second requirement - it is the visibility of the process. If citizens are involved in the implementation of their power, they should know what happens during the political decision-making. If the lobbying will take place secretly, it can also lead to

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues very undesirable results. So the basic formula of the regulation of lobbying is to preserve the constitutional right of petition plus the maximum transparency of the process. Legal control over the lobby, first of all, is confronted with the problem of graft and bribery. Especially this danger increases on the state level. Competition for time and attention of officials here is not as active as on the federal level, and as a consequence of direct methods take precedence over costly and less reliable indirect. Lobbying is like breathing. It is necessary, although the air may be clean, and poisoned at the same time The basis of lobbying, in any case, is the search of one or another social group, the so- called interest group. Interest groups can be called voluntary associations of individuals or groups with a formal basic structure, in which the personal requirements are connected with the spiritual and material public benefit, and who express themselves within their organization or speak out against other groups and political institutions. Interest groups are the integral part of a democratic society and serve its following functions: 1) Identify the interest. 2) Synthesis and formulation of the main interest. 3) Choice of interest. Methods of lobbying activity directly derive from the forms of lobbying. The method of lobbying can be defined as a way to influence of lobbyists on objects of lobbying activities. According to the classification methods are divided into three groups: 1. socially-acceptable; 2. Border (in which there is no unambiguous criteria); 3. Criminal Hard Methods: bribery, threats, blackmail, deception, trades in making major decisions (budget, treaty compliance, confidence in the government). Soft Methods: articulation, establishing relationships, treatment, an organization of public opinion polls, using the media or public relations. The methods of the first group we can refer to the overt pressure, and the methods of the second group called "drapes" cultivation. Lobbying in the XXI centaury became the issue of the day as business continued to develop and the economy is moving towards globalization. The problems of the business brought

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues to the growth of the lobbying activity starting the 2000. According to figuratively columnist of The Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer's "lobbying is usually a modest amount of benefits. But now lobbying - is a matter of life and death. Whether your financial institution or industry receives public assistance, or dies ". Despite economic difficulties, the cost of lobbying in the United States in 2008 grew very rapidly. This is due, as experts believe, primarily to the fact that the U.S. federal government under the economic assistance programs adopted the "give" policy to the U.S. businesses of billions of dollars, thereby ensuring the work of many lobbyists who help businesses and industries get a portion of these payments. Opponents and critics of lobbying see it not primarily as the freedom of speech and petition, but the distortion of democracy in the hands of private group interests and corruption of MPs and officials. Similar fundamental dispute is in other democratic countries having been held many times. Experts usually refer to the lobbying as one of the “fruits of democracy.” This is an opportunity for the "lower tier" to convey their wishes and requirements to the "highest echelons" and, most importantly, to achieve a positive result in a particular case. However, there are downsides in lobbing system as well. Sometimes, under pressure, the government is ready to meet private interests in front of national and social groups. The search for an optimal system of lobbying, in which its positive sides many times prevails the negative is one of the main problems of American government. But the issue is rather complex it is not easy to find both politically and ethical solution to the problem. Here the problems of human rights, democratic principles, main law of the country, and principles of progress and developing society often interact and make up a complicated picture. The problem of lobbying is on the verge of the legal lobbying and the crime. As the saying goes, “the one who pays – he orders the music.”But is this the problem of only lobbying, or of the whole system? It is almost evident the lobbyists often use conspiracy and bribery to achieve their goals; but the most crucial problem is that politicians and the government officials accept them in most cases. It is called a “political hypocrisy”. We can`t deny neither the importance of the lobbying, nor the importance of the democracy. Nevertheless, we should understand that the wide variety of democratic choices sustain the great variety of strategies, legal, as well as illegal.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

The boundary between lobbying and criminality is tested almost all the time. For example: Bribing governmental officials in someone`s interest - is not legitimate, but, on the other hand talking with officials in order to achieve something is not forbidden. As the well- known phrase goes “with a little money they hear best” has become a hornstone of these relationships. There are many ways of penetration of money into the political process that make it difficult to define those boundaries. The country law regulates lobbying system and systematically updates it. Lobbyist must report on his/her activities to the official bodies regularly. There is another ethical issue concerning the problem – the lobbyists moving permanently into the ranks of legislators and vice-versa. Critics call this “the principle of the revolving door”. It allows former legislators and influential officials enjoy special status during the enactment of laws. According to the research made by the Washington Post, three out of four oil and gas industry lobbyists are former the government officials, mostly from supervisory bodies. It is evident that when a former senator or congressman becomes a lobbyist it leads to a conflict of interests. And vice-versa, when a lobbyist becomes a public servant the problem whether he should pursue his private interests must always be under close observation. In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama said: "We've excluded lobbyists from policymaking jobs or seats on federal boards and commissions," he said on Jan. 27, 2010. Though, some lobbyists are still working in Presidential Committees on an exceptional basis, and, “surprisingly” they continue to lobby democratic interests. We see that lobbying companies are exercising great influence in the legislative process and in establishing regulations for the benefit of their clients. Frequently, these companies are so successful and so influential that they themselves write the bills for members of Congress and then Congressmen present those projects for consideration to their colleagues not changing even a single word. According to the recent polls, the lobbying spending in 2009 reached the pick amount of 3, 5 billion dollars. As we all know “Money makes the world go around”, hence, the influence of lobbying is increasing. Each year the lobbying firms are gaining great sums of money and their influence is increasing. Not only legislative but also executive and judicial branches are

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues under their so called “covered control.” The issue of the “secret government” meaning lobbying system is very widespread nowadays. Moreover, if earlier we talked about the lobbying of a company or a business corporation, nowadays we can even witness a lobbying of one individual’s interest. So, how much the idea of classical understanding of the lobbyism, as a tool for the society to defend their interests has been distorted so far? In the result of my investigation I have come to the conclusion that three main reasons can be identified why the modern system of lobbying is not liable to grassroots changes: 1) As we already mentioned, the right of people to lobby the government lies deep in the Constitutional rights of the U.S. citizens. 2) The process of studying the lobbying activities and investigation of all their methods will reveal lots of controversial facts that would not suit the political elite. 3) The lobbyists themselves won`t allow that to happen. They hold enough power for that. Those are the main reasons why the laws considering the lobbying control have been implemented so slowly during the history of American government. (Actually there were only two important changes FRLA and Lobbying Disclosure Act.) Finally, I would argue that the lobbying itself is the inseparable part of the ongoing democratic processes in the US. Controversies over the phenomenon have been demonstrated many times; particularly financial aspects of the issue have many times been a subject of negative appreciation and criticism from both government and society. Nevertheless, either of them can, or wish to remove the issue as it has already become a part of complicated governing process. As it is commonly believed, there is no true support politicians render to their constituents without kind of private interests being widely involved in it. Is a love of power and money still the strongest motivator for ruling circles of the country which is ‘Torch of freedom” and “Land of liberty” where the government is from, of and by the people? As once Harry Truman said, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog”.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues References:

1. Birnbaum, J. H. (1992). The Lobbyists: How Influence Peddlers Get Their Way in Washington. New York: Times Books 2. Birnbaum J.H. (2008) Lobbying's Good Guys? On the Campaign Trail, They're Invisible. Washington Post. Retrieved April, 2011 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2008/06/09/AR2008060902226_3.html?sid=ST2008061001390 3. Dickerson, J. (2006) The New Etiquette of Lobbying. Slate. Retrieved April,2011 from http://www.slate.com/id/2134092/ 4. Deakin, J. (1966). The Lobbyists. Washington, D.C.: Public Affairs Press 5. Dekieffer, D. E. (1981). How to Lobby Congress: A Guide for the Citizen Lobbyist. New York: Dodd, Mead. 6. Eisler, Kim (2007) Hired Guns: The City's 50 Top Lobbyists. Washingtonian. Retrieved April, 2011 from http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/mediapolitics/4264.html 7. Fuller, W. P. (1993). Congressional Lobbying Disclosure Laws: Much Needed Reforms on the Horizon. Seton Hall Legislative Journal 17. 8. Government Accounting Office, (1991). Federal Lobbying: Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946 Is Ineffective. July. Washington, D.C.: Government Accounting Office. 9. Hayes, M. T. (1981) Lobbyists and Legislators: A Theory of Political Markets. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press 10. Holman, C. (2009). Making the U.S. Lobbying Disclosure Act. Retrieved May 2009 from http://www.cleanupwashington.org/documents/makingldawork.pdf 11. Jacobs, J.A. (1989). Federal Lobbying. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Affairs. 12. Lane, E. (1964). Lobbying and the Law. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. 13. Latham, E. (1992) the Group Basis of Politics: Notes for a Theory - American Political Science Review 46: РР. 382-397 14. Mack, C. S. (1989). Lobbying and Government Relations: A Guide for Executives. New York: Quorum Books.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

15. Renae M. (2004). Long Fall for Pentagon Star. Washington Post Sunday, November 14: Page A01 16. United States Senate, (1987). Lobbyists Retrieved May 2011 from http://www.senate.gov/legislative/common/briefing/Byrd_History_Lobbying.htm

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

Print Medium and Its Impact on Society (On the example of TIME magazine)

TAMAR MKALAVISHVILI

Introduction The modern press is gift for every nation. It is only the current stage in the evolution of communication efforts. A series of printing first appeared in the Middle East and Asia, then it slowly spread to Europe and finally reached to America, led to today’s marvelous linkage of reporting talent, computers, high-speed color presses, and satellites. “The availability of printed materials made possible societal, cultural, familial, and industrial changes facilitating the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the scientific revolution. “ ( Emery. Emery. P3) How could movable type make such a change in thinking and habits accepted for centuries? First, it made achievable to produce literature and printed materials cheaply enough to reach the masses. The printing press reduced the unit price and formed copies in bulk. This meant that knowledge was no longer the absolutely chattels of the privileged classes. Accessibility of cheap printed reading material encouraged the growth of literacy. But it should be mentioned that not only the newspapers won historical recognition, modern press, during its early years introduced the evolution of magazines. Michael and Edwin Emery claimed that: “Efforts to publish magazines had been made occasionally since 1741, when Benjamin Franklin was thwarted in his plans by Andrew Bradford, who published the first periodical three days before Franklin’s magazine appeared.” Magazines, which appeared in 18th century, became the valuable source of information for the historian. More than any other print medium, the magazine represents America. Many other nations also produced periodicals, but it should be mentioned, that nowhere else, is there the multicolored, multivoiced flood of print that floods Americans weekly, monthly, and quarterly. “Numbering in the tens of thousands, with a readership of more than 86 percent of the population, American magazines are not only dazzling in their design and diversity but complex in content and purpose. As consumer products, magazines develop and satisfy the tastes of

 M.A. Student, Faculty of Humanities, Direction of U.S. Foreign Affairs, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues contemporary Americans; as primary advertising tools of business and industry, magazines help provide the market that supplies the demand for products; and as instruments of entertainment and enlightenment, magazines both create and respond to current social values and the panorama of American culture.” (Schmidt 2002). Nowadays, thousands of titles exists in the United States, attract readers to indulge relatively narrow interests and tastes Print medium came to have increasing influence on American life. One of the initial social effects of printing was that the traditional village story teller disappeared. This time difference, from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries, between the invention of the printing press and the creation of a print culture suggests that there were many other factors involved. These relate to the changing cultural, political and economic climate and increasing industrialization which meant that even factory workers needed to be literate. Marshall McLuhan has come up with a variety of theories about the impact of print on individual perceptions of space and time. He suggests that printing has shortened human memories by the dependence on information being accumulated more carefully and strongly in a magazine. The rationalizing aspects of the print culture encouraged a necessitate for maps and programs, and increased the significance of standpoint in paintings. McLuhan claims that print, as a convenient medium, allowed information to be disseminated across space. The power of the press commonly interpreted as the power to figure opinions and to bring some news in a preferred direction, should not be understood exclusively in provisions of the content of the news media- news reporting, announcements of columnists and reporters, editorial comments and advertising. It should be mentioned that, there is more influence than what meets the eye or is heard by the ear. The news-gathering method is an element of the influence and the power of the press. Distinctions, which are between the results of the process and the results of the story is a significant one. Strentz argues that, in sharing information with news sources or as an intermediary between news sources, a reporter may exercise influence without ever writing or producing the news item. The phrase, which turned out to be a quite general, “the power of the press” (Strentz 1989), is a bit dated, referring as it does accurately to the print medium. According to Herbert Strentz, this power may be a bit misleading too, because it often connotes a

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues degree of formal and organized control to effect change, whereas influence may be subtle, indirect, or unintended. Concern with the power and influence of the print media, the role of the correspondent as mediator and the consequences of news stories should advocate at least that it is constructive and maybe essential for reporters, students of reporting, and the news audience to distinguish the delicacy and dynamics of the news- gathering procedure. The consequences of the way the reporter collects information and the dynamics of the journalist- source relationship may be unintentional, often unperceived, and sometimes impulsive. However, they are real and part of the power and influence of the press. The function of the press in American politics has become a main source of debate and controversy in recent years. Why is the issue so popular or most prominently, how does the professed power, influence the democratic political structure in America? Americans trust in press average and they give such medium high marks for reliability. “Between 80 and 90 percent of American say they feel the press is generally believable and predictably.” (Davis. 1992”) If the governed count on the news media as a reliable and reachable source of information, those who rule also depend on the press, both in electoral politics and in the development of governance Richard Davis argues that the news media has a big impact on American politics, traceable to two developments in recent American political history. The first is the change outlined above- the increased reliance of both citizenry and government on the press as a primary “communication bridge” (Davis. 1992) or linking mechanism. The second, similarly important advance is the increasingly contradictory imperatives of press and politicians, which have moved the press itself into a more and more independent point out from under traditional political controls. According to Richard Davis, the most popular model explains the news, both broadcast and print, as the product of political bias. As a conclusion, I would like to mention that, despite of this bias, the role of the press in the United States has developed in a different way from that of mass media in other political systems. No other country has granted press as much liberty from political power as has the United States. No other state has relied so comprehensively on personal ownership of the press as has the United States. This extremely favorable background

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues for press role is rare throughout the world, but exists in the United States and has donated considerably to the influence of the press and the salience of press-politician relationships in American politics. Time Warner, Inc. is one of the largest media and communications conglomerates encompassing traditional publishing, television, cable, and the Internet, film, and music groups with a global consumer reach. Time, Inc. began in 1923 when young journalists Henry R. Luce and Briton Hadden initiated Time, the United States' first weekly news magazine. With a shoestring budget, Time primarily relied on the New York Times and other newspapers for its material, but its weekly news reviews, enlightenment of historical background, emphasis on individualities, and lively style brought it 30,000 subscribers in its first year After TIME magazine started to publish weekly materials in March 1923, Roy Larsen was bright to expand its circulation by rising U.S. radio and movie theaters around the world. It often subsidized both "TIME" magazine and U.S. political and business welfare. According to The March of Time: “as early as 1924 Larsen had brought TIME into the infant radio business with the broadcast of a 15-minute sustaining quiz show entitled Pop Question which survived until 1925." Then, according to the same book, "In 1928 Larsen undertook the weekly broadcast of a 10-minute programme series of brief news summaries, drawn from current issues of TIME magazine which was originally broadcast over 33 stations throughout the United States."(Fielding.1978) In 2009 Time revealed that they were establishing a modified print magazine, mixing content from a variety of Time Warner periodicals depended on the reader's tastes. The new magazine convened with a deprived reply, with criticism that its attention was too wide to be truthfully individual. The journal has an online documentation with the unformatted textbook for every piece published. Briton Hadden, co-founder of TIME magazine, was born in Brooklyn on February 18, 1898. Henry R. Luce, co-founder of TIME magazine, was born on April 3, 1898 in Tengchow, China. As both journalists and soldiers, Hadden and Luce were hit by the propaganda they met surrounding World War I. It was throughout armed training at Camp Jackson in South Carolina,

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues that Luce and Hadden first talked about the necessitate for a new kind of newspaper or magazine whose aim would be to do away with such misinformation. Established in the 1923s, TIME magazine even today is one of the most popular magazines in the United States and it remains its popularity throughout the time. The reason of it is that, staff of TIME magazine tries to make their magazine unique, acceptable and reachable for everyone. TIME magazine’s staff from the very beginning, had strongly decided to make their magazine interesting for every segment of society. They featured articles, which were connected with business, economy, new stories, fashion, and current events. After the release of TIME For Kids, TIME magazine’s popularity increased rapidly and it gained new reader with the face of child. The characteristic Time writing technique was parodied in 1936 by Wolcott Gibbs in an article in The New Yorker: "Backward ran sentences until reeled the mind Where it all will end, knows God!" The early days of continually reversed sentences, "beady-eyed tycoons" and "great and good friends", however, have long since mislaid.”(Gibbs 1963). Time is also identified for its signature red border, initiated in 1927. Time's most famous aspect all through its history has been the yearly "Person of the Year" cover up story, in which Time differentiates the person or group of persons who have had the biggest impact on the year's news. In 2010, the Person of the Year was Mark Zuckerberg, who was selected in December. The most current winner of the Time online survey for Person of the Year was Julian Assange. In modern years Time has composed a yearly list of the 100 most influential and authoritative people of the year. Previously, they had made a list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. These subjects often have the front cover filled with images of public from the list and offer a substantial amount of space within the magazine to the 100 piece of writings about every person on the list. There have, in some cases, been over 100 individuals at the same time, when two people have made the list together, sharing one spot. In 2011, TIME gave us chance to meet the most influential citizens in the world. They are performers and activists, reformers and researchers, heads of state and captains of industry. Their ideas flicker conversation and oppose and sometimes an even revolution. Wael Ghonim symbolizes the youth which compose the majority of Egyptian humanity — a young man who outclassed and became a Google senior manager but as with many of his

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues generation, continued a political due to loose of hope that things could change in a society flooded for decades with a culture of horror. Almost from the magazine's foundation in 1923, the cover of TIME has been a cultural standard in American existence. The well-known and the infamous, the heroes and the crooks, the important styles and the momentous events of the day have become visible on it, portrayed by artists and photographers who gave TIME its signature visual style. Today's magazine covers develop from that traditional style. Where art and illustration once succeeded, we now see approximately exclusively photography, a medium that imparts immediacy and often advocates exclusive access to high-profile subjects. Today's covers depict conceptions, ideas and trends as well as people in the news.

Conclusion The print medium and especially magazines have completely changed lives of the American people. Walk into any newsstand and it is impossible not to be fixed by the huge amount of different magazine headings on the layers. Magazines exhibit the viability of a culture of a country, and it should be mentioned that, magazines itself develop the culture of a state. At the least, magazines are the organs of public relations of national and international point, in cultural and communal substances. I believe, that the magazines create culture; they are also progressive and conservative, puritanical and radical; slow moving or vigorous.. “Magazines have represented an unexplored place on the map, or more prosaically the library shelved and basement archives of modernism.” (Brooker., Thacker. 2009) Time’s trusted, convincing style allows readers to enter with an open mind and make their own conclusions and findings depended on what they read. TIME is a niche magazine, specially made for those, who are open-minded, for those who value perception over attitude. This niche consists of people, who are strongly curious about the story behind the story, who are eager to have their statements challenged, and who are surprised by the world around them. Receiving awards and recognition from around the world, TIME is privileged to be acknowledged by its peers, by experts in immeasurable fields and by the advertising agencies. Every week, Time’s stories make headings on their own, and editors, and journalists can be seen speaking on news and talk shows on all the main networks. As the original newsmagazine, TIME has set the standard for leadership, authenticity and authoritative journalism since 1923.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

References: 1. Emery M., Emery E. (1992). The press and America, An Interpretive history of the mass media. USA: Prentice Hall Inc. (7th edition) 2. Davis R. (1992). The press and American politics. The new mediator. USA: Longman publishing group. 3. Strentz H. (1989).News reporters and news sources. Iowa State University. (2nd edition) 4. Bittner J.R. (1989). Mass communication, an introduction. NJ: prentice Hall, Englewood cliffs. (5th edition) 5. Inge T. (1989). Handbook of American popular culture. NY, Westport: Greenwood Press, Inc. (2nd edition) 6. Crowley D., Heyer P. (1995). Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society. USA: Longman publishing group. 7.19. TIME archive 1923 to the Present. “History of TIME”. Available at : http://www.time.com/time/archive/collections/0,21428,c_time_history,00.shtml 8.20. Instant History. “TIME MAGAZINE: First Issue, March 3, 1923.” Available at: http://www.brycezabel.com/instanthistory/2006/03/time_magazine_f.html 9. 21. Official Web Site of Time magazine : http://www.time.com/time/

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

E-government in the U.S.A. & World Comparative Tendencies

KETEVAN ROSTIASHVILI

The new wave of technological revolution, development of information and communication technologies (ICT) provoked transformation of the Industrial society into the Postindustrial/Information Society, bringing very deep, tectonic changes in the U.S. society. Deeply has changed economy and its structure. Correspondingly has changed social structure and social relations. The U.S. society can be characterized as “people-centered, inclusive and development- oriented, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life” [1], according to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. With transformation the U.S. economy and social relations significantly are changed a system and a style of political government and its management. There are numerous terms expressing contemporary level of political, socioeconomic and cultural development of the U.S. society: “Electronic Democracy”, “Cyber Democracy”, “Tele Democracy”, [2] but “Digital Democracy” actually combines all above mentioned concepts and presents, in a compact way, essence of contemporary advanced society. The Information Society creates basis for development of “Digital Democracy” [3] and “E- government”. E-government is the part of the Digital Democracy, its instrument to govern the society. E-government integrates information and communication technologies in the process of government. E-government facilitates creation and dissemination of information between governments and people, among governments, as well as between government and business. E- government significantly transforms governments making it more democratic, transparent and accountable. [4]

 Professor, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

But transitional period from the Industrial Society to the Information Society is not even and quite. Introduction of ICT in political government and management brought about unprecedented access of people to information, increased effectiveness of governmental functioning through e- government, but in the meantime, has been created significant contradictions too. According to the U.S. Congressional materials, in 2002 the U.S. government confronted number of serious problems, as it needed much more efficient and better organized management of government using ICTs. [5] Information technology advancements have been at the center of a transformation in how the private sector operated and revolutionized the efficiency, convenience, and effectiveness with which it served its customers. The Federal Government largely has missed out on that transformation due to poor management of technology investments, with IT projects too often costing hundreds of millions of dollars more than they should, taking years longer than necessary to deploy, and delivering technologies that were obsolete by the time they were completed. [6] “The U.S. Federal Government has had uneven success in applying advances in information technology to enhance governmental functions and services, achieve more efficient performance, increase access to Government information, and increase citizen participation in Government”. [7] Most Internet-based services of the Federal Government were actually disintegrated. They were developed and presented separately, according to the jurisdictional boundaries of an individual department or agency, rather than being integrated cooperatively. [8] Lack of interagency cooperation was explained by a lack of sufficient funding mechanisms to support such collaboration. Legislators believed that the improved government performance could be achieved through: the use of Internet-based technology, “strong leadership, better organization, improved interagency collaboration, and more focused oversight of agency compliance with statutes related to information resource management.” [9] But, for providing those measures a public law was needed. In December 2002 the U.S. Congress admitted public law No: 107–347. [10] Its main goal was to enhance the management and promotion of electronic government services and processes. Broad framework of measures that required using Internet-based information technology to enhance citizen access to government information and services were established. Federal Chief Information Officer’s institution was established within the Office of Management and Budget,

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives. The head of the Office was an Administrator and was a nominee of the President. Short title of the act was cited as the ‘‘E- Government Act of 2002’’. [11] The main mission of the new office was overall leadership and direction to the executive branch on electronic Government. Among other tasks of the office were defending information security; privacy; access to dissemination of and preservation of Government information; accessibility of information technology for persons with disabilities; promote innovative uses of information technology by agencies, particularly initiatives involving multiagency collaboration, through support of pilot projects, research, experimentation, and the use of innovative technologies. [12] Among financial missions were: oversee the distribution of funds from, and ensure appropriate administration and coordination of the E-government fund; promotion electronic government and the efficient use of information technologies by agencies; to improve the performance of governments in collaborating on the use of information technology to improve the delivery of government information and services; include development of innovative models for electronic government management and government information technology contracts; identification of opportunities for public, private, and intergovernmental collaboration in addressing the disparities in access to the Internet and information technology. [13] Regardless of serious problems and undertaken measures to resolve existing contradictions, the USA remained a motherland of high-tech, especially computer and Internet invention/production/dissemination of products worldwide, as well as invention, practice and export of E-government system end Digital Democracy. For years the USA remained unprecedented leader in the world in e-government and effectiveness of its management. In 2001 the United Nations Division for Public Economics and Public Administration (UNDPEPA) and the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) undertook a research study analyzing the approach, progress and commitment on the part of the 190 UN member states. [14] The study became important contribution in estimation effectiveness of development e-governments worldwide. Its one of the main achievements was creation e-government Index. This index shows well the level of e-government development in different countries and gives opportunity to make comparative analyses from 2001 to 2010 (the last edition). The E-Government Readiness Index (the E-Government Development Index since 2010) is a composite index

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues comprising three main very important variables: the Web Measure Index; the telecommunication Infrastructure Index; and the Human Capital Index. [15] So, due to the Index it is possible to trace the technical facilities’ development level, conditions of telecommunication infrastructure. Another very important variable is the Human Capital potential of countries, because without advanced level of knowledge it might be quite difficult to promote advanced ICT. [16] Each index comprises its own variables. The Web Measure Index estimates governmental web pages: quantity of information and services; quality of public participation in discussions and decision making process. The Telecommunication Infrastructure Index estimates: quantity of personal computers; Internet users; telephone lines; mobile phones; and TVs in countries. The Human Capital Index estimates value adult literacy rate and combined gross enrolment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools by per cent. [17] The USA since 2001 was unconditional leader of the world by E-government index including 2005. The USA was significantly ahead all other countries during years. But, in 2005 the gap between the USA and Denmark was symbolic only 0, 0004 points. United States had 0.9062 grades and Denmark - 0.9058. [18] In three years situation dramatically have changed and the USA lost its world leadership. In 2008 the USA had only 4th position in the world, while leading countries were Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Number of factors provoked the U.S. failure in the world race. Western countries allocated significant financial and intellectual resources not only in the development of information technologies in their countries, but as well in development of E-government and Digital Democracy as inevitable part of Information Society. Another negative factor for the USA was deep economic crises, which has exploded on the surface in 2008 as a long term hidden problems’ demonstration. Situation for the USA had positively changed in 2010, when the USA took among 191 countries second place. The first place received Republic of Korea (South Korea) for the first time in its history. Republic of Korea received 1.0000 rates, United States 0.9365, Canada 0.8825 and United Kingdom 0.7746. [19] Victory of South Korea is explained by unprecedented financial and intellectual investments in E-government complex - its infrastructure and human resources, during number of years.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

Since introduction of E-government measurement index, regional distribution of E- government is unchanged. Traditionally Europe has the leading positions, than comes Americas, Asia, Oceania and Africa. [20] So, the global E-government development world map demonstrates very stable results. High-income countries enjoy the top rankings in the E- government development index. 2010 survey shows that Europe and the Americas score above the world average. Asia is almost the same as the world average. Africa and Oceania score below the world average. [21] Europe and Americas are the only two regions above the world average. Africa continues to lag far below the world average, given that most of the world’s least developed countries are in this region and they generally lack the financial and human resources to fully implement E- government. Least developed countries have no real e-services, nor are they providing citizens with transactional opportunities. The top two positions among least developed countries in the online service assessment went to Bangladesh and Angola. In the bottom of the list were Sierra Leone, Central African Republic and Somalia. [22] The UN surveys show well general tendencies existing in different countries and in the world general. It became a powerful instrument of measurement and adoption of best practice solutions from around the world. It is obvious, that the world witnesses overwhelming, gradual, but persistent process of global standardization, tightness of the world community and vitality acceleration, usage and development of E-government.

References:

1. Declaration of Principles, Building the Information Society: a global challenge in the new Millennium, Document WSIS-03/Geneva/DOC/4-E, World Summit on the Information Society, 12 December 2003. 2. Digital Democracy Discourse and Decision Making in the Information Age ed. Barry N. Hague and Brian D. Loader , 1999 Routledge, London, p.3. 3. Digital Democracy Discourse and Decision Making in the Information Age ed. Barry N. Hague and Brian D. Loader , 1999 Routledge, London.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

4. Office of E-Government & Information Technology, The White House, http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/e-gov/ 5. Public Law 107–347—DEC. 17 2002 116 STAT. 2899, Public Law 107–347, 107th Congress, ‘‘E-Government Act of 2002’’ http://aspe.hhs.gov/datacncl/privacy/titleV.pdf http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/e-gov/ 6. Public Law 107–347—DEC. 17 2002 116 STAT. 2899, Public Law 107–347, 107th Congress, ‘‘E-Government Act of 2002’’ http://aspe.hhs.gov/datacncl/privacy/titleV.pdf 7. Ibid. 8. Public Law 107–347—DEC. 17 2002 116 STAT. 2899, Public Law 107–347, 107th Congress, ‘‘E-Government Act of 2002’’ http://aspe.hhs.gov/datacncl/privacy/titleV.pdf 9. Ibid. 10. Ibid. 11. Ibid. 12. Public Law 107–347—DEC. 17 2002 116 STAT. 2899, Public Law 107–347, 107th Congress, ‘‘E-Government Act of 2002’’ http://aspe.hhs.gov/datacncl/privacy/titleV.pdf 13. Benchmarking E-government: A Global Perspective Assessing the Progress of the UN Member States United Nations, UN, New York, 2001 http://www.unpan.org/Portals/0/60yrhistory/documents/Publications/Benchmarking%20E- Government.2002.pdf 14. Ibid., pp. 57-62. UN Global E-Government Survey, UN, New Your, 2003, pp. 660-100, http://www.unpan.org/egovkb/global_reports/08report.htm http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan016066.pdf

UN Global E-Government Readiness Report 2004 Towards Access for Opportunity United Nations, New York, 2004, pp.121-161. http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan016066.pdf; http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan019207.pdf

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

UN Global E-government Readiness Report 2005 From E-government to E-inclusion United Nations, New York, pp.196-204, http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan016066.pdf; http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan021888.pdf

United Nations e-Government Survey 2008 From e-Government to Connected Governance, United Nations, New York, 2008, pp. 174-216, http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan016066.pdf; http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan019207.pdf United Nations E-Government Survey 2010 Leveraging e-government at a time of financial and economic crisis, UN Publishing Section, New York, 2010, pp.114-124, http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan016066.pdf; http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan038851.pdf 15. Ibid. 16. Ibid. 17. UN Global E-government Readiness Report 2005 From E-government to E-inclusion United Nations, New York, p.196. http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan021888.pdf 18. United Nations E-Government Survey 2008 from E-Government to Connected Governance, United Nations, New York, 2008, p. 174. http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan019207.pdf 19. United Nations E-Government Survey 2010 Leveraging e-government at a time of financial and economic crisis, UN Publishing Section, New York, 2010, pp. 114. 20. Ibid., pp.60-61. 21. Ibid. 22. United Nations E-Government Survey 2010 Leveraging e-government at a time of financial and economic crisis, UN Publishing Section, New York, 2010, p. 82.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

Current Tendencies in American Moral Philosophy

ANASTASIA ZAKARIADZE

The most striking feature of contemporary American philosophy is its scope and scale. (1) It’s a fact that, outside the academy circles, the writings of worldwide known and important contemporary American philosophers exert no influence; nowadays they are not opinion- shapers: they do not have access to the media, to the political establishment, to the "think tanks" that seek to mold public opinion. Insofar as they exert an external influence at all, it is confined to academics of other fields. Professors of government may read John Rawls, professors of literature Richard Rorty, professors of linguistics W. V. Quine. It was otherwise earlier in the XX century; historians of philosophy call it the era of William James, John Dewey, and George Santayana(2); then the writings of individual philosophers set the stage for at least some discussions and debates in a wider public. In the philosophical environment of the past, the role of the great figures was more prominent. Philosophical innovation today is generally not the response to the preponderant effort of pace-setting individuals, but a genuinely collective effort that is best characterized in statistical terms. But it is certainly not so in the America of today. Philosophers (academics in general) play very little role in the molding of an informed public opinion in the United States; such work is largely done by publicists, filmmakers, and talk show hosts. American society today does not reflect the concerns of philosophers, but the very reverse is the case: where "relevant" at all, the writings of philosophers reflect the concerns of the society. Until around 1914, it was religion that exerted the dominant influence on philosophers writing in America. During the era from 1914 to 1960 natural science served as the prime source of inspiration. But over the past generation the sources of inspiration have been greatly diversified. Richard Rorty on "Philosophy in American Today"(3) both describes and celebrates the post-war era's shift from a scientific model of philosophizing to a political model wherein "literary culture" is what matters most, and wherein people proceed with "the

 Professor, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues sense that nature and scientific truth are largely beside the point and that history is up for grabs."(4) But this account envisions an unrealistic uniformity. If in recent years the sources of influence have fragmented across the whole academic board: for inspiration some look to psychology especially to Freud, others to economics from Marx to von Neumann, others to literature, to law, and so forth, contemporary American philosophy does not have the form of a monolith system with a few major trends; it is a complex mosaic of many different and competing approaches. But still we could say that, the most prominent examples of currently fashionable approaches are concentrated in the sphere of moral philosophy. Matters of philosophical history aside, the popular themes and issues with which American philosophers are grappling at the present time are the following: • Applied ethics: ethical issues in the professions: medicine, business, law, and so forth; • Ethical approaches towards artificial intelligence, "can machines think?" the epistemology and ethics of information processing; rationality and its ramifications; • Ethical implications of medical technology (abortion, euthanasia, right to life, medical research issues, informed consent); • Human responsibilities and human rights, social and economic justice, distributive policies, equality of opportunity; • The merits and demerits of skepticism and relativism regarding knowledge and morality; • The nature of personhood and the rights and obligations of persons. None of these issues was put on the problem-agenda of present concern by any one particular philosopher. None arose out of a preoccupation with fundamental aspects of some already well-established issue. None arose out of one particular philosophical text or discussion. The turning of philosophy from globally general, large-scale issues to more narrowly focused investigations of matters of microscopically fine-grained detail is a characteristic feature of American philosophy after World War II. Its widespread use of the case-study method in philosophy is a striking phenomenon for which no one philosopher can claim credit-- to a contemporary observer it seems like the pervasively spontaneous expression of "the spirit of the times." American philosophers have been very flexible in bending with the

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues wind. When society calls for relevancy to social concerns, there springs forth a new specialty of "applied philosophers" to provide it. When problems of medical ethics or bioethics occupy the society, a bevy of concerned young philosophers stands ready to leap into the breach. The flowering of practical segment of moral philosophy, applied ethics: medical ethics, business ethics, environmental ethics, and the like, of virtue ethics: trust, hope, neighborliness, and so forth, of social ethics distributive justice, privacy, individual rights, and so forth, can also be dated from the end of 1970’s. Philosophy returned to the issues of the day at almost the very moment when the wider public gave up thinking of the discipline as relevant to its concerns. The rapid growth of "applied ethics", that is, moral reflection about detailed issues in science, law, business, social affairs, computer use, and the like is a striking structural feature of contemporary American philosophy. In particular, the past three decades have seen a great proliferation of narrowly focused philosophical investigations of particular issues in areas such as economic justice, social welfare, ecology, abortion, population policy, military defense, and so on. This situation illustrates the most characteristic feature of contemporary American philosophizing: the emphasis on detailed investigation of moral issues and themes; American philosophers have in recent years tended to stay away from abstract matters of wide and comprehensive scope characteristic of the earlier era of Whitehead or Dewey; nowadays they tend to focus their investigations on issues of small-scale detail that relate to and grow out of those larger issues of traditional concern. An interesting--and unexpected--aspect of contemporary American moral philosophy relates to the fate of pragmatism. The high priests of this quintessentially American tendency of thought--C.S. Pierce, William James, John Dewey, and C. I. Lewis--while entertaining rather different conceptions of the doctrine at issue, were all agreed on the central point that the standard of merit for cognitive products (ideas, theories, methods) lay outside the realm of pure theory in the area of practical application and implementation. For them the test of our intellectual artifacts lay in their being seen as instrumentalities of effective praxis, as able to serve the communal purposes for the sake of which available resources are instituted. But in recent years many philosophers who have laid claim to the label of "pragmatism" have subjected the traditional doctrine to a drastic sea-change. Where the classical pragmatists

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues sought in applicative efficacy a test of objective adequacy, an individual-transcending reality principle to offset the vagaries of personal reactions, the pseudo-pragmatists turn their backs on the pursuit of objectivity and impersonality. For traditional pragmatism's communal concern with "what works out for us" they have perversely substituted an egocentrism concerned with "what works out for me (or for you)." The defining project of the pragmatic tradition--the search for objective and impersonal standards--is shattered into a fragmentation of individual impressions. We have a total dissolution that is, destruction of the classical pragmatic approach that saw the rational validity of intellectual artifacts to reside in their capacity to provide effective guidance toward the successful conduct of our extra theoretical affairs in matters of prediction, planning, successful intervention in the course of nature, and like aspects of the conduct of our practical activities Some argue, be it on the basis of skepticism or relativism or scientism, that a post- philosophical era has been entered, philosophy as traditionally conceived is no longer viable. Others argue on neo-Marxist grounds that interest, not necessarily economic but also cultural or social, is what determines all and that old-style, would-be rational philosophy is simply a covering for sexist, racist, or culturalist prejudices. Traditional philosophizing is viewed as mere ideology and the politically correct thing to do is to abandon philosophy as a venture in inappropriate elitism. (5) Other critiques of philosophizing issue from a basis external to philosophy. Followers of the "critical studies" trend of literary analysis propose to deconstruct philosophical discourse to a point of a variety that renders rational deliberation unrealizable (6) From the vantage point of such a postmodernist disdain for reason, traditional philosophy's commitment to the methodology of reflective analysis and impartial reasonableness continues to earn for it the sort of opposition encountered by Socrates at the very outset of the enterprise. Yet the fact that any critical examination of the scope and merits of philosophy will itself form part of the philosophical venture at large--that metaphilosophy is a part of philosophy--continues to assure the discipline a lively future despite all such critical opposition.(7) In its present configuration, American philosophy indicates that the "revolt of the masses," which Ortega y Gasset thought characteristic of our era, manifests itself not only in politics and social affairs but in intellectual culture also and even in philosophy.(8)

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

If such a perspective is indeed valid, certain far-reaching implications follow for the eventual historiography of present-day American philosophy; for it indicates a situation with which no historian of philosophy has as yet come to terms. In the heroic era of the past, the historian of the philosophy of a place and time could safely concentrate upon the dominant figures and expect thereby to achieve certain completeness with respect to "what really mattered." Such an approach is grossly unsuited to the conditions of the present era, however. Those dominant figures have lost control of the agenda. To accommodate the prevailing realities, the story of present-day American philosophy must be presented in a much more aggregated and statistically articulated format. Insofar as single individuals are dealt with as such, it must be done against such an enlarged background: they must now be seen as representative rather than as determinative figures, with the status of the individual philosopher selected for historical consideration generally downgraded into a merely exemplary, illustrative instance of a larger trend. The historian of American philosophy in its present-day configuration accordingly faces a task of selection entirely different in nature and scope from that which prevailed heretofore. If the development of American philosophy continues along its present path, the role of the individual, as seen in the historiography of the future, will be as the subject of a footnote illustrative of the diversified general trends and tendencies of thought to which the main body of the text will have to be dedicated. American philosophy is very much alive. But we have to ask: is it also well and healthy? In a society that prioritizes the pursuit of happiness and divides its ideological inclinations between life's practicalities on the one hand and idealism on the other, philosophy's halfway house will never ever be genuinely popular. American philosophy today is characterized not by uniformity and cohesion but by a luxuriant diversity that offers something to suit most every taste. This pluralistic character of American philosophy represents a realistic and effective accommodation to its environing circumstances and conditions; and that, after all, is what health is all about (9)

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

References: 1. Nicholas Rescher, American Philosophy Today. Review of Metaphysics. June.1993. p.30 2. Bruce Kuklick, The Rise of American Philosophy: 1860-1930 .New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977.p.112-113 3. Richard Rorty, "Philosophy in America Today," in Richard Rorty, Consequences of Pragmatism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1982, pp. 211-30. 4. Ibid., pp 228-9. 5. Cornel West, The American Evasion of Philosophy. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989, pp.238-9. 6. Bruce Kuklick, “Does American Philosophy Rest on a Mistake?" in American Philosophy, ed. Marcus G. Singer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985, pp.177-89. 7. The Institution of Philosophy: A Discipline in Crisis, ed. Avner Cohen and Marcello Descal. La Salle: Open Court, 1989. 8. Ortega y Gasset, The Revolt of the Masses, trans. Anthony Kerrigan (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1989, p.73. 9. Richard Schlatter, Philosophy: Princeton Studies of Humanistic Scholarship in America, p. x.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

Methods of Unitary Scaling and Evaluation of Quality Standards in Education

IRINA MILNIKOVA*

Introduction General conceptions of quality management in education Quality management of education investigates whether the process of activity is efficient (whether the goals are achievable). In other words, quality management checks whether relevant systems and structures within organization support the goal of instruction (Hernon, 2002). General purposes of Quality Management in Education are formulated as (Hernon, 2002):  What key outcomes has an educational institution achieved?  How good is its delivery of education processes?  How good is its management?  How good is its leadership?  What is its capacity for improvement? According to (Harvey & Green, 1993) each of these high-level questions can be answered by means of 3 basic actions: 1. definition of what quality is; 2. definition what assessment standards are; 3. comparing the latter with the real outcomes and decide to what extent the standards are met. Thus, one can conclude that quality management is a system that checks whether the produced product or offered service meets the set standards. Also Hernon (Hernon, 2002) states that quality assessment should meet the needs of people who benefit from this, as one of the aims of the assessment should be the improvement of activity within the institution under assessment. The advantages of using of quality management in educations can be summarized as follows (EAQAHE, 2005): • Clarity of Organizational Purpose and Direction • Higher Student Performance and Lower Dropout Rates • Roadmap to Achieve the National Education Strategy

* Ph.D. Student, Faculty of Informatics and Control Systems, Georgian Technical University, Tbilisi, Georgia; Head Teacher of Montessori School of Manhattan, New York, USA.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

• Better Performance Cost Index • Enhanced Product and Service • Top Box Customer Satisfaction • Higher Faculty and Staff Well-Being, Satisfaction, Motivation, and Retention Definition of the Problem Quality management has several dimensions. One of them is organizational issue, efficient implementation of which requires quantitative measurement and assessment of quality. The latter implies necessity of usage of Statistical Quality Control (SQC), which makes the whole process of quality management more objective, unbiased and measurable. By its nature SQC can provide quantitative estimation of above mentioned characteristics of educational process: 1. interrelation between education level index and quality; 2. quantitative measurement and assessment of quality. At the same time using of this method in educational processes is in the conceptual stage. Published works consider direct usage of Control Charts (CC) to evaluate development of the learning process in a classroom (EAQAHE, 2005). Apparently, that group of students under consideration represents assembly of individualities. Therefore, technology of CC, intended for evaluation quality of industrial outputs, cannot be sufficiently used to evaluate learning activity of human entities: more humanitarian, more concentrated on a person, approach should be elaborated for this end. Moreover, in the case of educational processes it is not clear how to define standards, and how to compare current states of the process to predefined standards. It is unlike the quality control of production processes, when standards and permitted deviations (2 or 3 sigma) are specified by means of technological and economical requirements. It is clear, that SQC should evaluate numerical characteristics of education process which are the students’ grades. It means that SQC must evaluate assessment standards, provide comparing procedure of them to current outcomes (tests, exams grades) and decide to what extent the standards are met. So, one can conclude, that relying on analysis of tests quantitative results SQC should solve three important problems: 1. comparison of different sets of grades of various disciplines; 2. quantitative definition of quality standards and 3. measuring of to what extent the standards and

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues current results are close (to what extent the standards are met). Solution of each of these problems requires especial methods and approaches. These methods are: Equating and Contingency Tables.

Basic Part Equating We use equating as reliable techniques to compare different subjects tests (exams) results to each other and to standards. Equating method is originated from the problem of comparison of different sets of test scores of different discipline. Point is that different subjects have different difficulties (different test characteristics), so direct comparisons of two (or more) test results are incorrect. Test equating traditionally refers to the statistical process of determining comparable scores on different forms of an exam (Kolen & Brenan, 2004). Equating methods can be used to adjust for differences in difficulty across alternate disciplines, resulting in comparable score scales and more accurate estimates of students ability, which finally defines quality of education. Types of Equating We are considering now basic types of equating. Equating with the equivalent groups can be categorized as either linear (mean or linear equating), or nonlinear (equipercentile equating). We assume the following model. There are one group of students and their grades in two different subjects. Grades are considered as random variables X (subject 1) and Y (subject 2) with certain cumulative distribution functions F(X) and G(Y). Correspondingly, xi and yi (i=1,2,…,n), where n-number of observations (number of students)), are the sample values of the variables. Equating function is mutual one-to-one mapping of F(X) into G(Y) and vice-versa. Among several equation methods we can outline methods of Identity Equating, Linear and Mean Equating methods. No doubts that among them the most used is Equipercentile equating (Kolen & Brenan, 2004).

Let eY(x) is a symmetric equating function mapping scores of subject X into scores to * subject Y. Also let G cumulative distribution function of eY(x).

The function ey is equipercentile equating function if G*=G. (1)

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

One can represent e.q.f. as -1 eY(x)=G (F(x)), (2) where G-1- is the inverse of G. By the symmetry property -1 eX(y)=F (G(y)). The essence of equipercentile equating is graphically representing in the Fig.1

Distribution 1 Distrubution 2

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30

Percentile Rank 20 10 0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 Scores

Fig.1 Graphical illustration of Equipercentile Equating (Kolen & Brenan, 2004).

Fig.1 shows that equipercentile equating method defines differences of scores (percentiles) in different distributions for the fixed percentile rank (frequency or empirical probability). For example, percentile rank of 66 has percentile of 3.1 in the first distribution and 2.5 in the second one. It leads that the test defined by Distribution 1 should be evaluated as easer than the test defined by the Distribution 2. However, for the above formulated purposes the equipercentile method cannot be used. Usage of equating to compare empirical probabilities of different tests scores in the terms of a unique pattern scale requires, in a sense, inverse approach: for a fixed percentile one has to define differences in corresponding percentile ranks in two different distributions. We refer this approach as Equiscore Equating method. The essence of the method is graphically represented in fig.2: 50% percentile rank of distribution 1 is mapped into 65% percentile rank of distribution 2 by means of equal score of 2.5.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

Distribution 1 Distrubution 2

100 90 80 70 60 50 40

30 PercentileRank 20 10 0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 Scores

Fig.2 Graphical illustration of Equiscore Equating

Let Gp denotes pattern random variable, gp – its certain value, Fp(Gp) – cumulative pattern distribution, Gs – random variable of scores of a subject of interest, gs – its certain value, Fs(Gs)

Fp (x) – cumulative distribution of Gs and es (g) - equiscore function, mapping percentile rank

Fs(gs) of distribution Fs(Gs) into percentile rank Fp(gp) of distribution Fp(Gp). It can be expressed analytically as follows

Fp (x) 1 es (g s )  Fp (Fs (g s )) . (3) In conclusion, usage of equating techniques provides conversion of grades of all courses (delivered in certain department or faculty) into unique scale. This provides their correct and consistent comparison to established standards.

Contingency Tables To elaborate standards we use technology of contingency tables (Andersen, 1974). The following model is considered: n groups of students (each group represents the same year students) during n years (one group each year) took the same m different courses each year. It means that we have nm distributions of corresponding scores. Among m courses’ scores choose one which will be considered as a basic course (it could be chosen, for example, according to professional importance: calculus - for department of mathematics, object-oriented languages - for department of computers etc.). Then for each of n

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues given years we have to equate scores distribution of each of the rest m-1 courses to the distribution of basic course. It results that we would have m equated distribution of each of n years. Based on the latter we can, using well known statistical methods, calculate for each of these distributions their mean or median percentile ranks1 (assuming that distributions are normal they are equal) fij (i-number of a year and j-number of a subject). These statistics can be represented as a contingency table with two independent modes of classification: one mode is time (years) and the other one- subjects.

Table 1. Contingency Matrix Subjects

(Classification 2) Row 1 … j … m Mean ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ 1 f11 … f1 j … f1m f1.

… … … … … …

ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ i f … fij … f f Years i1 im i. … … … … … … (Classification 1) ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ n fn1 … f nj … fnm fn.

fˆ - ˆ ˆ ˆ .. Column Mean f.1 … f. j … f.m matrix mean

The probability Pi. of category i in classification 1 happening and the probability P.j of category j in classification 2 happening are:

fˆ fˆ P  i. or P  . j . (4) i. ˆ . j ˆ nf.. nf..

1 The percentile rank of a fixed score is the percentage of scores in its frequency distribution that are the same or lower than the score [4].

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

Since two classifications (Years and Subjects) are independent, the probability of a cell (i,j) is

fi. f. j Pi j  Pi.P. j  2 . (5) mn( f..) Using (5) one can calculate Expected Values of each percentile ranks represented in Contingency table

Eij  (mnf..)Pij . (6) Each column of Tab.1 is considered as a samples from the same general population. Thus, each values fij estimated from sample distributions are random and their means Eij, defined in (6), show the expected values of a subject j in year i which hereafter we consider as corresponding standard. Having estimators of standards and following traditional SQC ideology, we put a question about these standards’ Lower and Upper Control limits. They can be calculated as confidence intervals for normally distributed random variables means:

S j S j LCij  Eij  Z 0.997 and UCij  Eij  Z0.997 , (7) n n

where Z0.997- 99.7% percentile of standard normal distribution;

n ˆ 2 ( fij  f. j ) S 2  i1 - variance of rank percentiles of the year j. j n 1 If certain mean (median) grade falls out of the corresponding limits, one can conclude the result is not normal. Possible reasons may be due to: bad teaching methodology, bad textbooks, bad class environment etc. All of these require especial researches, which are out of Statistical Methods scope. The main result of elaborated methodology is that it maintains quality of the educational institution’s studying process stable, because it detects and then permits to eliminate educational nonconformings. We have to underline those standards and their Lower and Upper Limits are defined on the base of historical data (statistics) of the institution. Thus, they are not artificial recommendations from outside of institution, but reflect the traditions of the institution and its steady state pedagogical level.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

The Lower LCij and Upper UCij Control limits with Z0.997 correspond to 3σ deviations from expected value, so one can refer them as Natural Control Limits. In the case more stable results are desirable one can use more narrow limits, by changing confidence level in standard 2 distribution percentiles . These limits we can refer as Specification Limits, because, unlike Natural Control Limits, they are defined by requirements specified by the quality office or any other external organization. Conclusion We suggest basic conception of implementation of Statistical Quality Control in education which should be based of such statistical procedures as Equating and Contingency Tables methods. Equating, in particular Equipercentile equating, permits to create common scale for evaluating and comparing various grades of, strongly different by their natures, subjects. Then, Contingency Tables methods permit to detect, taking into consideration many years’ statistical data of the educational institution, quantitative standards and their natural and, if necessary, specification Upper and Lower limits. The latter allows to provide stability level of teaching, which was formed during the life-time of the educational institution.

References: 1. Hernon, P. (2002). Quality: new directions in the research. Journal of Academic Liberianship, Vol 28, Issue 4. 2. Harvey, L., Green, D. (1993). Defining Quality. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol 18. 3. Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area. (2005). European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education. Helsinki, Finland 4. Kolen M.J, Brenan R.L. (2004). Test Equating, Scaling and Linking. methods and Practice. Springer. 5. Andersen, A. H. (1974). Multidimensional contingency tables. Scand. J. Statist. 1, 115–127.

2 One σ corresponds to confidence level of 68% and 2 σ – to 95%.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

Global Integral Humanities- the Experience of an Exchange Program between IBSU and Washington University in St. Louis

JOACHIM FAUST

Global education is a topic that is currently on many people’s minds. All social and cultural systems are rapidly gaining a global dimension, and the question of how to adequately prepare students for the emergence of a world characterized by more and more intense contacts between its inhabitants and cultures is becoming increasingly important. The question, however, of how to conduct global education successfully and how to decide what the best practices are, is much less clear. The answer to this question is very much in the process of emerging. The purpose of this paper is to make a small contribution to this process, by briefly describing a project that Washington University in St. Louis and the International Black Sea University in Tbilisi (IBSU) have been engaged in since 2006. I will point out some structural features of this program, and I will sum up my own personal observations, in the hope that they may be relevant for laying the ground for possible future projects. Since 2004, Washington University’s faculty members and students have been regularly traveling to the South Caucasus for academic purposes, mainly to Georgia, but also to a lesser degree to Azerbaijan and Armenia. Most generally, the purpose of these trips and the ensuing contacts with students and teachers from the region has been guided by questions such as the following: What can Americans, Georgians, Azerbaijanis, and Armenians learn from each other? How specifically does this learning occur? What fields and areas of scholarship, as well as what type of topics are conducive to this type of intercultural learning? What tools – in the sense of technological tools, but also in the sense of educational methodology – can be used to enhance the quality of this learning? As for the structural features of the program, the one constant element has been an annual trip of different groups of students from Washington University to Georgia. During some of the years, we also went to Azerbaijan (2006, 2007, and 2008), and on one occasion, we went to

 Professor, Washington University, St. Louis, U.S.A.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

Armenia (2011). The length of these trips varied from fifteen days to seven weeks. The group size was between seven and twelve students per trip. As a result, altogether about sixty students from Washington University have traveled to Georgia during the past seven years. Each trip included traditional class meetings, as well as class meetings with Georgian, Azerbaijani, and Armenian students, scholars, and public figures. We also always made sure to take Georgian students along when going on excursions inside of Georgia, and even when traveling to Azerbaijan and Armenia, which are not that frequently visited by Georgians. Another important feature of the program has been home stays: our students usually spend about half of their time in Georgia hosted by the family of one of their peers from IBSU. Last but not least, a small number of Georgian students from IBSU – altogether fourteen between 2009 and 2012 - have been able to visit Washington University in St. Louis. Each of their visits lasted about sixteen to eighteen days, during which the students stayed in dormitories on campus and attended classes at the university. Each of our trips to the South Caucasus had an academic focus, which varied considerably in from year to year. The very first trip was dedicated to the exploration of Georgia immediately after the Rose Revolution of 2003 as an example of an emerging democracy. In essence, this seminar integrated aspects of political science with the study of collective memory and identity formation. Another example was the seminar “Language, Culture, and Social Values,” which was thematically located at the interface between social psychology and cognitive linguistics. One other important area has been applied linguistics. Given the fact that the working language for all of these trips has been English, we have been able to bring up a number of very interesting sociolinguistic and other language- related topics, e.g. what are the implications of English as a global lingua franca, or what does it mean for the nations of the South Caucasus to give up Russian as their regional lingua franca. Also, since the students at IBSU and all other students in the region that we interact with are learners of English, the American students are linguistic role models for their peers. One of our goals has been to equip students with at least some of the tools needed to deal with this role effectively. These examples show a relatively large variety of topics and approaches, as well as an overall flexibility in the way in which the program has been conducted. I would like to call this the program’s “integrative capability,” a term that can be understood as the ability to integrate

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues elements from different fields across traditional boundaries of scholarship and science.3 The related term “transdisciplinarity” also applies here:

“Transdisciplinarity complements disciplinary approaches. It occasions the emergence of new data and new interactions from out of the encounter between disciplines.” (from Article 3 of the Charter of Transdisciplinarity)

In other words, the collaboration between Washington University and IBSU during the past few years can be characterized as “transdisciplinary.” It also has exhibited a noticeable “integrative capability.” In spite of this variability, however, there has been a constant pedagogical principle at the very core of the program, which I would like to describe briefly. The program has been closely associated with a Freshman Focus seminar taught at Washington University with the title “Global Culture and the Individual.” The main goal of this class is to study and practice intercultural skills. Among other things, we simulate situations in which the students’ cultural assumptions are challenged, and then we explore ways to deal with these situations. In the context of this class, the trip to the South Caucasus functions as an opportunity to practice what we have learned and to move from a virtual environment into the “real world.” The goal is to help students raise their personal and cultural awareness and help them develop a more “global” consciousness. The following quote from an American participant illustrates how students indeed have had transformational educational experiences during our trips:

“My shocking “what?” moment in Azerbaijan occurred when I got into a discussion about religion with one of the Azeri students who considers himself a devout Muslim. At the beginning of our dialogue, I was fairly entrenched in my belief that he was intolerant with no respect for my or anyone else’s beliefs. Throughout the course of our dialogue,

3 The term “integrative capability” is used in a very similar sense e.g. in the area of industrial and corporate change. Compare e.g. the title of a recent paper: ‘The Evolution of Integrative Capability: Innovation in Cardiovascular Drug Discovery” (by Rebecca Henderson, see: http://icc.oxfordjournals.org/content/3/3/607.abstract).

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

we learned many things about each other. For example, I learned that there is no Azeri word for “interpretation” and that that was one reason why he was having difficulty understanding what I meant. He learned that many religions, and many value systems for that matter, aren’t all that different from Islam. We shared many of the same beliefs after all. By the end of the dialogue, we weren’t angry at each other anymore, and we both respected each other’s views.” As a result of this experience, the student concluded: “When I came back from my trip. I couldn’t help looking at the world differently.” What this student refers to as a “what moment,” can also be called a “rich point,” a term introduced by the anthropologist Michael Agar. A rich point is, in essence, a moment in which somebody’s expectations, which are based on previous acculturation, clash with the reality of another culture. As Agar puts it, rich points “happen when, suddenly, you don’t know what’s going on” (Agar, 106). Rich points, therefore, can be seen as gateways to the understanding of other cultures. After successfully exploring a rich point, a person often significantly changes his or her world view, which is what happened to this student:

“This small example really taught me how important it is not to get caught up my immediate reality and how there is always something just beyond me of which I need to stay aware. Once again my model of the world expanded, giving me a more realistic view of the state in which I live. Moreover, it acted as testimony to my growth during this trip and a reminder that any experience can shape my understanding of the world.”

Not only did the American students have the opportunity to experience and explore many such rich points, but the same is also true for their peers in the South Caucasus, as the following quote from a Georgian student illustrates:

“Due to our American friends, we received an invaluable chance to explore our country; we observed our culture with our own eyes and got an additional perspective from the Americans’ point of view. … When two people from different countries interact they

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

unintentionally get acquainted with one another’s culture through exchanging their values. This is what I would call cultural dialogue. Georgian-American cultural dialogue took place in the highlands of Svaneti.” This quote also emphasizes the fact that the project has never just been a one-way street, but has had benefits for all sides involved. I have already mentioned the fact that the students in the South Caucasus, by interacting with the American students, have the opportunity to practice their English with native speakers. Hosting an American student, therefore, takes on the character of an intensive English course for a Georgian student. In 2009, we organized an English Language Clinic in Ganja, Azerbaijan for local high school students. During this event, American students from Washington University and Georgian students from IBSU jointly taught the Azerbaijani teenagers. This convergence of cultures created fertile ground for many rich points to emerge. Further examples which illustrate the mutual benefit very clearly are the following: During their visits to Washington University, IBSU students participate in the class “Global Culture and the Individual,” where they provide the American freshmen with a firsthand opportunity to experience Georgian culture in their classroom, even before they travel to Georgia. Moreover, in the past two years, a very interesting project has grown from the Washington University/IBSU collaboration. Graduate instructor Shannon Koropchak from the Washington University English department teaches the writing class “American Style Argumentation” to a group of IBSU students. The major part of the class takes place through distance learning. Lectures are delivered from St. Louis to Tbilisi via Skype, and American tutors work with Georgian students on their papers, also connecting through Skype and e-mail. Similar technologies have also been used in past exchanges, when American and Georgian students created podcasts for each other. The podcasts were either short video or audio clips about topics such as their hometowns, student life at their university, their favorite music, etc. In lieu of a conclusion, let me tell the story of the one of my own most memorable experiences in the South Caucasus. During one of our early trips, we went to Ganja, Azerbaijan, where we had the opportunity to visit the local Center for Decorative Applied Art, idiosyncratically housed in the ancient, long defunct Chokah Bathhouse in the center of town, right next to the famous Shah Abbas Mosque. The center’s director, an artist named Qalib Baghirov gave a brief talk about his own art as well as the exhibits in the museum in general.

SECTION I: Education and Social Issues

The artwork consisted mostly of examples of what can be called “Persian miniature painting.” Scenes from the Quran, as well as from other sources of the Islamic tradition were artfully depicted on fine porcelain. Most importantly, there were scenes from the major works of the poet Nizami (1141 – 1209), one of the most notable sons of the city of Ganja. At the end of his talk, Baghirov mentioned globalization and he roughly said the following: “Globalization is accelerating and, at least so it seems, is unstoppable at this point. Perhaps, this is a good thing, perhaps it is not. At any rate, if we think of the emergence of a ‘global culture’ or a ‘global civilization,’ we could imagine a large, beautiful bouquet of flowers. Each culture, each nation on this planet adds their own most beautiful flower to this bouquet, and as a result, the bouquet represents the best of humanity. Of course, we can also choose to do it the other way around: each culture gives their trash to the world, and the global culture will be the collective trash pile of the world. But the beauty and the opportunity lies in the fact that it is our choice.” Since then, the metaphor of the “bouquet of globalization” has been a guiding metaphor for me personally, and it has inspired our trips to the South Caucasus. The Washington University/IBSU student exchange program has been a very small program, certainly in terms of the number of people and size of budgets. However, there is a good chance that this small program has been significant in increasing the likelihood that the particular individuals involved in the project will make the choice to add their flower to the global bouquet, rather than throwing their trash onto the global pile. After all, the creation of a global culture based on all that is good, true, and beautiful in this world will depend on the choices every single individual makes. Finally, let me emphasize again that these are merely my personal observations. In essence, the experience of this exchange program leads to the vision of a larger project within global education. The positive experience of the Washington University/IBSU project points to the potential that lies in the creation of a flexible, transcultural and transdisciplinary learning environment. The combination of an integral, transformational approach with variable academic content has been very successful in such an environment. A “working title” for such a larger projec could be Global Integral Humanities.

References: 1. http://basarab.nicolescu.perso.sfr.fr/ciret/english/charten.htm) 2. Agar, Michael: Language Shock. Understanding the Culture of Conversation. 1994

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

Writing ‘Race’: Fences by August Wilson

TAMAR CHEISHVILI August Wilson, an American playwright, is the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. His work includes a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle. Each is set in a different decade, expressing the comic and tragic aspects of the Afro-American experience in the 20th century. Wilson’s grandmother moved from North Carolina to Pennsylvania in search of a better life. Wilson’s mother raised the children alone; his father was mostly absent from his childhood. The economically depressed neighborhood in which he was raised was inhabited by black Americans; later family moved to the white neighborhood where they encountered racial hostility; they were soon forced out of their house onto their next home. Wilson began reading black writers at the age of 12 and spent teen years educating himself by reading Richard Wright and others. By this time, Wilson knew that he wanted to be a writer, but this created tension with his mother, who wanted him to become a lawyer. He began to write in bars, the local cigar stores and cafes, on table napkins absorbing the voices and characters around him. He liked to write on café napkins because, he said, it freed him up and made him less self-conscious as a writer. Then he gathered the notes and typed them at home. Wilson had an “astonishing memory” which he put to full use during his career. Wilson has taken upon himself the responsibility to write a play about black experience in the United States for every decade of the 20th century. Although he was a writer dedicated to writing for theatre a studio from Hollywood proposed filming Wilson’s play Fences. In it as in Wilson’s other plays, a tragic character helps pave the way for other blacks to have opportunities under conditions they were never free to experience. All of Wilson’s plays take place in his hometown of Pittsburgh, and Fences is no exception. Fences is Wilson’s best known play (1985). He stated that he was influenced mostly by the playwright Amiri Baraka: “From Amiri Baraka, I learned that all art is political, although I do

 Dr., Akaki Tsereteli State University, Kutaisi, Georgia.

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues not write political plays. In creating plays he often uses the image of a stewing pot in which he tosses various things that I’m going to make use of – a black cat, a garden, a man with a scar on his face, a man with a gun.” It is divided into two acts. Act one is comprised of four scenes and Act Two has five. Much of the conflict in Wilson’s plays, including Fences Fences explores the African-American experience and examines race relations, among other themes. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The focus of Wilson’s attention in Fences is Troy who struggles with providing for his family and with his obsession about cheating death. Location is Pittsburgh was a great baseball player in his youth but because the color barrier had not yet been broken in Major League Baseball, Troy was unable to make good money or to save for the future. He lives life with his wife, son Cory, brother Gabriel. The fence referred to by the play’s title is an unfinished fence in Troy’s yard. It is not immediately known why Troy wants to build it, but a dramatic monologue in the second act shows how he conceptualizes it as an allegory. Analogously, the fence is not completed within the course of Troy’s actions; thus, he does not live to the play’s conclusion. Rose also wanted to build the fence and forced her husband to start it as a means of securing what was her own, keeping what belonged inside in and what should stay outside stay out. The first staged reading of the play occurred in 1983 at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center’s National Playwright Conference. It was a huge success with both critics and viewers, and it drew black audiences to the theatre in much larger numbers than usual. Because the play had four years of pre-production development before it opened on Broadway. Reviewers also noted Wilson’s ability to create believable characters. Clive Barnes, writing for the New York Post, said that Wilson provides “the strongest, most passionate American dramatic writing since Tennessee Williams.” One of the central themes of Fences is death. Death is a character in the play. Rather than an elusive unknown, it becomes an object that Troy attempts to battle. The unfinished fence that Troy is building around his home is completed only when Troy feels threatened by death. In one of the stories he tells, Troy relates how he once wrestled with death and won. It is death that Troy calls upon to battle. And in the last scene, it is death that unites the family.

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

Much of the conflict in Wilson's plays, including Fences, arises because the characters are at odds with the way they see the past and what they want to do with the future. For example, Troy Maxson and his son, Cory sees Cory's future differently because of the way they interpret history. Troy does not want Cory to experience the hardship and disappointment Troy felt trying to become a professional sports player, so he demands that Cory work after school instead of practicing with the football team. Cory, however, sees that times changed since baseball rejected a player as talented as Troy because of the color of his skin. Cory knows the possibility exists that the professional sports world will include, not exclude him. In Act One, Scene Three, Cory provides examples of successful African American athletes to Troy. Cory says, "The Braves got Hank Aaron and Wes Covington. Hank Aaron hit two home runs today. That makes forty-three." Troy responds, "Hank Aaron ain't nobody." Cory's sport, football, integrated its players years before baseball. For Troy to accept this change in the world would cause Troy to accept the death of his own dreams. Troy refuses to see Cory's potential because it would mean accepting his own misfortune. Troy and Cory see history in a way that benefits their worldview. Unfortunately this conflict pushes father and son away from each other. Troy, who learned a responsible work ethic from his otherwise abusive father, means well when he insists that Cory return to work at the A&P because he sees the job as fair, honest work that isn't at the mercy of powerful whites' sometimes arbitrary decisions, as in Major League baseball. But by attempting to insure Cory of a harmless future, Troy stifles his son's potential and prevents Cory from having a promising future. Troy's perception of what is right and what is wrong for Cory, based on Troy's refusal to perceive a historical change in the acceptance of blacks, tragically causes Cory to experience a disappointing fate similar to Troy's. Troy passes his personal history on to his family in other ways throughout the play with sayings that represent his philosophies of life like, "You gotta take the crookeds with the straights." His children also inherit Troy's past by learning songs he sings like, "Hear It Ring! Hear It Ring!" a song Troy's own father taught him. Cory tells Rose in Act Two, scene five, "Papa was like a shadow that followed you everywhere." Troy's songs and sayings link his family to the difficult life in the south that his generation was free to run away from, though penniless and without roots in the north. Troy's purposefully and inadvertently passes on his life experience to his children and family, for better and for worse.

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues In Act one, scene one, Troy Maxson declares, "Death ain't nothing but a fastball on the outside corner." With this line, the former Negro League slugger merges his past experience as a ballplayer with his philosophy. Troy, Bono, and Rose argue about the quality of the Major League black ballplayer compared to Troy when he was in his prime. A fastball on the outside corner was homerun material for Troy. Though Troy feels beleaguered from work and deeply troubled by coming along too early to play in the Major Leagues because they were still segregated when he was in top form, Troy believes he is unconquerable and almost immortal when it come to issues of life and death. Troy knows he overcame pneumonia ten years ago, survived an abusive father and treacherous conditions in his adaptation to surviving in an urban environment when he walked north to live in Pittsburgh, and jail. Baseball is what Troy is most proud of and knows he conquered on his own. In this first scene of the play, Troy is afraid of nothing, values his life, and feels in control. Troy's attitude toward death is proud and nonchalant. Troy says, "Ain't nothing wrong with talking about death. That's part of life. Everybody gonna die. You gonna die, I'm gonna die. Bono's gonna die. Hell, we all gonna die." He has not recently experienced a personal loss so great that it humbles and weakens his spirit. In the same scene, Troy compares Death to an army that marched towards him in July, 1941, when he had pneumonia. He describes Death as an army, an icy touch on the shoulder, a grinning face. Troy claims he spoke to Death. Troy thinks he constantly has to be on guard against Death's army. He claims he saw Death standing with a sickle in his hand, spoke to Death and wrestled Death for three days and three nights. After the wrestling match, Troy saw Death put on a white robe with a hood on it and leave to look for his sickle. Troy admits, "Death ain't nothing to play with. And I know he's gonna get me," but he refuses to succumb to Death easily. Troy follows the Bible quotation, "Be ever vigilant," in his attitude towards Death. In his perception of Death, Troy mutates the form of Death many times, from fastball, to a sickle-carrying, devil-like figure and finally composting the devil into a Ku Klux Klan member in his white hood ceremony regalia. His image of Death being composed of a marching army or leading an army transforms into this KKK leader image that has camp followers. As the play progresses, Troy repeatedly merges his baseball metaphors with his Death rhetoric. In the last lines of numerous scenes Troy speaks to Death out- loud, taunting Death to

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues try to come after him and/or warns Cory that his behavior is causing him to strike out. Cory makes three mistakes in Troy's eyes and when he strikes out, Troy kicks him out of the house. Troy's death and baseball metaphors are inextricably linked. Admitting that he was too old to play baseball when the Major Leagues integrated would kill Troy's belief that he was directly cheated out of a special life that he deserved and earned. To Troy, it is enough of an injury that the Major Leagues were segregated during his prime. He sees baseball as the best time of his life, but also the death of his dreams and hopes. When Cory was born, Troy promised he would not allow his son to experience the same disappointment he was subjected to in baseball. So, Troy equates Cory's pursuit of a dream as strong as his father's as mistakes worthy of warning and punishment or "strikes" that Troy believes will prevent Cory from reaching the same fate as Troy did. August Wilson did not name his play, Fences, simply because the dramatic action depends strongly on the building of a fence in the Maxson's backyard. Rather, the characters lives change around the fence-building project which serves as both a literal and a figurative device, representing the relationships that bond and break in the arena of the backyard. The fact that Rose wants the fence built adds meaning to her character because she sees the fence as something positive and necessary. Bono observes that Rose wants the fence built to hold in her loved ones. To Rose, a fence is a symbol of her love and her desire for a fence indicates that Rose represents love and nurturing. Troy and Cory on the other hand think the fence is a drag and reluctantly work on finishing Rose's project. Bono also observes that to some people, fences keep people out and push people away. Bono indicates that Troy pushes Rose away from him by cheating on her. Troy's lack of commitment to finishing the fence parallels his lack of commitment in his marriage. The fence appears finished only in the final scene of the play, when Troy dies and the family reunites. The wholeness of the fence comes to mean the strength of the Maxson family and ironically the strength of the man who tore them apart, who also brings them together one more time, in death.

References: 1. New York Times obituary "August Wilson, Theater's Poet of Black America, Is D ead at 60". October 3, 2005.

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

2. Little, Johnathan. Twentieth-Century American Dramatists: Second Series. Detroit, Michigan: Gale, 2000. 3. Bonnie Lyons, George Plimpton. "August Wilson, The Art of Theater No. 14". The Paris Review, Winter 1999. 4. Bruce Steele. "Remembering August Wilson 1945-2005". The Pitt Chronicle. The University of Pittsburgh, 2005. 5. http://www.pulitzer.org/bycat/Drama 6. Weber, Bruce. "Israel Hicks, Director of August Wilson’s Cycle, Dies at 66", The New York Times, July 7, 2010. 7. Jesse McKinley. "Theater Is to Be Renamed for a Dying Playwright". The New York Times, 2 September 2005. 8. Kathy Mulady. "Visions for a New Seattle Center Being Made Public". The Seattle Post- Intelligencer, 12 June 2007

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

The Significance of Discourse Analysis in Language Teaching and Learning

IRMA GRDZELIDZE & NINO PKHAKADZE

The role of discourse analysis in language teaching is immensely impotent. Discourse enables language learners to adopt lexical and grammatical structure of language successfully. To attain a good command of foreign language learners should either be exposed to it in genuine circumstances and with natural frequency, or painstakingly study lexis and syntax assuming that students have some contact with natural input. Classroom discourse seems to be the best way of systematizing the linguistic code that learners are to acquire. The greatest opportunity to store, develop and use the knowledge about the target language is arisen by exposure to authentic discourse in the target language provided by the teacher (Dakowska 2001:86). Language is not only the aim of education as it is in the case of teaching English to Georgian students, or vice versa, but also the means of schooling by the use of mother tongue. Having realized that discourse analysts attempted to describe the role and importance of language in both contexts simultaneously paying much attention to possible improvement to be made in these fields. It has also been settled that what is essential to be successful in language learning is interaction, in both written and spoken form. In addition, students' failures in communication which result in negotiation of meaning, requests for explanation or reorganization of message contribute to language acquisition. One of the major concerns of discourse analysts has been the manner in which students ought to be involved in the learning process, how to control turn- taking, provide feedback as well as how to teach different skills most effectively on the grounds of discourse analysis' offerings. Discourse analysis can be successfully used in teaching grammar, vocabulary, text interpretation. There are a number of questions posed by discourse analysts with reference to grammar and grammar teaching. In particular, they are interested in its significance for producing

 Associated Professors, Akaki Tsereteli State University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues comprehensible communicative products, realization of grammar items in different languages, their frequency of occurrence in speech and writing which is to enable teaching more natural usage of the target language, as well as learners' native tongue (McCarthy 1991:47). While it is possible to use a foreign language being unaware or vaguely aware of its grammatical system, educated speakers cannot allow themselves to make even honest mistakes, and the more sophisticated the linguistic output is to be the more thorough knowledge of grammar gains importance. Moreover, it is essential not only for producing discourse, but also for their perception and comprehension, as many texts take advantage of cohesive devices which contribute to the unity of texts, but might disturb their understanding by a speaker who is not aware of their occurrence. Anaphoric reference, which is frequent in many oral and written texts, deserves attention due to problems that it may cause to learners at various levels. It is especially important at an early stage of learning a foreign language when learners fail to follow overall meaning turning much attention to decoding information in a given clause or sentence. Discourse analysts have analyzed schematically occurring items of texts and how learners from different backgrounds acquire them and later on produce. Thus, Georgian students fail to distinguish the difference between he and she. Teachers, being aware of possible difficulties in teaching some aspects of grammar, should pay particular attention to them during the introduction of the new material to prevent making mistakes and errors. The most prominent role in producing sophisticated discourse, and therefore one that requires much attention on the part of teachers and learners is that of words and phrases which signal internal relation of sections of discourse, namely conjunctions. McCarthy (1991) claims that there are more than forty conjunctive words and phrases, which might be difficult to teach. Moreover, when it comes to the spoken form of language, where and, but, so, then are most frequent, they may take more than one meaning, which is particularly true for and. Additionally, they not only contribute to the cohesion of the text, but are also used when a participant of a conversation takes his turn to speak to link his utterance to what has been said before (McCarthy 1991:48). The foregoing notions that words crucial for proper understanding of discourse, apart from their lexical meaning, are also significant for producing natural discourse in many situations

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues support the belief that they should be pondered on by both teachers and students. Furthermore, it is advisable to provide learners with contexts which would exemplify how native users of language take advantage of anaphoric references, ellipses, articles and other grammar related elements of language which, if not crucial, are at least particularly useful for proficient communication. What is probably most striking to learners of a foreign language is the quantity of vocabulary used daily and the amount of time that they will have to spend memorizing lexical items. Lexis may frequently cause major problems to students, because unlike grammar it is an open-ended system to which new items are continuously added. That is why it requires close attention and, frequently, explanation on the part of the teacher, as well as patience on the part of the student. Scholars have conducted in-depth research into techniques employed by foreign language learners concerning vocabulary memorization to make it easier for students to improve their management of lexis. The conclusion was drawn that it is most profitable to teach new terminology paying close attention to context and co-text that new vocabulary appears in which is especially helpful in teaching and learning aspects such as formality and register. Discourse analysts describe co-text as the phrases that surround a given word, whereas, context is understood as the place in which the communicative product was formed. From studies conducted by discourse analysts emerged an important idea of lexical chains present in all consistent texts. Such a chain is thought to be a series of related words which, referring to the same thing, contribute to the unity of a communicative product and make its perception relatively easy. Additionally, they provide a semantic context which is useful for understanding, or inferring the meaning of words, notions and sentences. Links of a chain are not usually limited to one sentence, as they may connect pairs of words that are next to one another, as well as stretch to several sentences or a whole text. The relation of words in a given sequence might be that of reiteration or collocation, however, analyst are reluctant to denote collocation as a fully reliable element of lexical cohesion as it refers only to the likelihood of occurrence of some lexical items. Nevertheless, it is undeniably helpful to know collocations as they might assist in understanding of communicative products and producing native-like discourse. Since lexical chains are present in every type of discourse it is advisable to familiarize learners with the way they function in, not merely because they are there, but to improve

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues students' perception and production of expressive discourse. Reiteration is simply a repetition of a word later in the text, or the use of synonymy, but what might require paying particularly close attention in classroom situation is hyponymy. While synonymy is relatively easy to master simply by learning new vocabulary dividing new words into groups with similar meaning, or using thesauri, hyponymy and superordination are more abstract and it appears that they require tutelage. Hyponym is a particular case of a more general word, in other words a hyponym belongs to a subcategory of a superordinate with narrower meaning, which is best illustrated by an example: Brazil, with her two-crop economy, was even more severely hit by the Depression than other Latin American states and the country was on the verge of complete collapse (Salkie 1995:15). In this sentence the word Brazil is a hyponym of the word country - its superordinate. Thus, it should not be difficult to observe the difference between synonymy and hyponymy: while Georgia, Germany and France are all hyponyms of the word country, they are not synonymous. Discourse analysts imply that authors of communicative products deliberately vary discursive devices of this type in order to bring the most important ideas to the fore, which in case of English with its wide array of vocabulary is a very frequent phenomenon (McCarthy 1991, Salkie 1995). One other significant contribution made by discourse analysts for the use of vocabulary is noticing the omnipresence and miscellaneous manners of expressing modality. Contrary to popular belief that it is conveyed mainly by use of modal verbs it has been proved that in natural discourse it is even more frequently communicated by words and phrases which may not be included in the category of modal verbs, yet, carry modal meaning. Lexical items of modality inform the participant of discourse not only about the attitude of the author to the subject matter in question (phrases such as I believe, think, assume), but they also give information about commitment, assertion, tentativeness. Discourse analysts maintain that knowledge of vocabulary-connected discourse devices supports language learning in diverse manners. Firstly, it ought to bring students to organize new items of vocabulary into groups with common context of use to make them realize how the meaning of a certain word might change with circumstances of its use or co-text. Moreover, it should also improve learners' abilities to choose the appropriate synonym, collocation or hyponym.

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

Interpretation of a written text in discourse studies might be defined as the act of grasping the meaning that the communicative product is to convey. It is important to emphasize that clear understanding of writing is reliant on not only what the author put in it, but also on what a reader brings to this process. McCarthy (1991) points out that reading is an exacting action which involves recipient's knowledge of the world, experience, ability to infer possible aims of discourse and evaluate the reception of the text. Painstaking research into schemata theory made it apparent that mere knowledge of the world is not always sufficient for successful discourse processing. Consequently, scholars dealing with text analysis redefined the concept of schemata dividing it into two: content and formal schemata. Content, as it refers to shared knowledge of the subject matter, and formal, because it denotes the knowledge of the structure and organization of a text. In order to aid students to develop necessary reading and comprehension skills attention has to be paid to aspects concerning the whole system of a text, as well as crucial grammar structures and lexical items. What is more, processing written discourse ought to occur on global and local scale at simultaneously, however, it has been demonstrated that readers employ different strategies of reading depending on what they focus on. Distinguishing noticeably different approaches to text processing led to distinction of manners of attending to written communicative products. Bottom-up processes are those which are involved in assimilating input from the smallest chunks of discourse: sounds in speech and letters in texts, afterwards moving to more and more general features. This technique is frequently applied by lower-level learners who turn much attention to decoding particular words, thus losing the more general idea that is the meaning of a given piece of writing. In the same way learning a new language begins: first the alphabet, then words and short phrases, next simple sentences, finally elaborate compound sentences. While it is considered to be a good way of making learners understand the language, a wider perspective is necessary to enable students to successfully produce comprehensible discourse (Cook 1990, McCarthy 1991). Alternatively, top-down processing starts with general features of a text, gradually moving to the narrower. This approach considers all levels of communicative products as a total unit whose elements work collectively, in other words, it is more holistic. Not only does the information in a text enable readers to understand it, but it also has to be confronted with recipient's former

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues knowledge and expectations which facilitate comprehension. It is important to make students aware of these two ways of dealing with written discourse and how they may be exploited depending on the task. When learners are to get acquainted with the main idea of a particular communicative product they should take advantage of top-down approach, while when answering detailed true-false questions they would benefit from bottom-up reading. Obviously, all texts have a certain feature in common, namely they are indented to convey some meaning. This function, however, might be fulfilled in a number of different ways: a road sign 'stop', and a six hundred pages long novel are both texts which might serve that purpose, yet, there are certain characteristics that distinguish them. The above example presents the idea somewhat in the extreme, although, enumerating several other common types of texts might affirm that the notion of text is a very broad one and is not limited to such varieties as those that can be found in language course books. Differences between texts might be striking, while menu is usually easy to read, legal documents or wills are not. All of them, however, have certain features that others lack, which if explained by a qualified teacher might serve as a signpost to interpretation. Additionally, the kind of a given text might also provide information about its author, as for example in the case of recipes, warrants or manuals, and indirectly about possible vocabulary items and grammar structures that can appear in it, which should facilitate perception of the text. Having realized what kind of passage learners are to read, on the basis of its title they should be able to predict the text's content, or even make a list of vocabulary that might appear in the communicative product. With teacher's tutelage such abilities are quickly acquired which improves learners' skills of interpretation and test results (Cook 1990, McCarthy 1991, Crystal 1995). Having accounted for various kinds of associations between words, as well as clauses and sentences in discourse, the time has come to examine patterns that are visible throughout written communicative products. Patterning in texts contributes to their coherence, as it is thanks to patterns that writing is structured in a way that enables readers to easily confront the received message with prior knowledge. Salkie (1995) indicates that the majority of readers unconsciously make use of tendencies of arranging texts to approach information. Among most frequently occurring patterns in written discourses there are inter alia claim- counterclaim, problem-solution, question-answer or general-specific statement arrangements.

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

Detailed examination of such patterning revealed that problem-solution sequence is frequently accompanied by two additional parts, namely background (in other words introduction) and evaluation (conclusion). While in some elaborate texts the background and the problem might be presented in the same sentence, in other instances - when reader is expected to be familiar with the background, it might not be stated in the text itself. Although both cohesive devices and problem-solution patterns often occur in written communicative products only the former are designated as linguistic means, since patterning, when encountered, has to be faced with assumptions, knowledge and opinion of the reader. One other frequently occurring arrangement of texts is based on general-specific pattern which is thought to have two variations. In the first one a general statement is followed by a series of more specific sentences referring to the same broad idea, ultimately summarized by one more general remark. Alternatively, a general statement at the beginning of a paragraph might be followed by a specific statement after which several more sentences ensue, each of which is more precise than its predecessor, finally going back to the general idea (McCarthy 1991:158). As McCarthy (1991) points out, the structure of patterns is fixed, yet the number of sentences or paragraphs in a particular part of a given arrangement might vary. Furthermore, one written text might contain several commonplace patterns occurring consecutively, or one included in another. Therefore, problem-solution pattern present in a text might be filled with general- specific model within one paragraph and claim-counterclaim in another. As discourse analysts suggest making readers aware of patterning might sanitize them to clues which enable proper understanding of written communicative products. The role of discourse analysis in language teaching is immensely impotent.

References:

1. Cook, G. 1990. Discourse. Oxford: OUP. 2. Crystal, D. 1995. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge: CUP.

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

3. Dakowska, M. 2001. Psycholingwistyczne podstawy dydaktyki języków obcych. Warszawa: PWN. 4. Gauker, Ch. 2003. Words without meaning. Massachusetts: The MIT Press. 5. McCarthy, M. 1991. Discourse analysis for language teachers. Cambridge:CUP. 6. Renkema, J. 2004. Introduction to discourse studies. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing. 7. Salkie, R. 1995. Text and Discourse analysis. London: Routledge.

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

International Alliance of Women in the United States

OMAR TSERETELI

The International Alliance of Women (IAW) is a non-governmental, feminist organization, which embraces both women’s groups and individuals. The basic principle of the IAW is that the full and equal enjoyment of human rights is due to all women and girls.

Current status The IAW represents more than 50 organizations world-wide and has attracted many individual members. The IAW has consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and participatory status with the Council of Europe. The IAW has permanent representatives in New York, Vienna, Geneva, Paris, Rome, Nairobi and Strasbourg and addresses the European Union through its membership in the European Women’s Lobby in Brussels. The IAW pays particular attention to the universal ratification and implementation without reservation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol. The current IAW Commissions deal with the topics: Justice and Human Rights; Democracy; Peace; Elimination of Violence and Health. WISTA (Women's International Shipping & Trading Association) is an international organization for women in management positions involved in maritime transportation business and related trades worldwide. WISTA aims to be a major player in attracting more women to the industry and in supporting women in management positions. With networking, education and mentoring in focus we can enhance members' competence and empower career success. WISTA is growing and currently counts over 1.430 individual members in 30 National WISTA Associations (NWAs) Elisa Mikkolainen- WISTA FINLAND

 Senior Student, Faculty of Humanities, Direction of American Studies, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

Elisa Mikkolainen, Managing Director of Crystal Pool Ltd/Crystal Pool AS WISTA Finland has a pleasure to introduce you to Ms Elisa Mikkolainen, who is Managing Director of Crystal Pool Ltd/Crystal Pool AS. Before being appointed as Managing Director in 2010, Elisa was involved with chartering and operations during which period of time she had a possibility to work in the roles of a trader, supplier as well as ship owner.

Feminist women’s health center Since 1977, the Feminist Women's Health Center (FWHC) has strived to empower women through service, education, and advocacy. As Atlanta's leading non-profit women's health resource, we have earned an outstanding reputation for providing quality care and community education, while working to improve women's health. Our center embraces a holistic approach to health care and wellness. We believe that education and knowledge are vital components in a woman's ability to make positive health care decisions.

C o n f e r e n c e The United Nations convened the Fourth World Conference on Women on 4-15 September 1995 in Beijing, China. Delegates had prepared a Declaration and Platform for Action that aimed at achieving greater equality and opportunity for women. The three previous World Conferences were in Mexico City (International Women's Year, 1975), Copenhagen (1980) and Nairobi (1985). The official name of the Conference was "The Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace". 189 governments and more than 5,000 representatives from 2,100 non-governmental organizations participated in the Conference. The principal themes were the advancement and empowerment of women in relation to women’s human rights, women and poverty, women and decision-making, the girl-child, violence against women and other areas of concern. The resulting documents of the Conference are The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The overriding message of the Fourth World Conference on Women was that the issues addressed in the Platform for Action are global and universal. Deeply entrenched attitudes and practices perpetuate inequality and discrimination against women, in public and private life, in

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues all parts of the world. Accordingly, implementation requires changes in values, attitudes, practices and priorities at all levels. The Conference signaled a clear commitment to international norms and standards of equality between men and women; that measures to protect and promote the human rights of women and girl-children as an integral part of universal human rights must underlie all action; and that institutions at all levels must be reoriented to expedite implementation. Governments and the UN agreed to promote the "gender mainstreaming" in policies and programmes.

Women's Environment & Development Organization The Women's Environment & Development Organization (WEDO) is an international non- governmental organization based in New York, U.S. that advocates women’s equality in global policy. It was founded in 1990 by Bella Abzug and Mim Kelber to take action in the United Nations and other international policymaking forums. Its early successes included achieving gender equality in the final documents of Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration. In 2006, the organization was named as an international Champion of the Earth by the United Nations Environment Programme. WEDO and the Center for Women's Global Leadership launched the Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Campaign in February 2008 to mobilize women’s groups and allies to push for the adoption of the new UN entity for gender equality and women’s empowerment. WEDO focuses its work in three programmatic areas: Gender & Governance, Sustainable Development, and Economic & Social Justice. Priority projects include MisFortune500.org, climate change advocacy, and UN Reform.

Feminization of poverty Feminization of poverty describes a phenomenon in which women represent disproportionate percentages of world’s poor. UNIFEM describes it as "the burden of poverty borne by women, especially in developing countries". This concept is not only a consequence of lack of income, but is also the result of the deprivation of capabilities and gender biases present in both societies and governments. This includes the poverty of choices and opportunities, such as the ability to lead a long, healthy, and creative life, and enjoy basic rights like freedom, respect, and dignity.

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

Women’s increasing share of poverty is related to the rising incidence of lone mother households. The term feminization of poverty itself is controversial and has been defined in many different ways.

History of the term The idea of a ‘feminization of poverty’ dates back to the 1970s but was popularized from the 1990s on by some United Nations documents. The concept became renowned as a result of a study by Diana Pearce which focused on the gender patterns in the evolution of poverty rates in the United States between the beginning of the 1950s and the mid-1970s. It was initially used to mean “an increase of women among the poor” and “an increase of female headed households among the poor households”. This approach was abandoned because the measures of feminization of poverty based on them can be affected by changes in the demographic composition of population - for instance, the impoverishment of female headed households can be neutralized by a reduction of the numbers of female headed households in the population. For that reason, subsequent studies adopted an alternative approach, comparing the evolution of the levels of poverty within each gender group.

Lone Mother Households Lone mother households are critical in addressing feminization of poverty and can be broadly defined as households in which there are female headships and no male headships. Lone mother households are at the highest risk of Poverty for women due to lack of Income and resources. There is a continuing increase of lone mother households in the world, which results in higher percentages of women in poverty. Lone mothers are the poorest women in society, and their children tend to be disadvantaged in comparison to their peers. Different factors can be taken into account for the rise in the number of female headship in households. When men become migrant workers, women are left to be the main caretaker of their homes. Other factors such as illnesses and deaths of husbands lead to an increase in lone mother households in developing countries.

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

Female headed households are most susceptible to poverty because they have fewer income earners to provide financial support within the household. According to a case study in Zimbabwe, households headed by widows have an income of approximately half that of male- headed households and de facto female headed households have about three quarters of the income of male headed households. Additionally, lone mother households lack critical resources in life, which worsens their state of poverty. They do not have access to the opportunities to attain a decent standard of living along with basic needs such as health and education. Lone mother households relate to gender inequality issues as women are more susceptible to poverty and lack essential life needs in comparison to men.

References: 1) http://www.google.ge/search?hl=ka&client=opera&hs=kqq&rls=en&channel=suggest&q =platform+for+action+about+womebn&btnG=%E1%83%AB%E1%83%98%E1%83%9 4%E1%83%91%E1%83%90 2) http://www.wista.net/ 3) http://www.iwhc.org/ 4) http://www.feministcenter.org/ 5) http://www.feministcenter.org/about-fwhc/hours-directions-parking

100

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

What Jonathan Edwards Did Not Mention

GEORGE SHADURI

American literature of the XVII century is preoccupied with the topics of religious character. It is not surprising, as religion was probably the main issue, which furthered the shaping of the ethical views of new community settled in the New World. Moreover, it was strongest social factor, which united the colonists, having made them flee from the Old World from pursuits and persecutions. Finally, along with language, it was chief aspect uniting the colonists as a shaping nation. This period bore such unique men of letters, who thought, talked and wrote on religious issues as John Cotton, Thomas Hooker, or Cotton Mather. Jonathan Edwards is one of those, who participated in the foundations of unique samples of American thought and writing. It came to pass that the most fruitful period of Congregationalist preacher and writer Jonathan Edwards’s activities coincided with the First Great Awakening (circa 1730-1760) (Ahlstrom, 1972), the social phenomenon which actually acted as the first cultural engine for spiritual unification of a fledgling nation. New England could already boast of the Mayflower, who brought the Pilgrims in 1620 to establish the first colony of religious dissenters in Plymouth. The Mayflower would become the symbol of religious dissent, religious separatism, overthrowing not only the Episcopal bases of the church left over across the Atlantic in the Old World, but also any principle of subordination where parishioners submit to ministers, ministers to bishops, and so on. Rather different would be the perspective of Puritans, who would arrive ten years later in 1630 led by John Winthrop, having established the community based on Presbyterian hierarchy of strict subordination of parishioners to ministers, ministers to presbyters, and presbyters to elders, the structure building original form of aristocracy in Massachusetts colony. Connecticut and Massachusetts would become strongholds of Congregationalism and Presbyterianism correspondingly – the first and the second founded on democratic and aristocratic relationships within the two churches respectively (Parrington, 1958).

 Associate Professor, Faculty of Humanities, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

101

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

The First Great Awakening presented America with George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards – two most gifted and ardent men of words and letters of the Era. Jonathan Edwards is in particular an icon of the movement, as he left huge legacy consisting of essays, treaties, and sermons, inscribed with shining letters in the history of American literature. Born in Connecticut, where Congregationalism particularly flourished, Edwards wrote and delivered most of his fervent sermons in Massachusetts, the bulwark of Presbyterianism, both of these two “-isms” being Calvinist in their core. Let me take the most famous, even classic, sermon of Edwards’ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, written and delivered in 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut for local parish, to where he was invited, because, in the opinion of local minister, the parishioners had not been sufficiently influenced by the Awakening (Marsden, 2003). The purpose of this essay is to show literary and morale value of his most famous sermon pointing at the main spiritual deficiency from contemporary point of view, not detracting from its merit as one of the outstanding examples of American literature of colonial times. The sermon is written in typical Calvinist spirit with focuses on horrors and torment which awaits every disobedient Christian in the afterlife. Throughout the whole treatise, the author uses the word “wicked” to define those who neglect or disregard the teachings of God. The first part of the sermon contains 10 items explaining the attitude of the Omnipotent God towards his disobedient children. In the introduction, Edwards states what he will repeat numerous times throughout his essay, namely that only the will of God keeps a “wicked” man from going into the Hell at any moment of time. This thesis is initially most explicitly stated in the item 4:

They [the wicked – G.Sh.] are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God that is expressed in the torments of hell. And the reason why they do not go down to hell at each moment is not because God, in whose power they are, is not then very angry with them as He is with many miserable creatures now tormented in hell, who there feel and bear the fierceness of His wrath. (Northon Anthology, 2003, p. 500)

From now on the words “anger” and, especially, “wrath”, will dominate the whole sermon. Obviously, the objective of the speech was to bring the sense of awakening in a listener through

102

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues frightening him of possible output of his failure to follow spiritual principles he was taught. The quoted thesis reappears and repeats further in other forms and structures. In the item 6, Edwards ascribes the sinful nature of a man to the work of devil, which is only restrained by the endless power of the Almighty. Further, the preacher introduces the term “natural man” to denote those, who, applying to the situation in his contemporary parish of Enfield church, are “unconverted”. According to Edwards, “unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering”. To understand what he means under “unconverted”, we should recall the earlier works of Edwards, particularly Discourses on Various Important Subjects, Nearly Concerning the Great Affair of the Soul’s Eternal Salvation (1738), in which he criticizes Arminianism and focuses on justification by faith (Ahlstrom, 1972). He indicates on the justification by faith in the item 10, saying that God made no promise to a man altogether regarding eternal life in Heaven or any way of salvation from eternal torment in Hell except in the Covenant of Grace, the one made between God and man, meaning that salvation is only achievable through the faith in Christ. From this perspective, any action is senseless without the compliance to this Covenant: Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; <...> he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do. (Ibid., p. 501) The first part of the sermon concludes by words that the fate of natural men, walking near the pit of hell, are in the hands of God and that his anger to them is just as great, who have already entered this horrible transcendental world of eternal suffering and torture. What does Jonathan Edwards offer for those Enfield parishioners, who belong to natural men, as a remedy for their situation? Let us take a look at the second part of the sermon called “Application”. The second half proceeds very much like the first one. Again, the words “anger” and “wrath” can be viewed as the key ones with regard to God’s attitude towards the unfaithful natural men. However, the second half is called not only to raise fear in the listener, but enhance this fear through skillful and colorful metaphors, which Edwards uses to reach his aim:

103

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course when once it is let loose. It is true that judgment against your evil works has not been executed hitherto; the floods of God’s vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the meantime is constantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are constantly rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God that holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. (Ibid., p. 503)

Edwards’ God feels not only anger and expresses wrath, but exercises vengeance – another key term to understand Calvinist nature of his sermon. Today, we take for granted the expression “God is Love”, but in Calvinist interpretation it proves rather different. However, to Edwards’ credit it should be said that his God is the Old Testament God – severe, merciless, and, at the same time, just towards his disobedient servants. And in the item 2 of the Application he is more specific with this regard: The fury of God! the fierceness of Jehova! (Ibid., p.505) Thus, Edwards’ God is Father God, severe master in the tradition of the Old Testament, who is the one who punishes through his anger, wrath, and vengeance. However, there is remedy through which God’s wrath and vengeance can be changed for mercy. In the Application Edwards mentions the Mediator between God and man. Thus, Edwards refers to the mentioned Covenant of Grace, according to which only those who believe in Christ will be saved. And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners... (Ibid., p. 508) Edwards calls the parishioners to “consider themselves, and awake thoroughly out of sleep”. He appeals to the congregation to reconsider their life and being, turn off from their vanities, and

104

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

“flock to Christ”. You have an extraordinary opportunity, says Edwards, but you neglect it. You, says Edwards, you, who are “unconverted”, do you realize that you are on the inescapable road to Hell, whence there is no way to return, and where the endless wrath of God will fall upon you with his vengeance exercised? If Jehovah is wrathful and vindictive, then Christ is not, even according to Calvinism. Therefore, come to Christ, you, natural unconverted men, and those who will come to Christ, in other words, those who will be most vigorous, most zealous in their belief in him, those will be saved: God seems now to be hastily gathering in His elect in all parts of the land... (Ibid., p. 509) The word “elect” is typically Calvinist. God elects those, who justify their election by faith. Edwards opens his final five-line passage with the concluding statement: Therefore, let everyone that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. (Ibid., p. 509) The sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God speaks of an internal conflict of a “natural man”: between rising temptations induced by the devil and the necessity of submission to God, who out of his wrath can throw him in the realm of devil again. The resolution of this conflict lies in the “converting”, accepting Christ as one’s Savior, awakening of one’s soul. However, although the sermon is focused on internal conflict of a natural man, its resolution is not anthropocentric. Never does Edwards seek the remedy from the fear against God’s wrath in the application of the two major commandments of Christ. Never does Edwards mention to Enfield parishioners the clarification of the second of the Greatest Commandments, provided by Jesus in answer to religious leaders: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew, 22:39; Mark, 12:31). Edwards’ appeal is always theocentric and never anthropocentric. He speaks a lot and eloquently about Father God’s wrath, but he does not say even a few words of what Christ’s mercy exactly consists. He calls natural men to accept their Savior, but denies that God endowed natural men with free will. It is true, belief in Christ, the Mediator of the Covenant of Grace, is the central point to which Edwards calls Enfield parishioners. However, for Edwards as a Puritan, i.e. Calvinist, the principle “faith is dead without works” is secondary and even negligible compared

105

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues with the Covenant itself, which, proceeding from the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, represents the only way through which human’s will can be expressed. This sermon of Jonathan Edwards is very vivid and illustrative of the ways religious principles and doctrines were presented to the society during the Great Awakening, and to what kind of awakening they appealed. What they did not, or, maybe, failed, to mention, resulted later in development of nihilism in enlightened society towards organized religion in both continents. Religious missionaries of both the First and Second Great Awakenings were extremely theocentric, whereas educated society was greedy for more anthropocentric approach as far as religious matters were concerned. “Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man”, Thomas Paine said in The Age of Reason. The whole sermon of Jonathan Edwards, delivered in an attempt to convert, revive, and awaken the believing spirit of true Christians, in fact convinces the mind of a listener of the cruelty of God, rather than in his kindness. Edwards mentions God’s mercy through Christ, but does not say a sentence through what this mercy is or should be exercised. Not less straightforward opinion about mainstream English and American Christianity shows British philosopher of XX century Bertrand Russell, whose opinion might as well express the attitude of the Age of Reason towards Christian tradition in general: I must say that I think all this doctrine, that hell-fire is a punishment for sin, is a doctrine of cruelty. It is a doctrine that put cruelty into the world and gave the world generations of cruel torture. (From Bertrand Russell Society Home Page) Of course, it is quite a radical statement, ascribed to the well-known atheism of Russell. However, applicable to the present sermon of Jonathan Edwards, it means that the great preacher focused exclusively on the cruelty of God by mentioning his punishment through horrors of hell and fire, in which sinners, natural men, are doomed to perish. Benjamin Franklin speaks about his attitude towards some Puritan minister, whose preaching Franklin practiced to attend for some time. In particular, Franklin writes:

Had he been, in my opinion (italic is original – G.Sh.), a good preacher, perhaps I might have continued... but his discourses... were all to me very dry, uninteresting, and

106

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

unedifying since not a single moral principle was inculcated or enforced, their aim seeming to be rather to make us Presbyterians than good citizens (bold script is mine – G.Sh.). (Ilyin edition, p. 51, 1977) Had Franklin attended Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, he would have by all means had the same opinion with two assumed exceptions: he would have acknowledged the skill and eloquence of Edwards as a preacher, but surely he would have found his reasons extremely authoritarian, too theologically oriented (theocentric), and lacking anthropocentric arguments for following Christ, rather than staying in the condition of natural men. Finally, let us make the conclusion regarding Jonathan Edwards and his present sermon on behalf of incredible Vernon Louis Parrington with his immortal Main Currents in American Thought, quoting what he thinks was the main reason of intellectual failure of Jonathan Edwards, the main icon of the First Great Awakening. In the Volume 1, page 226, Parrington writes: “The greatest mind of New England [Jonathan Edwards - G.Sh.] had become an anachronism in a world that bred Benjamin Franklin. If he had been an Anglican like Bishop Berkeley, if he had mingled with the leaders of thought in London instead of remaining isolated in Massachusetts, he must have made a name for himself not unworthy to be matched with that of the great bishop whom he so much resembled. The intellectual powers were his, but the inspiration was lacking; like Cotton Mather before him, he was the unconscious victim of a decadent ideal and a petty environment. Cut off from fruitful intercourse with other thinkers, drawn away from the stimulating field of philosophy into the and realm of theology, it was his fate to devote his noble gifts to the thankless task of re-imprisoning the mind of New England within a system from which his nature and his powers summoned him to unshackle it. He was called to be a transcendental emancipator, but he remained a Calvinist.”

107

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

References:

1. Ahlstrom, Sydney E. (1972). A Religious History of the American People. New Haven, Yale University Press.

2. Edwards, Jonathan (1741). Sinners in the Hands of Angry God. From (ed. by N. Baym) Northon Anthology of American Literature, Vol. A. Northon & Company, New York, 2003.

3. Franklin, Benjamin (1771). The Autobiography. From (ed. by I. P. Ilyin) «Проза американского просвещения». Moscow, Progress Publishers, 1977.

4. Marsden, George M. (2003). Jonathan Edwards: A Life. New Haven, Yale University Press.

5. Parrington, Vernon L. (1958). Main Currents in American Thought. Vol. 1. Moscow, “Izdatelstvo inostrannoy literatury”, 1962.

6. Russell, Bertrand (1927). Why I Am Not a Christian. Retrieved 15.10.2011 from Bertrand Russell Society Web Page (http://users.drew.edu/~jlenz/whynot.html)

108

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

Private Life of Edgar Allan Poe and Its Influence on His Literary Works

TAISIA MUZAFAROVA

Introduction My work is devoted to the peculiarities of E.A. Poe’s private life, which made influence on his literary creations. When I tried to find the connection between the themes of his works and the real life events I discovered that more than half of E.A. Poe’s storied occurred to have alliterations with real life, including the very popular theme by him “the death of a beautiful woman.” I had an opportunity to look at a person not only from the literary angle, but also discover him as an ordinary man, which was even more exciting. The hypothesis of the work is that the literary themes in E.A. Poe’s works have roots in his psychological condition, which in its turn was influenced by numerous tragic events of his life. As an introduction I will speak a little about E.A. Poe’s biography, starting from the very early age till the mysterious death. The biggest part of the chapter will be dedicated to women in E.A. Poe’s life, as the greatest influence on his literature made the repeated loss of women.

Brief Biography Edgar Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of actors Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins (1787-1811) and David Poe (1784-1810). After the death of his parents Edgar was adopted by Frances and John Allan, a wealthy merchant in Richmond, Virginia. Young Edgar accompanied John and Fanny to England where he attended several boarding schools. Literary career of the greatest writer started with an odd job as a clerk and newspaper writer. Poe made several attempts to start writing but chosen a difficult time for it. American publishing was not developed well. Publishers often pirated copies from British works rather than printed

 M.A. Student, Faculty of Humanities, Direction of U.S. Foreign Affairs, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

109

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues new works of American writers. E. A. Poe was the first well known American to try to live by writing alone without any additional support. There are conflicting opinions surrounding the last days of Edgar Allan Poe and the cause of his death. Some say he died from alcoholism, some claim he was murdered. On October 3, Poe was found unconscious in the street of Baltimore, Maryland, “in great distress, and … in need of immediate assistance” (Bandy, T.W. 1987), according to the man who found him, Joseph W. Walker. He was taken to the Washington College Hospital. He died soon after, on October 7, 1849. Poe was never conscious enough to explain how he occurred lying in the street. Theories about what caused Poe’s death include murder, cholera, rabies, and syphilis. Though the most widespread opinion is the influence of alcohol. It has also been suggested that Poe’s death might be resulted from suicide related to depression. All medical records and documents, including Poe’s death certificate, have been lost, if ever existed.

Women in E.A. Poe’s Life Biographers and critics often suggest Poe's frequent theme of the "death of a beautiful woman" stems from the repeated loss of women throughout his life. We can start this list with the death of his biological mother Elizabeth Poe. Being adopted by a wealthy family of Frances and John Allan he could experience the joy of being a part of a full loving family, but even this did not last long. Later, enlisted in the army he got to know Francis was dead. He was unlucky to experience the loss of mother in the early age twice. In February 1826 before Poe was registered to a one-year-old University of Virginia he may have become engaged to Sarah Elmira Royster. Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton was an adolescent sweetheart of him. Royster and Poe were neighbors in Richmond, Virginia when they began their relationship in 1825. She was 15 years old and he was 16. They discussed marriage, but Royster's father disapproved it. They were secretly engaged while Poe became the student at the University of Virginia in 1826; however, Royster's father destroyed all of Poe's letters to his daughter. Later Royster admitted he was against it only due to his daughter’s young age. But he also considered Poe’s bad reputation and lack of financial and societal status. Thinking Poe had forgotten her, as she never received his letter; Royster married Alexander Shelton, a businessman from a prosperous Virginia family. Shelton worked in the transportation industry and was for a

110

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues time the co-owner of a boat line that travelled the James River. Getting to know about Elmira’s marriage Poe decided she betrayed him. He started travelling and writing small literary pieces under the name of Henri Le Rennet. He wrote: "I think she loves me more devotedly than any one I ever knew... I cannot help loving her in return.” (Silverman, K. 1991) They discussed their marriage. She asked to have time to consider as her children were against this marriage. The rumors about Poe’s drinking made her hesitate, but nevertheless by late September they came to understanding. But the wedding never took place; after Poe said goodbye to her, he left Richmond on September 27, 1849, and died mysteriously only two weeks later in Baltimore. Royster died on February 11, 1888, and her obituary, published on the front page of the Richmond Whig on February 12, bore the heading "Poe's first and last love". Another woman who played very important role in E.A. Poe’s life was Virginia Clemm. Virginia Clemm is considered to be a literary folk figure. Edgar Poe first met his cousin Virginia in August 1829, four months after his discharge from the Army. She was seven at the time. In 1832, the family – made up of Elizabeth, Maria, Virginia, and Virginia's brother Henry – added one more member as Poe joined the household in 1833. Soon Elizabeth and Henry died ending the family’s income and making their financial situation even worse. Two years later Poe left the family trying to take a job at the Southern Literary Messenger. There he was considering marrying Virginia. Despite the fact relatives were against him marrying Virginia in such s young age Edgar succeeded to reach his goal. He wrote an emotional letter to Maria begging to allow Virginia making her own decision. He promised financial support to the whole family, which became the main argument for her decision. Marriage plans were confirmed and Poe returned to Baltimore to get a marriage license on September 22, 1835 but the public ceremony was held in Richmond only a year later on May 16, 1836. Edgar was 27 at the time and Virginia was 13, though in the marriage license her age was listed as 21. The unusual pair raised discussion based on the couple’s age difference and blood relationships. Noted Poe biographer Arthur Hobson Quinn argues it was not particularly unusual, nor was Poe's nicknaming his wife "Sissy" or "Sis" as it was supposed. Another Poe biographer, Kenneth Silverman, contends that though their first-cousin marriage was not unusual, her young age was. It has been suggested that Clemm and Poe had a relationship more like that between

111

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues brother and sister than between husband and wife. Poe biographer Joseph Wood Krutch suggests that Poe did not need women "in the way that normal men need them", but only as a source of inspiration and care, and that Poe was never interested in women sexually. (Krutch, J.W. 1926) But Virginia and Poe were by all accounts a happy and devoted couple. She, in turn, nearly idolized her husband. She showed her love for Poe in an poem she composed when she was 23, dated February 14, 1846: Virginia's handwritten Valentine poem to her husband Ever with thee I wish to roam — Dearest my life is thine. Give me a cottage for my home And a rich old cypress vine, Removed from the world with its sin and care And the tattling of many tongues. Love alone shall guide us when we are there — Love shall heal my weakened lungs; And Oh, the tranquil hours we'll spend, Never wishing that others may see! Perfect ease we'll enjoy, without thinking to lend Ourselves to the world and its glee — Ever peaceful and blissful we'll be. The "tattling of many tongues" in Virginia's poem was a reference to actual incidents. In 1845, Poe had begun a flirtation with Frances Sargent Osgood, a married 34-year-old poet. Virginia was aware of their relationships and even encouraged it believing that the older woman had good effect on Poe as he was never drunk in her presence. At the same time, another poet, Elizabeth F. Ellet, became obsessed by Poe and jealous of Osgood. Ellet was known for being annoying and vindictive and, while visiting the Poe household in late January 1846, she saw one of Osgood's personal letters to Poe. Ellet contacted Osgood and suggested she should beware of her indiscretions and asked Poe to return her letters, motivated either by jealousy or by a desire to cause scandal. He then gathered up these letters from Ellet and left them at her house. When Osgood's husband stepped in and threatened to sue Ellet unless she formally apologized for her

112

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues insinuations, she rejected her fault and announced the letters under her name were created by Poe himself. The rumor of Poe’s insanity was spread very quickly. Virginia, however, had been very affected by the whole affair. She was concerned more about the reputation of her beloved husband than her own pride. In the middle of January 1842 Virginia had developed tuberculosis. While singing and playing the piano, Virginia began to bleed from the mouth, though Poe said she merely "ruptured a blood-vessel". Her health declined due lung problems and she became an invalid. Poe was in a deep depression: "Each time I felt all the agonies of her death … I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity." Virginia’s condition convinced the whole family to move, in hope to find better environment. The latter part of her illness Virginia spent in the cottage in Bronx, New York, which is still standing today. But by November of 1846 Virginia's condition was hopeless. One visitor to the Poe family noted that "the rose-tint upon her cheek was too bright", possibly a symptom of her illness. Another visitor wrote, "Mrs. Poe looked very young; she had large black eyes, and a pearly whiteness of complexion, which was a perfect pallor. Her pale face, her brilliant eyes, and her raven hair gave her an unearthly look." Virginia died on January 30, after five years of illness. On February 1, The New York Daily Tribune and the Herald carried the simple obituary: "On Saturday, the 30th ult., of pulmonary consumption, in the 25th year of her age, VIRGINIA ELIZA, wife of EDGAR A. POE." (Silverman, K. 1991) The funeral was February 2, 1847. Virginia's remains were finally buried with her husband's on January 19, 1885—the seventy-sixth anniversary of her husband's birth and nearly ten years after his current monument was erected. The same man who served as sexton during Poe's original burial and his exhumations and reburials was also present at the rites which brought his body to rest with Virginia and Virginia's mother Maria Clemm.

“The Death of a Beautiful Woman” as a Main Theme of E.A. Poe’s Poetry The “death of a beautiful woman” is the most frequent motif in the literary works by E.A. Poe. Poe biographer Joseph Wood Krutch suggests that Poe did not need women “in the way that normal men needed”, (Krutch, J.W. 1926) but only as a source of inspiration and care. Many of Poe works are considered to be autobiographical, with much of his works reflecting his beloved wife Virginia’s long struggle with tuberculosis and her death. The most discussed

113

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues example of the influence of E.A. Poe’s private life on his creations is a poem “Annabel Lee”. "Annabel Lee"(1849) is the last complete poem composed by Edgar Allan Poe. It is about a beautiful, painful memory. This poem depicts a dead young bride and her mourning husband. The author remembers his long-lost love Annabel Lee. As he says he knew Annabel many years ago when they lived “in a kingdom by the sea”. But we loved with a love that was more than love … And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me They loved each other so much that even the angels in heaven were jealous. The author blames angels for killing his love. As he says the “winds came out of the clouds, chilling and killing” his Annabel Lee. This can be the reference to Virginia’s long lasting illness tuberculosis. Besides, the author mentions the young age of his beloved girl and describes how painful were all the talks about their age difference. But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we When Annabel Lee died, her relatives took her away from him and put in a tomb. Despite the gloomy mood of the poem, it is definitely the main theme of “Annabel Lee’. Author says that little thing like death is not enough to separate him from Annabel Lee. After Virginia’s death Poe was in deep depression for several months. A friend said that “he did not seem care, after she was gone, whether he lived an hour, a day, a week or a year; she was his all.” (Meyers, J. 1992) After her death Poe wrote to his friend that he experienced “the greatest evil a man can suffer when a wife whom he loved as no man ever loved before” was dead. (ibid.) He turned to alcoholism, but how often and how much he drunk remains a controversial issue. Poe regularly visited Virginia’s grave. As his friend Charles Chauncey Burr wrote, “Many times, after the death of his beloved wife, was he found at the dead hour of a winter night, sitting beside her tomb almost frozen in the snow.” (Phillips, Mary E. 1926) Almost the same is described in the poem “Annabel Lee.” The narrator is missing his love so much that he spends all the nights sleeping in her grave. Even Frances Sargent Osgood, who was involved in a love affair

114

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues with Poe, believed that “Virginia was the only woman whom he ever loved”. (Krutch, J.W. 1926) It is speculated that the poem “Ulalume” (1847) is another memorial to Virginia. "Ulalume" starts with a description of gloomy landscape in October that makes the mood of the whole poem depressing. There is a dark lake which gives haunting feeling. The narrator is walking around this place talking to his soul, whose name is Psyche. Suddenly they see a light of the morning star – Venus. Narrator supposes it to be a goddess, who came to save him and his soul. Psyche thinks it is evil to trap the. Later the light turns into the grave of narrator’s lost love Ulalume. He remembers how he came to the place and lay in her tomb on the anniversary of her burial exactly the year ago. As the story ends, he and Psyche go on discussing what the light was and where the morning star came from. I suppose that the talk between the narrator and his soul is already after his death. All the narration seems to be described as a dream but the reality is that he died one year ago on the grave of his beloved. And now he keeps on wondering around the place trying to find her soul. The poem is full of sadness and depression. For the author itself it might have another meaning. May be this poem is his hope that after his death his and Virginia’s soul will be wondering around the imaginary place together. George Gilfillan supposed that Virginia was also an inspiration for “The Raven”, but probably he was unaware that “The Raven” (1845) was written and published two years before Virginia’s death. The setting of the poem is a late night in December. A man is sitting in a room reading when he hears someone knocking at the door. He supposes there is a visitor but when he opens the door no one is there. He hears someone knocking once again and realizes it is coming from the window. As he opens the window a raven flies in and settles down on a statue above the door. The author is full of mourning for his lost love, he needs someone to talk with and the raven becomes possible candidature for it. He asks the raven for its name. The Raven answers back a single word: “Nevermore.” Surprised, the man asks more questions and all the time the Raven says only “Nevermore.” He asks more and more questions which makes the so-called dialogue more and more painful and personal. He asks about his beloved woman named Lenore, if they

115

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues will be together someday and the Raven answers “nevermore”. The poem ends with the narrator on the edge of sanity totally losing hope for better life. The poem raises a lot of questions in our mind. The very beginning of the poem suggests that the narrator was reading. May be he just fell asleep and the raven was a part of his imagination? Or in case he was awake was there a bird at all or it was just a part of his subconscious that whispers there is no hope for better life left? Any way after reading this poem all of us can find a small part of “raven” inside us whatever is it in our unique understating.

“The Death of a Beautiful Woman” as a Main Theme of E.A. Poe’s Prose Virginia is also seen in Poe’s prose. The short story “Eleonora” (1850) was written when Virginia had just begun to show signs of her illness. It depicts a narrator preparing to marry his cousin which lives together with her mother which also mirrors the real situation in his family. When the couple moved to New York City by boat Poe published “The Oblong Box.” (1844) Virginia was already very sick. They were travelling by boat to find better environment for her. In the story the main character –a mourning man, is transporting his wife’s corpse when the ship sinks. The husband would rather die than be separated from his wife. The short story “Ligeia” (1838), whose main character suffers a slow eternal death, may be also inspired by Virginia. As the story begins the author gives us brief information about Ligeia. As ii seems he does not remember much about her – he can’t remember when they first met or where she came from. He even does not remember her surname. He only gives us a hint that the she lived in an old city on the river Rhine. But the narrator never forgets his love towards Ligeia. He continues from here describing how she looked; her white skin, raven-black hair, delicate profile and bright eyes. This portrait looks like the only of Virginia made shortly after her death. Soon the author tells how Ligeia fell ill and how her illness devastated him. He sits by her bedside when she dies. After, he leaves for England where he marries Lady Rowena Trevanion, of Tremaine. In fact he does not love her at all; his mind is constantly on Ligeia. He starts smoking opium to ease his pain from the loss of beloved woman. Soon Rowena gets sick. She starts having hallucinations. Strange events are happening in their house. Once he could see a faint shadow on the carper. He constantly feels the presence of someone else beside him and his sick wife. But he passes it as his own hallucinations from opium. The visions are becoming more and more obvious, he hears

116

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues footsteps and sees red liquid drop into Rowena’s glass of wine. As she drinks the wine she gets worse and dies soon. Now again he is sitting near the bed of his dead wife but thinking about Ligeia. In the midnight he hears a cry coming from Rowena’s bed. He comes up and decides she is alive as her cheeks are not pale. He watches her rise from the bad trying to move towards him. The bandage falls from her head, revealing her raven-dark hair. He looks into her eyes and recognizes Ligeia. The repeated loss of so many women in young age no doubt made its impact on Poe’s imagination. May be he was young to feel the loss of his biological mother, but his orphanage was imprinted deep in his soul. His foster mother was the only friend of him in his youth. Her death and later the decision of his foster father to marry was perceived as desecration of the memories about her. Soon after the connection between was lost, Poe was left all alone for several years. Another event considered by him as a betrayal was the news his beloved woman to whom he was engaged marrying another person. Soon he found his true love, as he used to say, and married her despite very young age. Several years of happiness became spoiled by her fast- developing illness. Understanding she will die soon, Poe is supposed to start suffering from alcoholism. He is also believed to be a drug-addict, as many of his characters used to smoke opium. Probably he did the same trying to kill the pain inside. He married once again and just two weeks later was found unconscious in the street. Several days later the man, whose life was full of suffering, was gone.

Conclusion Almost every story written by E.A. Poe is full of mysticism, depression and negative emotions. All his loses, all the rumors which were constantly moving around this prominent figure made a great impact on him. Poe describes his life; each story is full of his own experience. Russian symbolist poet Konstantine Balmont dedicated his life to translating Poe’s poems and short stories. He called E.A. Poe «генийоткрытия», which can be translated as “the genius of discovery”. E.A. Poe was always very original in his ideas. There are no extra elements in Poe’s works. We can often notice 18-- instead of the concrete year and “N” as the name of the city where the action takes place. There are never subplots in his stories, or minor characters. Though Poe considered writing a moral task he never ignored such aspects as unity of effect –

117

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues mental, emotional and spiritual. He used a unique artistic manner in order to create an effect to impress the readers. He applies many descriptions paying attention to each detail in order to draw the picture in the readers’ minds. This idea of creating an effect of participation distinguishes him from other writers of the period. Poe tried to invent universal standards to apply to each literary creation. In would be some kind of unique code of conduct to judge the quality of the work and he judged his works the same way. Summing up my thesis work I would like to emphasize that in all of these areas – poetry, fiction, and literary criticism – Poe made enormous and invaluable contribution to American literature, so much that it is all but impossible to imagine American literature without him.

References:

1) Bandy, William T. (1987). "Dr. Moran and the Poe-Reynolds Myth", Myths and Reality: The Mysterious Mr. Poe. Baltimore: The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore. 2) Bartleby.com (1909) The Poetic Principle by E.A. Poe retrieved from http://www.bartleby.com/28/14.html 3) Clemens S.L. and Howells W.D. (1872). The Correspondence of Samuel L. Clemens and William D. Howells. Harvard: Harvard University Press 4) Griswold, R.W. (1849). Obituary. Death of Edgar Allan Poe. Retrieved from http://www.poeforward.com/poe/texts/griswold-poe-obit.html 5) Poe E.A. (1848). Eureka. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32037 6) Poe E.A. (1848). The Poetic Principle. Retrieved from http://www.eapoe.org/works/essays/poetprnb.htm 7) Poe E.A. (1849). Annabel Lee. Retrieved from http://www.uspoetry.ru/poem/115 8) Poe E.A. (1850). The Mystery of Marie Roget. Retrieved from http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/POE/m_roget.html 9) Poe E.A. quotations retrieved from http://quotations.about.com/cs/morepeople/a/bls_edgar_allen.htm

118

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

10) Silverman, K. (1991) Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: HarperCollins Publishers 11) The World Catalog of Books (2010). Poe, Edgar Allan 1809-1849. Retrieved from http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n79-29745 12) Quizlet (2010). Flashcards: EA Poe Notes. Retrieved from http://quizlet.com/2108672/eapoe-notes-flash-cards/ 13) Whitman, S.H. (1860). Edgar Poe and His Critics. New York: Rudd and Carleton 14) Whitty, J.H. (1911). The Complete Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company 15) Walsh, J. E. (2000). Midnight Dreary: The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: St. Martin's Minotaur. 16) Бальмонт, К. (1993). Гений открытия. Москва: Издательство «Пресса» 17) По, Э.А. (1933). Собрание сочинений в четырех томах:стихотворения и поэмы. Москва: Издательство «Пресса» 18) По, Э.А. (1933). Собрание сочинений в четырех томах:проза (II,III,IV). Москва: Издательство «Пресса»

119

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

Some Problems of Women's Political Activity in the United States, European Countries and Georgia, (Comparative analysis)

ELENE MEDZMARIASHVILI

The increased role of women in and their contribution to the public and political development, as well as the increased political self-consciousness of women, are characteristic features of our era. This was largely due to the feminist movement, which started in the leading countries of the world in the late 1960s because of disregard for women's interests and demands on the part of society. It is clear that women's involvement in public and political life, changes in their role, their increased self-consciousness, and their aspiration to equality are part of a natural and progressive process developing together with the breaking of well-known traditional patriarchal stereotypes. This process has already been completed in the United States and some European countries and is proceeding successfully in others. Similar processes are nothing new for Georgia either. However, it will nevertheless take a lot of time to break the stereotypes. It is for this purpose that we are studying women's participation in the political life of the United States and highly developed European countries, drawing appropriate parallels with Georgia. It should also be born in mind that the problem of women's political activity is directly linked to the general process of democratization and our country's aspiration to join it. The following question may arise in this connection: How important is it to study this problem at the time when our society faces much more complicated problems? I believe it is both timely and necessary to study the problem, because a nation cannot be democratic if women's role in politics is passive and if they fail to hold top posts and are submissive in their families. Taking into account the experience of American and European women, we will be in a better position to objectively assess the processes that are able to change women's lives.

 Professor, Director of the M.A. and Ph.D. Programs in American Center of American Studies, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Vice-President, Georgian Association of American Studies, Tbilisi, Georgia.

120

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

So what lessons can we learn from American and European women? Can their experience be useful for us? What similarities and differences are there? This paper mostly deals with the problem of American, European and Georgian women's attitude to elections. Modern researchers of feminism attach major importance to the participation of women in the election process for the development of feminism in general, as elections are a form of teaching political participation and “an instrument” to be elected to an elective office. [1] Stories of women are good examples of the derisiveness and discrepancy of any society. Although women have always been in majority, they have often been regarded as a minority that has its own "place" in the social hierarchy. Their path to a career and, all the more so, power are blocked and they are regarded as a layer that is dependent, weak and "submissive" in nature. “On the other hand, unlike minority groups, women do not live together in a "ghetto", are distributed through every region, class, and social group, and often share greater proximity and intimacy with their "oppressors" than with each other,” American researcher William H. Chafe writes and adds, that "any attempt to understand women's experience, therefore, must inevitably come to grips with both their oneness and their diversity". [2] We take this into account and, although we believe that the history of no country can be divided into histories of separate genders, we nevertheless concentrate only on women in order to clarify their place in the country's public and political life. We raise a concrete question: How do women participate in elections, i.e. how do they use this fundamental civil right in the United States, leading European countries, and Georgia? Unfortunately, statistic data available in this country are very scarce for a full-fledged study of this problem, so we often have to use our own observations. The collection of articles entitled "Women and Elections" published in 2004 [3] satisfied researchers interested in the problem only partially. Although women voters are often more active than men, their activeness is limited to just voting in elections, while the number of women is much lower than the number of men among candidates to be elected at any level. The United States and European countries are no exception in this regard, never mind Georgia. Immediately as women became involved in the election process, it became clear that they were heterogeneous and that, moreover, the difference between them was immense. [4] Women differ from each other in their social standings, ethnicities, ideologies, and - in America - races.

121

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

These differences are more tangible than their unity. They were not united, when they fought for their voting right, as not all women wanted to obtain the right. Although motives are unclear, it is a fact that women participated in the anti-suffrage movement together with men. [5] This is probably why women became more active in the political life of specific countries and, specifically, in elections, mostly during the late 20th century as a result of the so-called second wave of the feminist movement (in the 1960-70s). The number of female voters has increased every year since then.

How do American and European women behave when they participate in elections? Who do they mostly vote for? French researcher Mariette Sineau drew interesting conclusions (supported with statistic data). In her opinion, most female voters, particularly in Catholic countries, voted for conservative forces (parties) in the post-war decades. [6] It is noteworthy that North America was no exception either, as the same happened in Canada and the United States, where most women voted for "conservative" forces and it has never been fully clarified why. Religious and social changes that took place after World War II entailed political ones. The roots of conservatism in Catholic countries should be sought, among others, in religion. Aged women were a majority among believers, which may be an explanation of their sympathy for right-wing parties and animosity towards Marxism and left-wing parties in general. In the 1970s, women's choices gradually became similar to those of men. Many analysts believe that this evolution may end, when there are no differences between the political behavior of men and women. However, women moved farther left than men in the 1980s. The trend became evident in the United States in 1980, when women tended to be anti-Reagan. Even in Catholic France in 1988, 37 percent of women voted for Socialist Francois Mitterrand, while only 31 percent of men supported him. Unfortunately, we do not know how many women supported Segolene Royal in May 2007. One reason why women's votes swung to the left in European countries is that their social position had changed. Women achieved certain success in democratizing specific spheres in the 1970s. They proved to be particularly successful in secondary and higher education. They became more active also in the economic life.

122

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

The tradition of men and women voting for the same parties and candidates was broken in the 1980s. American political scientists described this as a "gender breakthrough". Some researchers even argued that this "breakthrough", not the victory of the Republican candidate, was the main event in the 1980 presidential election. [7] However, many political analysts and sociologists argue that people became aware of the "gender breakthrough" only because it was for the first time that they noticed differences in female and male voting. This problem has been topical in the studies of American voters since 1980. Researchers want to clarify sociopolitical reasons for the forementioned difference and forecast possible results of future elections. [8] American researchers have produced various explanations in this connection. [9] I think the main reason for the "gender breakthrough" in Western countries is the fact that women's and men's assessment of political problems is different, not demography, the level of political activity, or personal features of political leaders. The difference becomes particularly evident if presidential candidates' election programs include military problems or social welfare issues. Unfortunately, priorities of Georgian female voters have not been studied. Until recent years, their choice depended on their personal sympathies or antipathies for candidates. There are many such examples in the history of independent Georgia. Women are more pacifist than men, so they are against nuclear weapons and use of force in general; they demand reduction of military expenditure and actively support social reforms; they are more sensitive to environmental issues and, what is most important, they are more feminist. We cannot maintain that the latter is true of Georgian women. No one has been particularly active in raising environmental problems in our country except the Green Party and a vast majority of Georgian women cannot be described as feminists. In West European countries, women actively support their representatives in governments. For, example, Gallup polls showed that back in the 1975 parliamentary elections in Scandinavian countries, female candidates won support from 40 percent of women and only 7 percent of men. [10] It would be interesting to know what the situation is in Georgia in this regard. In my opinion, Georgian women do not vote for female candidates just because the latter are women.

123

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

It is well known that young women are more rebellious, so they mostly support left-wing parties unlike men of the same age. In Scandinavia and North America, feminists support more realistic political approaches to some issues, which mean that they are quite active in elections. They have achieved some of the desired results thanks to the increasing numbers of their supporters and the "seized" ballot boxes. This strategy resulted in the increased political representation of women, particularly in the five Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands, as well as in other West European countries. The trend is most likely going to hold on if women prove to have sufficient professional experience. At any rate, European law does not restrict their rights. In South Europe (for the exception of Italy and Spain [11]) on the contrary, 92 percent of parliament members were men until recently. Quite interestingly, only 6 percent of parliament members were female in the homeland of suffragists - England - before 1992. For the first time in the country's history, the number of women in the English parliament reached 10 percent after the 1992 election (currently 20 percent). [12] There were no women at all in the House of Lords (currently also 20 percent) and there was only one woman in the Supreme Court. There were no women in Margaret Thatcher's cabinet, but they make 30 percent of the incumbent cabinet. [13] The number of women in the US Congress hit a record of 92 (17 percent) in 2009. [14] Although that is much less than in the Scandinavian countries, it is nevertheless more than in the previous Congress (75 women), which shows progress made. In this regard, the situation in the Georgian parliament and government was lamentable at the beginning of 2010. The number of women amounted to only 5 percent in parliament and 1 percent in the government, while women made 10 percent in the previous parliament. Thus, unlike the USA and West European countries, the number of women in the Georgian legislative branch tends to decrease. It is clear that the feminization of the political elite can be achieved only through real equality and the high qualification of women (good education, professional experience, and appropriate skills). The first attempt to create a female election bloc was made in Georgia in the 1995 election. Women nominated their candidates, but none of them was elected. As a rule, women's (feminist) parties independently participating in elections suffer defeat everywhere. The women's party that participated in the Georgian parliament election in 2008 is a good example to confirm this. The

124

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues only successful feminist party in the world is the Women's List party of Iceland, which won 10 percent of votes and six seats in parliament in the 1987 election. Thus, the study of the experience of the United States, European countries, and Georgia allows us to draw the following conclusions:

 There is no direct connection between the gender of a candidate and voters' behaviour. Female voters support female candidates only if the latter share their position (liberal or conservative). Most women vote for the female candidates, who do not have more prominent political opponents; [15]  There is no major difference between men and women voting for female candidates;  Female voters, who find so-called "female problems" important, often vote for female candidates;  A candidate's political platform is of decisive important in establishing a connection between gender and voting (if the political culture is at a high level in the specific country);  The gender of a candidate has a decisive impact on the results of an election only if the candidate's belonging to a party is not essential for voters. This is first and foremost true of "independent" candidates, who are sometimes quite numerous. Even in such cases, women vote for women, while men are against only if there are no other factors or the candidate does not have a clear election platform. "Strong" female candidates, i.e. those who have well-founded political platforms, can win support from both men and women, and those candidates, who do not have such a platform, lose support of both irrespective of gender. However, the aforementioned is applicable only to European countries and the United States, where political culture is at a high level. The major problem female candidates most frequently face at the stage of election campaigns is insufficient financial and party support. In spite of this, both US Democrats and Republicans often nominate women to elective posts. The former do this to keep women loyal and the latter to reduce the "gender breakthrough" and attract female voters. However, there is no sense in nominating women if they do not have

125

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues serious political programs. Therefore, nominating female candidates, parties should apply the same criteria as with men. The struggle of leading political parties for female votes has particularly intensified in the United States over the past decades. Well-known American sociologist D. Bell noted that women are a certain group within the Middle Class, whose importance in this country's public life is growing due to changes in their status and new opportunities emerging for them. [16] Many American researchers agree with D. Bell in that this social group has big potential, which should definitely be used. Not only the United States but also other countries should take this into account. Unfortunately, the aforementioned problem is not taken into account in Georgia. There are no appropriate statistic data available either. I think that our leading political parties should follow the example of the United States and developed European countries to obtain more chances of being successful.

References:

1. M.F. Katzenstein, Feminism and the Meaning of the Vote, Signs, Vol.10 (Chicago, 1984).N 2. William H.Chafe, Women and American Society, Making America. The Society and Culture of the United States, Ed. Luther S. Luedtke, USIA (Washington D.C., 1988). 3. Woman and Elections, ed. By Tsitsino Julukhadze (Tbilisi, 2004) (in Georgian) 4. Ulku U. Bates, Florence L. Denmark, Virginia Held… Women's Realities, Women's Choices. An Introduction to Women's Studies. Third Edition. Hunter College Women's Studies Collective (New York, Oxford, 2005). 5. Suzanne Lebsock, Woman Suffrage and White Supremacy: A Virginia Case Study, Women’s America. Refocusing the Past, Fourth Edition, Ed. Linda K.Kerber, Jane Sherron De Hart (New York, Oxford, 1995). 6. Mariette Sineau, Law and Democracy, A History of Women in the West. Toward a Cultural Identity in the Twentieth Century, Ed. Francoise Thebaut (Cambridge, London, 1994).

126

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

7. K.Beckwith, American Women and Political Participation: The Impacts of Work, Generation and Feminism, XIV (New York, 1986). 8. M.Gilens, Gender and Support for Reagan: A Comprehensive Model of Presidential Approval, American Journal of Political Science, V.32, N1 (New York, 1988). 9. P.J. Conover, Feminists and the Gender Gap, Journal of Politics, Vol.50, N4 (Gainsville, 1988). 10. Tolird Skard and Elina Haavio-Mavmila, Women in Parliament, Women in Nordic Politics (New York, 1985). 11. Maria Tereza Gallego Merdez, Spain, Women and Politics Worldwide. Ed. Barbara J. Nelson, NajmaChowdhury (New Haven, London, 1994), pp. 660-673. 12. Joni Lowenduski, Women in Great Britain, Women and Politics Worldwide, Ed. Barbara J. Nelson, NajmaChowdhury (New Haven, London1994). 13. Richard Cracknell, Richard Groat and John Marshall, Women in Parliament and Government, Social&General Statistics Section, House of Commons, Library (30 June 2009), p.8. http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/briefings/snsg- 01250.pdf 14. Women in Parliaments: World Classification. Inter-Parliamentary Union. http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm. 15. J.Zipp, E.Plutzer, Gender Differences in Voting for Female Candidates: Evidence from the 1984 Election, Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol.49, N2 (New York, 1985). 16. Liberalism and the Crisis of Power, American Journal of Political Science, Vol.30, N1 (New York, 1986). 17. Gill Allwood, Khursheed Wadia, Women and Politics in France 1958-2000 (New York, 2000). 18. A History of Women in the West, V. Toward a Cultural Identity in the Twentieth Century, Ed. Franqoise Thebaud (Cambrige, London, 1994). 19. J. Mansbridge, Myth and Reality: The ERA and the Gender Gap in the 1980 Election, Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol.49, N2 (New York, 1985).

127

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

Main Tendencies of the Development of New American Drama (Plastic Theatre)

BAIA KOGUASHIVILI

Economic crisis of 1929 had a great influence on Americans, which was also conveyed in American Literature. Class and racial conflicts were also highlighted in Drama, further creating a new open political Theatre. New Drama was not directed towards a single layer of society- elite or low class. It aimed at creation of a typical American character and realistic depiction of American Life. Eugene O’Neil, Lillian Hellmann and Tennessee Williams greatly supported to development of this type of drama, as their esthetic attitude is dedicated to showing bourgeois life as a certain chimera. A gifted writer and recipient of many literary awards, Williams is now recognized as an innovator of the new American drama after the end of World War II. Many of his plays have shocked audiences. They display violence, sexuality, alcoholism, rape, homosexuality and fetishism in terms that were never before seen on the American stage. His pervasive theme is the inescapable loneliness of human condition. His characters are faded men and women, consumed by time and decay. Foundation of New American Drama was provoked by the Theory of Williams’ Plastic Theatre, leading to the revolution in the world drama. According to the theory of Williams’ Plastic Theatre a play must be free from any illusion and catharsis, whereas the plot must be related to the author’s experience, inter “ego”, i.e. it must be linked with plastic face, requiring writer’s rich experience in creation of Plastic Face. Plastic Theatre is much more manifested in contrast to the old theater. In spite of a number of differences between American and English drama alongside with numerous similarities, New Drama requires music accompaniment, light effects, color combinations, stereoscopic pictures, etc, which as well as the text itself greatly contributes to correctly perceiving and understanding the Drama, where stage effects are not of so particular importance for English Drama.

 Prof. Dr., Akaki Tsereteli University, Kutaisi, Georgia.

128

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues

Williams’ Drama suffers from the influence of Modernist and Neo-Romantic Theatres. His heroes and heroines are in conflict with conventional moral and public standards. They are helpless people which suffer from destructive effects as the result of the above-mentioned conventional generally accepted moral. Conflicts of Williams’ heroes and heroines with public standards are conditioned due to the following reasons: violation of human rights, unconventional attitude towards life, personal strangeness and depression. The above-spoken conflicts serve as a basis for six commonly recognized plays by Williams. The theme of “The Glass Menagerie” is ruining of fantasy world of a non-conformist person; “A Streetcar Named Desire” is dedicated to triumph of violence. The play once again touches a struggle of a non- conformist person against society. Principal aim of Tennessee Williams’ work was to depict bright as well as dark sides of life. He said: “I want to show both sides of the moon” (1.33). According to Williams’ wards he wanted to show the bright and the dark side of human’s personality as well as of life. According to his plays, Williams defines two sides of the personality: the first is the bright, or realistic side of humankind, which deals with realistic side of life and the second is the dark, or bad, non- realistic, fantastic side of life, which deals with inner state of a human being and it is connected with psychological and inner state of the men. It should be noted that the most subject of interest in Williams’ plays is to represent the bad, or dark, non-realistic side of his characters, who are non-conformist people, who build their life on illusions and fantasy, and who are victims in realistic life ,and who are defeated by conformists. Williams was the first American Dramatist to depict the life as well as spiritual state of his contemporary Americans in realistic way. His plays are characterized by a variety of topics, which provides an opportunity for a wide scientific research, thus being a differentiating feature of authors’ creative works. A particular focus must be paid to the fact that Williams’ creative work highlighted influence of idealist theory over Oriental Art as well Modernist Esthetics. While characterizing people Williams made a great usage of psychological outlook. Williams’ creative works lack American optimism, being a characteristic feature for the American Literature of that period. Besides this, Williams’ creative work does not represent idyllic pseudo-national scenes, whereas it employs

129

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues naturalism and unveils spiritual in contrast to intellectual face of his contemporaries. Main characters of Williams' plays are the people being in conflict with commonly accepted moral ad public standards. They are helpless people suffering from destructive effects of commonly accepted standards and norms. Mostly, conflicts of William's characters with public standards are conditioned due to the following reasons: violation of human rights, unconventional attitudes towards life, strangeness and desperate state of a person. Williams’ plays and characters most brightly portrayed a face of genuine American of that period as well as his inner state, expressed by human disappointment, solitude and pessimism. The extrasensory perception and heightened emotionalism of Tennessee Williams’ writings have inspired numerous attempts at interpretations over the years. For readers and critics his plays exude extreme impulsive feelings even after so many years of acquaintance with his work. In spite of increasing concern and criticism there are a number of areas that need to be explored to resolve certain unanswered questions about Tennessee Williams more than about any other major contemporary playwright. Even though the form of the plays is deviated from conventional standards as well as their seemingly secret yearnings shame the society and they are shunned from mainstream society, yet the plays are still held to be more successful due to their inner probing of a lost person in the corrupt and materialistic world of the twentieth century. Publication of “Glass Menagerie” brought the first success of Tennessee Williams, bringing him a fame of a Great American Dramatist. “Glass Menagerie” is a sorrowful play depicting ruin of illusions and resulting a painful sobering. In the given play Utopian Glass World of the characters is ruined, forcing them willingly or unwillingly to face reality and accept the creative works as it is. “A Streetcar Named Desire” is the second significant play by Tennessee Williams which was awarded with Pulitzer Prize. The idea identical with “Glass Menagerie” is conveyed through the play. Nevertheless, it is dedicated to defeat of beauty and humanity, following by ruin of illusions, which is ended with triumph of violence and insolence. Plays by Tennessee Williams can be endlessly analyzed and discussed, which is conditioned by the fact that they can be searched and studied from various angles. Hence, the “Theory of Plastic Theatre” founded by Tennessee Williams provides an opportunity for multilateral

130

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues analysis. Presented theory enables us to view the plays from various specters. As it is evident from the above-listed plays, they can be discussed within religious and mythological, as well as philosophical and political spectra. Williams’ creative work is notable from the viewpoint that the author created the plays not leading the reader to catharsis; on the contrary, the author leaves us a room to choose, leaving the audience deeply thought-provoked after watching the plays. Apart from the above-listed numerous values differentiating Williams from other forerunner writers and dramatists, one of the key issues in Williams’ creative work is a symbolic language of the author. Stage effects having no particular importance in earlier dramaturgy acquired a particular significance in Williams’ creative works, being equal to the text compiled by the author, as the latter undertake the function of symbolic language. None of the details in Williams’ creative work remains functionless at the stage; everything has its own function. Due to this the directors staging Williams’ plays found it difficult to change even a single detail without consulting with the dramatist. Everything – light, illumination, decoration, and music helps us to reach spiritual, psychological and inner world of characters, without which perception and understanding of Williams’ creation would have been impossible. Williams’ creative works are enriched with numerous realistic symbols adding mystery to his complicated plays. Williams is referring to a drama that was more than just a picture of reality: he insists that his ideal theatre makes use of all the stage arts to generate a theatrical experience greater than mere Realism. Though Williams never publicly discussed plastic theatre again, from ,,Glass Menagerie” on, his plays are very theatrical: his language is lyrical and poetic; his settings, "painterly" and "sculptural"; and his dramaturgy, cinematic . "The plastic theatre of Williams is not confined to visual structures. Its sensuous symbol also embraces sound patterns: words, music, and aural effects" (3.24). To express his universal truths Williams created what he termed plastic theater, a distinctive new style of drama. He insisted that setting, properties, music, sound, and visual effects—all the elements of staging—must combine to reflect and enhance the action, theme, characters, and language. Being a "memory play," The Glass Menagerie can be presented with unusual freedom of convention. Because of its considerable delicate or tenuous material, atmospheric touches and subtleties of direction play a particularly important part. Expressionism and all other unconventional techniques in drama have only one valid aim, and that is a closer

131

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues approach to truth. When a play employs unconventional techniques, it is not, or certainly shouldn't be, trying to escape its responsibility of dealing with reality, or interpreting experience, but is actually or should be attempting to find a closer approach, a more penetrating and vivid expression of things as they are. The straight realistic play with its genuine Frigidaire and authentic ice-cubes, its characters who speak exactly as its audience speaks, corresponds to the academic landscape and has the same virtue of a photographic likeness. Everyone should know nowadays the unimportance of the photographic in art: that truth, life, or reality is an organic thing which the poetic imagination can represent or suggest, in essence, only through transformation, through changing into other forms than those which were merely present in appearance. The only critical work which specifically uses plastic theatre as an analytical tool, Claus- Peter Neumann's "Tennessee Williams' Plastic Theatre. The most extensive discussion of the concept appears in Robert Bray's "Introduction" to the edition of Glass Menagerie, which he edited. Bray cites Williams' own journal, in which the writer had described minimalist balletic movement for the actors . In its simplest terms, then, a plastic theatre is a theatrical theatre as opposed to a literary .This may be how Williams conceived the term "plastic theatre," but it is not an assertion that the playwright took the idea of plastic theatre from Hofmann—he surely put the concept together from several sources over his early years, including the University of Iowa, Erwin Piscator's Dramatic Workshop at the New School for Social Research, and other influences. At Iowa, where Williams studied in 1937-38, the Department of Speech and Dramatic Arts required every student to gain practical experience in all aspects of production from acting to stagecraft. These multifarious experiences, surely enhanced by William's private contacts with artists, performers, and writers of many different disciplines and styles—among his friends in New York and Provincetown were painters, sculptors, composers, dancers, and actors, as well as writers in forms other than drama—impressed on him how integral to theatre all the arts were and how effective the non-realistic forms of theatre and art could be. While painters like Hofmann, who was an abstract expressionist (as was his friend and Williams', Jackson Pollock), were restricted to space, color, form, line, and the other elements of two-dimensional art, dramatists and theatre artists had, in addition to the painters' techniques, a broader palette from which to draw: sound,

132

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues light, language, movement, and so on. The New Stagecraft's "plastic stage," as described in Kenneth Macgowan's The Theatre of Tomorrow and practiced by designers Adolphe Appia, Gordon Craig, Lee Simonson, and Robert Edmond Jones, among others, focused on a self- consciously three-dimensional stage: constructed scenery instead of painted flats (Macgowan 102-09).14 This movement, of course, added the elements of sculpture and architecture to those of painting as techniques available to stage artists—and we have already noted that Williams had explored the notion of "sculptural drama" before, perhaps, he settled on the term "plastic theatre." On this analogy, Williams, already working with a three-dimensional stage, wanted a truly multi-dimensional theatre, integrating all the arts of the stage to create its effects. He did not want language to be the principal medium of his theatre, merely supported by a picture-frame set and enhanced by music and lighting effects. While there seems to be a connection here with Richard Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerk [total work of art] concept, Wagner was talking about the director and production, but Williams pushes the idea back to the playwright and the creation of the text. Williams wanted all the so-called production elements traditionally added by the director and designers to be co-equal aspects of the play and part of the playwright's creative process. Instead of merely composing the text of a play and then turning it over to a director and his team of theatre artists who will add the non-verbal elements that turn a play into a theatrical experience, Williams envisioned a theatre which begins with the playwrights who create the theatrical experience in the script because they are not just composing words, but theatrical images. Today, plastic theatre is not a particularly rare application. The critical reaction to William's short fiction has been mixed. Certainly his contribution as a short story writer has been overshadowed by his fame as a playwright, and scholars have often focused on how Williams developed his plays from ideas he introduced in his short stories. Some have regarded the stories as simplified and sharpened versions of his plays. Many reviewers have found his fiction morbid and grotesque and have compared it to that of Edgar Allan Poe. Detractors of Williams' work contend that he is a sadist who creates characters only to humiliate them, but his supporters assert that in general he treats his characters with sympathy and compassion. Some critics have seen in the stories' concern with the interplay of death and desire a similarity to works by Thomas Mann. Commentators have also examined autobiographical aspects of William's short stories, particularly his treatment of homosexuality and family

133

SECTION II: Literature and Women’s Issues dynamics. Recent studies have elucidated the role of women in his fiction, and have investigated his unconventional themes, experimental narrative technique, and use of symbols, particularly religious ones.

References:

1. Devlin, Albert J. , ed. Conversations with Tennessee Williams. Jackson: university of Mississippi Press ,1986c 2. Dodsworth M (ed) “The Twentieth Centure” volume 7 of the Penguin History of Literature; penguin books, 1994 3. Falk, Signi. Tennessee Williams. Boston: Twayne ,1978 University of Alabama, 1998-1999. 4. Hayman, Ronals. Tennessee Williams: Everyone Else in an Audience. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press,1994 5. Hecker M; Golovenchenko A; Kolesnikov B; “American Literature” Moscow “PROSVESHCHENIYE” 6. Kolin, Philip C. Tennessee Williams: A Guide to Research and Perfomance. Wetsport,Com.: Greenwood, 1998 7. Stanton, Stephen S., ed . Tennessee Williams: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N. J. : PrenticeHall,1977 8. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/American masters: Tennessee Williams/2011 9. http://www.findarticles.com/ Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia. The American Drama/2011

134

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

Brief Overview of the Economic Cooperation between Georgia and the United States of America (Main trends and recent developments)

DAVID APTSIAURI

It is a well recognized fact, that from the very beginning of the independence regaining in 90s, the U.S significant political military, financial and humanitarian assistance to Georgia had a paramount importance for the retaining of this independence and following the hard route of democratic transformations The United States has become one of the key international contributors of Georgia's sovereignty, territorial integrity and Euro-Atlantic integration. If the first years of cooperation, in general, were the years of humanitarian aid rendered to devastating Georgia, later this stage had been converted into full- fledged cooperation in various sectors of public and private life. Economic dimension of this cooperation had been steadily increasing with clear understanding of its crucial role for Georgia s stabile growth and security, as well as for further integration into international business community. The positive image of Georgia as reliable and successful business partner, provider of market oriented economic reforms had and still has an extra meaning in the context of bringing back home the occupied regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In this short article we will make an attempt to consider major parameters, trends and dynamics of current stage of economic relations between Georgia and the United States of America.

Importance of the US - Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership In January 2009 in Washington D.C. the Charter on Strategic Partnership between Georgia and the United States of America was signed. The Charter is based on the principles of Strategic

 Prof. Dr., Faculty of Humanities, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

135

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics cooperation between two states and support for the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, inviolability of borders and the strengthening of democracy and stability. It represents a very important framework for the enhancement of cooperation in the spheres of security and defense, economy and trade, energy, culture and education, as well as for the strengthening of democratic institutions and extension of people-to-people contacts. Throughout 2011, Georgia and the U.S. continued to develop and strengthen their relations intensively under the U.S.-Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership. All four working groups meetings were held in the first half of 2011. On March 15, 2011, the People-to-People Working Group meeting was held in Washington DC. On April 27, 2011, the Democracy Working Group meeting was held in Tbilisi. On May 10, 2011, the Economic Working Group was held in Washington DC. On July 18, 2011 the Defense and Security Working Group meeting was held in Washington DC. At the Economic Working Group meeting, sides explore possibilities for cooperation in the spheres of economy, trade, energy and environment. Recent discussions focused on initiatives for strengthening the economy and business climate in Georgia, the possibilities for Georgia to acquire 2nd Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact, General system of Preferences (GSP) and Georgia’s interest in a possible future FTA with the U.S., as well as development of energy transportation routes through Georgia. In recognition of the visa-free regime enjoyed by U.S. citizens visiting and residing in Georgia and based upon the agreement reached at the meeting of the People-to-People Working Group, the U.S. Government decided to extend the maximum period of validity of visas to multiple categories of Georgian citizens up to 10 years. Also, at Georgia’s long-standing request, the U.S. made a decision to change the “GRZ” acronym in travel documents issued to Georgian citizens with “GEO”, effective as of July 14, 2011. No doubt that these amendments will contribute to further expansion of partnership between business communities.

Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)

In August 2005, Georgia was awarded a U.S. $295 million grant to be funded over five years under the initiative. On 20 November 2008, an amendment granting an additional U.S.$100

136

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics million in U.S. Government development assistance under the MCC was signed. Projects aimed at the reduction of poverty through economic growth and infrastructure, energy and agribusiness rehabilitation and development, have been successfully implemented in Georgia under the MCC. The MCC entered its fifth and final phase in April 2011. Based on Georgia’s successful implementation of 1st MCC compact, the MCC Board of Directors invited Georgia to develop proposals for a second MCC compact. The process of development of proposals for 2nd MCC Compact is ongoing. Georgia cooperates closely with the U.S. side in the development of the proposals with a particular emphasis on Georgia’s economic progress, including road infrastructure - construction of an alternative highway connecting the Black Sea coast through southern Georgia with Tbilisi and a tourist road between Kutaisi and Svaneti.

Trade Relations Legal basis, General system of preferences (GSP)

Georgian enjoys preferential trade regime (GSP) with the United States since 2001, which provides preferential duty-free entry for certain Georgian origin export commodities to the U.S. market. In 2008 the US Congress initiated the idea of granting Georgia the free trade (FTA) regime status that covers the group of partners only. The discussions over this topic underway at present between the countries. Trade Turnover (Million US Dollars)

Year Export Import Turnover

2006 58, 9 129, 6 188, 5 2007 149, 0 203, 9 352, 9

2008 102, 2 241, 4 343, 6

137

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

2009 36, 9 226, 7 263, 6

2010 180, 5 173, 4 353, 9

2011 (Jan/Oct) 121 190, 3 313, 3

(In 2009 we witness a decline caused by the hit of the global financial crisis started a bit earlier – remark of the author of the article).

Direct Investments to Georgia (Million US Dollars)

2006 - 182, 6

2007 - 84, 4

2008 - 167, 9

2009 - 10

2010 - 135, 8

(Decline during 2009-2010 also can be explained mostly by 2008 global financial crisis – remark of the author of the article)

Training Programs under CLDP, the U.S. Department of Commerce

The Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) at the United States Department of Commerce (DOC) started its programs in Georgia in 2008 to support economic and political reforms underway in the country. Specific programs/project carried under the auspices of CLDP

138

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics include Consultations and Workshop on U.S. Import Standards for GSP-Eligible Products, How to Structure Sponsored Research Agreements between Life Sciences Companies and Georgian Academic Laboratories; Development of an Electronic Filing System for Trademarks and Patents; Technology Transfer and Technology Licensing Workshop; and most recently, Eurasia IP Coordination and Enforcement Workshop. CLDP will implement a number of technical assistance programs in Georgia in 2012 with the aim of creating a better business-enabling environment, creating new and diversified trade and investment opportunities, and improving the commercial legal framework.

Cooperation in energy sector Energy sector has always been one of the mostly meaningful fields of joint economic agenda, since the US Government is a high supporter of diversified approach to the distribution of world energy resources and Georgia, as a leading transit country, plays particular role in this respect linking the Western and Eastern marketplaces. In 2010 Georgia and the United States signed an ,,Agreement of Support,, which allocates (from total amount of 1 billion amount) more than 122 million US Dollars for the development of energy sector.

Agriculture, in particular international standards promotion in food industry and encouragement of wine exports, have become priorities in joint business activity

Making of bilateral legislative framework (Agreement between the economic dimension)

 Establishment of diplomatic relations between Georgia and the United States of America (April 23rd, 1992)  Joint Declaration on the Relations between Georgia and the United States of America (1992)  Agreement on promotion of investments between the Government of Georgia and the US Government (1992)  Agreement between the Government of Georgia and the US Government on humanitarian and technical assistance (1992)

139

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

 Agreement on encouragement and joint protection of investments between the Government of Georgia and the US Government (1994)  Memorandum of Understanding between US ,,Eximbank,, and Ministry of Transport of Georgia (1997)  Agreement on cooperation between National Bank of Georgia and the US Government (1997)  Agreement between the Government of Georgia and the US Government on the free of charge transfer of agricultural goods based on ,,Food for Progress Program,, (2004)  Agreement on trade of agricultural products (2007)  Agreement between the Government of Georgia and the US Government on air transport (2007)  Agreement between the Government of Georgia and the US Government on trade and investments (2007)  Agreement on financial transfers (2008)  Charter between the US Government and the Government of Georgia on strategic partnership, that covers economic part of cooperation (2009)  Memorandum of Understanding between the US Treasury and Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia on trade of alcoholic beverages and tobacco (2009)  Agreement between the Government of Georgia and the US Government on development of energy sector (2010)

A number of important US Congress Resolutions have been adopted in the years of 2007-2008-2009 linked with the facilitation and development of trade-economic relations between the United States of America and Georgia.

(Note: the author of the publication used a number of statistical data and other information kindly provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and national economic agencies)

140

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

Media, PR & Globalization

LELA VANISHVILI

Introduction The media industry has unique qualities that separate it from other industries. The most important part is that it is under the position of the First Amendment which guarantees freedom of the press. Mass media can be described as the extensive phrase describing television, radio, and film, newspapers, and magazines. The mass media often perform as the local social control and the source of popular culture. It also helps public to preserve historical events and of course it teaches morals. Media can present and show us the true events that happens around us, it represent frequently effect how we dress, what we buy, and how our society functions. Civil journalism together with public makes more and more conscious effort actively engage the public in covering stories of community and to find solution to social problems. Media critics provide clashing views on a variety of topics. Debates are about: Is bias in the media a serious problem? How do the media affect society? How will the media be affected by the internet?

Media: A Brief Historical Overview. Some people think of history as a collection of disconnected facts about eras that no longer exist. They are wrong. A study of the past can help us understand how the media industries that exist today developed. When we talk of the structure of the media industry, we mean the role that organizations play with one another in the course of producing, distributing and exhibiting mass media materials. On-line Media and the Web: The first sign of the expansion of the internet to consumer and educational users in the early 1990s was the adoption by businesses and private users of electronic mail - e-mail, technology. With a computer, a modern and a telephone line, just about

 Research Assistant of Faculty of Humanities, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

141

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics anyone could learn how to communicate electronically on-line. “The internet has become a tool that allows users to economize on what has become their scarcest resource – time.” (Williams, D.E., 2001) Exchanging text through e-mail is a simple electronic operation, but several more developments were necessary for people to be able to share text, graphics, audio, and video online. This development made the creation of the World Wide Web possible. Like print and broadcast reporters, multimedia journalist ferret out background material, interview sources and observe. But they do more than write. They also record with a camera and/or a digital audio recorder. Their words, photos, audio, and TV as well as for the Web and wireless applications. To create stories for the fast-paced, interactive Web, you need to understand what works best online. The Web’s strengths include breaking news and updates, links, archives, interactively and multimedia. Media and PR Partnership: Working with the media is what most people think of when they talk about public relations. The image of a press officer or celebrity PR consultant trying to get their client – be it a product or a person - into the media spotlight through print and broadcast outlets. To some extent this is true. And it is true that one of the first things most of us do when we start working in PR is to write press releases for media distribution and across our fingers hoping to get ‘coverage’. Most text about media relations tends to focus on the ‘how’ rather than the ‘why’. Yet it is important to ask what the objective of media relations activity should be. David Wragg argues that: “the purpose of press relations is not to issue press releases, or handle enquires from journalists, or even to generate a massive pile to enhance the reputation of an organization and its products, and to influence and inform the target audience”(Wragg; 1998). The concept of negotiated news is an important principle for media relations practice. It recognizes that the media do not exist to report your client or organization. Journalists are neither for you nor against you, but neutral intermediaries standing between you and public. Most PR practitioners, even the most junior, quickly come to understand the realities of dealing with a free and independent media.

142

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

News Media, Public Relations and Globalization News Media Impact: New media could be described simply as what is clearly not old media. Old media would be defined as the seven traditional media – Print (newspapers, magazines and books); Audio (radio and recordings); and Video (television and movies). The term new media is used to describe all forms of emerging communications media. New media combines text, graphics, sound and video, using computer technology to create a product that is similar to, but clearly different from, traditional media. Since the definition of new media is so broad, the term is thrown around very easily by people hoping to get attention and financial support for new product. Emerging forms of new media are being developed every day by people who are experimenting with the process. There always arises question: “Are old media dying?” “Will the development of new media mean the death of old media?” Some observers have predicted that the medium of print is dead. “The end of the book is near!” Stepped down to the basics, the mission of the news media is to inform audiences quickly, accurately and fully on matters in which audience's express an interest and affect them significantly. In the simple terms, the mission of the public relations function is to build working relationships with all of an organization’s publics. The freedom of the news media is to inform the public and to interpret information without bias. Each day, newspapers, and broadcast outlets of new releases – also called handout or press releases. To get their message across, public relations (PR) practitioners' telephone or visit newspapers and broadcast outlets to describe the “news” or more commonly e-mail releases or send them via fax or mail. Many releases are worth printing or broadcasting; many are not. It is up to the journalist to: 1. Decide Which release have any local news value 2. Present those with value is such a way that readers, viewers, or listeners are given the most important news. Nearly every corporation, business, university, organization, or political party – large or small – has one or more people whose job it is to gain the attention of the media. Many of these public relations people are former print or broadcast journalists or were journalism majors who planned careers in public relations. They know that much, most or all of the support their

143

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics organizations will receive is linked directly to the publicity they receive from the media, and they know how to get this publicity. Some firms and groups really do have news to release, and they help the media greatly by acting as news sources. Others are merely hoping to get their names in the newspaper or on the air without paying for an advertisement. Every person looking at a news release has different ideas about what is newsworthy and what is not. That is why some releases are used and others are thrown away. The goal of PR professionals is to build good relationships between an organization and its key publics through communication that is credible, informative, relevant, and useful for those audiences. A common and effective way to reach an audience is through the news media. PR professionals know that telling an organization’s story via the news media generates publicity that could help an organization achieve its goal. Typically, this is accomplished through news releases. However, journalists know PR professionals are seeking free publicity for their organization, and so they are always skeptical of the news releases they receive. To have good working relationship with journalists, PR professionals must have understanding of the business of journalism. In fact, many of the best PR professionals are formed journalists because they know what the news media want and can give them what they need – good, solid, newsworthy stories. In many ways, a PR professionals’ job is much like a journalist’s, except that his or her beat is the organization. To write effective news releases, the PR pro must think and acts like a journalist and editor before, during, and after the writing process. Just like a journalist, a PR person must know how to conduct interviews, what questions to ask and where to obtain information. The most typical stories from organizations concern announcements about upcoming events, programs, policies and earnings as well as new products or services and employees. Having identified a newsworthy story, gathered the information, double-checked the facts and conducted interviews with appropriate sources, the PR person must write the news release. A news release is written in the same manner as a journalist would write news story. Most obviously, it must be well written, with no grammar or spelling errors. It must be clear, facture,

144

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics well researched and timely. It must follow the inverted pyramid style, featuring a strong summary lead followed by key supporting facts. It should include supported quotes from appropriate sources within the organization. And, finally, it should be written as concisely a possible because editors’ busy schedules do not allow time for reading lengthy releases. Good news releases avoid two additional journalistic no-no’s hype and jargons. Reporters often appreciate and can benefit from a PR representative’s insider background and in-depth knowledge about his or her organization. However, when writing news releases, the PR representatives must always keep in mind that journalists, as well as a general audience, may not readily understand a company’s complex operations, it’s products or services and especially and ethical or industry-specific knowledge or language. The PR person’s job is to serve as a translator, translating company jargon and complex information into clear, plain English. Globalization Process: It means description of the process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated thought communication. It is not only the communication, there appear different factors too. The term is most closely associated with the term economic globalization. The current idea of “globalization” can be defined like an earth as one huge market which should be as uniform as possible. The mass media itself has become part of the economy, has ever refined means of influencing its customers, and normally joins in strongly with this process. Many people are less and less critical of the reporting different events. Whatever appears on the TV screen is presented in the newspapers or in books. More and more people take their objectives and values from the press instead of thinking by themselves. The blame for this cannot of course be simply passed on to the media, but rather within the meaning of self-responsibility everyone bears the responsibility. The decentralized nature of the internet makes it very different from more traditional mass media. Global messages developed by the media industries are distributed through global media system. Good example is CNN. CNN can distribute the same message throughout its worldwide television system. From 1990 a global commercial media market emerged. According to MaChesney, “the rise of a global media market is encouraged by new digital and satellite technologies that make global markets both cost-effective and lucrative” (MaChesney; 1999).

145

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

Global media have an impact on media content, politics, and culture. Like the internet, global media are influenced by the culture and interests. As the internet becomes a broadband medium, it is increasingly taking on the characteristics of a mass medium rather than an interpersonal one. For the future development, mass media trend could be seen in the internet. We can say that most of the population cannot afford the types of products advertised on global media. Also media can create such lifestyles of consumption that is very different from other cultures. Twenty years ago people talked about Americanization of media in the world. For now people talk more about globalization because it is apparent that although American media play a prominent role in the global scene.

Blogs – A new Type of Participatory Journalism New technological way to inform everyone about something is Blogging. It becomes most famous and important for nowadays media. It could manage to involve most of public. So, the way to involve the readers is Blogs (short for “Web logs”), which dig up facts and dished out news and opinions. Traditional blogs link to interesting articles on the internet, frequently with comments. For example, Romanesque dispenses daily news and commentary about the media industry. Other blogs focus more on writing than linking. Some blogs just go one way, such as when a reporter files notes from the field, but most promise a two-way conversation where users can question, probe, and offer different points of view. By offering fresh perspectives, bloggers can expand the coverage of local news and sink roots deeper in the community. There are two schools of thought about linking to external pages. According to Leslie- Jean Thornton, a long-time newspaper editor and now journalism professor at Arizona State University, some people prefer lots of external links so they can easily access additional information. Other people fear that links will take readers away from their site to another site. To take newspapers, there the words under the photos are called cutline’s. In magazines, they’re captions. “Cutline’s help tell a story, but too often they’re hurried afterthought,” Leslie- Jean Thornton said. Cutline’s let readers know what the story is about and why the photo is significant even without reading the accompanying text. The key to fusing words and pictures is to write to, not

146

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics merely about, a picture. One way to do this is to image that the picture is the lead of the story and the caption is a continuation that explains and amplifies the headline. Flexibility, willingness to learn new approaches and an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of each medium is crucial for up-and-coming online journalists. So will the ability to ferret out a story, get it right, and entice users to read to it. If the trend appears to be towards broadcast and online media, then you should not overlook the resurgence and profitability of local and regional newspapers. Depending on the title they also often tend to pure a more positive news agenda. This multi-channel, multimedia landscape – coupled with long working hours and long commuting distances – makes it very difficult for advertising media buyers and PR practitioners to advice on the most effective means of reaching target audiences. Now not only has the audience fragmented as it flits between hundreds of competing channels, but we have started to tune out advertisements because of their ubiquity and because we do not trust their messages. So the media relations practitioners should not only pursue and facilitate opportunities for positive publicity, but must be alert to the dangers of gaining a bad press. The journalists or reporter may have personal reasons for disliking a company or product or they may be responding to public concerns. The media may be in contact with a ‘whistle blowing’ employee unhappy for some reason with your organization’s practices.

Conclusion Media as one of the powerful facilitator is changing over the period and becomes more globalized. It is the result of people new communication technology. This term of “globalization” acquired clashes of ideas. Some of them agree that this will be beneficial and it will be the key for our future development. But others explained that it will cause misunderstanding and even some kind of fear. The globalization it is effective wave of future coming. It will be one of the important phenomena in our society. The mass media itself has become the part of economy; due it connects the globalization to mass media together. Very soon it will appear that mass media can’t coexist without globalization. So, the new way of informing people about something and for communication is blogging. We can call it the result of globalization. It becomes and it will become the most important for nowadays media.

147

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

So, the content of the mass media remains less than of the highest quality, the fault is partially ours. Whether or not the quality of mass-media content keeps pace with the new technological advances depends on each of us. And media is closely related to PR which will serve news media. Also it should be a valuable for the public. It serves an essential part of our everyday life. The rise of new media has low down communication between people. But the internet gives opportunity to share their ideas through different internet sites. The internet gave public to rise and at the same time gave some kind of tension. It promises in the future to become a main factor of developing the mass media industry. Finally working with the media is what most of people think of when they talk about public relations. Media relations tend to be the most public and visible aspect of PR practice. With the development it became easy to give certain information to the masses. Effective media relation is really the name of the game, and in an age dominated by the Internet, effective media relations are of utmost importance to ensure the correct dissemination of information. The internet has given enormous power into the hands of the people. Of course it’s the duty of the PR department to develop effective public relations with the media with the help of globalization. PR is the main tool in the relationship of media. However, it’s also the responsibility of the media, to lend a helping hand to the PR department to show their side of the story as well.

References: [1.] Cohen, S., & Eimicke, W. (2002) “The Effective Public Manager: Achieving Success in a Changing Government”. 3rd ed. Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint. [2.] Brigham, F. E. & Ehrhard, C. M. (1998). “Financial Management.” (546-589). Florida. US. Thomson South-Western. [3.] Grant, M. R. (1999). “Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Corporate Strategy.” (387-406). 6th Ed. NY, US. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [4.] Harold, K. (2005). “Project Management: A Systematic approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling”. (373-386). 5th Ed. Malden, US. Blackwell Publishing. [5.] Rejester, M. & Larkin, J. (2005). “Risk Issues and Crisis Management: A Casebook of Best Practice.” (133-162). 3rd Ed. London & Sterling, VA. Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

148

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

[6.] Olaniran, B.A., & Williams, D.E., (2001) “Anticipatory Model of Crisis Management: A Vigilant Response to Technological Crisis”. Heath, R.L. (ed). London Stage. [7.] Howard, C. & Matthews, W., (1997), “On Deadline: Managing Media Relations». Prospect Height, IL: Waveland Press. [8.] Seitel, F., (2004), “The Practice of Public Relations”, 9th edition, London: Prentice Hall. [9.] www.prmediaconsultants.com

149

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

African-Americans in the Past and Present

NINO DANELIA

Black Americans have faced many problems in the past; they and other racial groups have been discriminated against and enslaved. Throughout the history black people have been denied many important things. Black Americans could not work, live, shop, eat, or travel where they wanted. They couldn't vote, they were forced to go to separate schools and were also excluded from universities. A large majority of blacks lived in poverty. Many years have passed since those times and today the situation is very different. In education, many blacks receive college degree from universities that used to exclude them. Black Americans have also experienced changes at work. They are often offered more professional and managerial jobs. In politics, most black Americans now participate in elections. Today there are few people in America who will openly confess to being racist, and those people and organizations, which do, such as the remaining Ku Klux Klan, are usually viewed as social outcasts. However, there are still many stereotypes against African-Americans, which influence American culture. Many black people face problems like poverty, employment and housing. In various interviews on the Internet, black Americans still say that racial discrimination is a serious problem in the American society. Although there are no longer signs indicating which toilet or drinking fountain black people are allowed to use, most of them feel that they know very well where they aren't welcome.

Light and Dark Skin Racism One of the more subtle issues surrounding racism in America is the difference in racism against African-Americans based on the shade of their skin. Multiple studies have found that racism against African-Americans is more severe for those who have darker shades of skin than those who have lighter shades of skin. One grim Stanford University study found that in death

 Senior Student, Faculty of Humanities, Direction of American Studies, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

150

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics row cases an African-American defendant was twice as likely to receive the death penalty if he had very dark skin and traditionally African features when compared with African-Americans with lighter skin and more European features. Similar findings have been discovered in regards to employment. A Bucknell University study found that African-Americans with light skin were more likely to obtain a job than African-Americans of dark skin, although both were less likely to receive a job than a white candidate. Still, African-Americans are in better conditions than in the past.

Black History Month There is an annual celebration of achievements by black Americans. That celebration is called Black History Month, which is a time for recognizing the central role of African Americans in U.S. history. The event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating black history. The story of Black History Month begins in 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. That September, the Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), an organization dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by black Americans and other peoples of African descent. Known today as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), the group sponsored a national Negro History week in 1926, choosing the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The event inspired schools and communities nationwide to organize local celebrations, establish history clubs and host performances and lectures. In the decades the followed, mayors of cities across the country began issuing yearly proclamations recognizing Negro History Week. By the late 1960s, thanks in part to the Civil Rights Movement and a growing awareness of black identity, Negro History Week had evolved into Black History Month on many college campuses. President Gerald R. Ford officially

151

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics recognized Black History Month in 1976, calling upon the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Since then, every American president has designated February as Black History Month and endorsed a specific theme. In 2010, the theme focused on the history of black economic empowerment and recognized the achievements of the painter Jacob Lawrence, the entrepreneur Annie Malone and the National Urban League, a civil rights organization.

Famous African-Americans There are many famous African- Americans who are admired not only in America, but in the whole world. Here is the list in which some of those well-known Black Americans are represented: Benjamin Banneker: One of America’s greatest intellectual, a mathematician and a scientist. He was also an essayist, inventor and an astronomer. He published a treatise on bees, did a mathematical study on the seventeen-year locust and was a pamphleteer for the anti-slavery movement. Mary McLeod Bethune: One of the greatest women achievers of the Black American society, she was known to single-handedly build Bethune- Cookman College in 1923. It was a school for the Blacks who worked in the railroad labor camps in Florida. In 1935, President Roosevelt appointed her as the national director of the National Youth Administration’s of Negro Affairs. Dr. George Washington Carver: Born of slave parents, Dr. Carver was an agricultural scientist who single-handedly revolutionized southern agriculture. He has worked on the peanut so extensively that he has discovered a series of products to be obtained from peanut like meal, instant and dry coffee, bleach, tar remover, wood filler, metal polish, paper, ink, shaving cream, rubbing oil, linoleum, synthetic rubber and plastics. Paul Laurence Dunbar: A famous poet and author who was renowned amongst both the Blacks and the Whites. He was appreciated for the brilliance and value of his poetic excellence. Frederick Douglass: He was a famous activist and journalist. He constantly fought against his slave condition and he escaped from the captivity of the Whites. He wrote an autobiography

152

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics that was titled The Narrative of the Life and Times of Fredrick Douglass fully aware of the chances of getting caught as runaway slave.

W.E.B. Du Bois: He has a list of titles associated to his name. He was an educator, author, historian, sociologist, philosopher, poet, leader and radical. He insisted on the training in liberal arts and in humanities of the African Americans. He was the first Black to receive a doctoral degree from Harvard University. Marian Anderson: An African American Opera singer who was well known for her extraordinary contralto voice. Maya Angelou: She was a renowned poet, author, historian, singer and civil rights activist and a Grammy and Horatio Alger Award winner. Jesse Owens: He was a track and field athlete who won four gold medals in the 1936 Summer Olympics. Influenced by principles and practices of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. he took the role of Defense. BB King: He is a guitarist who is also called the undisputed King of the Blues. Martin Luther King Jr.: The famous civil rights activist, who was the leading cause behind the segregation laws in the 1960’s. President Barack Obama: He is the first African American President of the United States. He is one of the most powerful people of recent times. Michael Joseph Jackson: Referred to as the King of Pop, Michael Jackson is one of the most successful and most influential entertainers of all time and others.

African-American Soldiers The military history of African Americans spans from the arrival of the first black slaves during the colonial history of the United States to the present day. There has been no war fought by or within the United States in which African Americans did not participate, including the Revolutionary War, the War of1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, the World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as other minor conflicts.

153

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

African-Americans in the U.S. Congress African Americans began serving in greater numbers in the United States Congress during the Reconstruction Era following the American Civil War after slaves were emancipated and granted citizenship rights.

The Great Migration of blacks from the rural south to northern cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland from 1910 to 1940 began to produce black- majority Congressional districts in the North. In 1928, Oscar De Priest won the 1st Congressional District of Illinois (the South Side of Chicago) as a Republican, becoming the first black Congressman of the modern era. Since the 1940s, when decades of the Great Migration resulted in millions of African Americans having migrated from the South, no state has had a majority of African-American residents. Because of this, an African-American candidate cannot rely on the black vote alone to be elected to the Senate. The candidate must reach out to other races and groups to become elected to the United States Senate and to many congressional seats. Four African Americans have served in the Senate since the 1940s: Edward W. Brooke, a Republican from Massachusetts; and Carol Moseley Braun, Barack Obama, and Roland Burris (appointed to a vacancy) – all Democrats from Illinois.

Conditions of Black Americans during Obama’s presidency One of the best examples of conditions of African-Americans being improved and sometimes American Dream comes true, is Barack Obama, who is the 44th, but at the same time the first African-American President of the United States. Obama is one of the most powerful people of recent times. Obama's presidency has immediately had a profound effect on many African Americans in America. Just a few personal stories will prove my point. One African American talks about his frustration buying greeting cards prior to the election. Pre-Obama, he went out to buy a Mother's Day card for his Mother, only to be greeted by a whole bunch of cards with white ladies in aprons on them. He notes his experience at the same gift shop post-Obama and the availability of

154

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics a variety of new greeting card options, with all different kinds of races on them. He even noticed an entire row devoted to social issues. Another African American, Edward, talks about how happy he is being a police officer now that racism has ended. Prior to the election, being a policeman was hard for Edward. He had so much to remember. Not only things like the law and code of conduct, but also he had to remember rules with so many nuances such as black people are drug addicts, brown-skinned people hanging out on corners are up to no good, and people with an accent of any kind are terrorists. Now, thanks to Obama's election, Edward's job is easier. He gets to just have one rule instead of many: treat everyone as a human being deserving respect. Thank you Obama. Racism is over! There are people who think that racism is not over and there's a lot of work that needs to be done to reduce racial inequalities in America. Let’s think and realize the fact that time often changes everything. In early period people would be shocked if they knew what would happen in the future. So we can outline very important period for African-Americans and may call it the period from slavery to presidency. In my opinion, it proves that African-Americans are very strong, talented, purposeful people. After slavery they learned different skills, got education. Many of them did their best and reached their goals. Those African-Americans became very important persons in the U.S. history. One of the best examples of such persons is Martin Luther King Jr., whose memorial was opened in Washington on October 16. Thanks to Martin Luther King Jr. and his leadership of the Civil Rights Movement black people got their rights. Nowadays Barack Obama credits Luther King with paving his way to the White House, it’s true because if not Martin Luther King Jr. the African-Americans wouldn’t get rights and later Obama wouldn’t become the President of the U.S. Martin helped not only blacks, but the poor people. Though he was killed at the age of 39, African-Americans remember and will remember Luther King in the future. They are grateful toward him. The memorial expresses this gratefulness and respect.

155

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

References: 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historically_black_colleges_and_universities 3. http://baic.house.gov 4. http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/history/aa_history.htm 5. http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war/ 6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_History_Month 7. http://www.factmonster.com/spot/afroambios.html 8. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/oct/20/obama-king-dedication

156

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

Communicating Reforms: Some Aspects of Practical Public Relations Strategy for Local Government

(USA-based research)

NICKOLAS MAKHARASHVILI

Public relations it about reputation—the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you. Public Relations Practice is the discipline which looks after reputation with the aim of earning understanding and support, and influencing opinion and behavior

Abstract

Democracy building has become a real and vibrant process in Georgia as a result of the changes wrought by the “Rose Revolution” of 2003. The Georgian government is currently pursuing widespread reforms in the economic, political and social systems governing the country, and faces the challenge of communicating these reforms to the public in a meaningful and positive way. This situation has placed the need for creating sustainable capacity for public relations as an urgent item on the government’s agenda.

 Prof. Dr., International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

157

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

Communicating Reforms: Some Aspects of Practical Public Relations Strategy for Local Government

(USA-based research)

NICKOLAS MAKHARASHVILI

Ten Basic Principles of Organizational Role and Function of PR

As the definitions suggest, the result of public relations efforts must be the real behavior of the organization and perceptions of that behavior by its publics. Therefore, among the various titles now being used for the role of the public relations function are communications management (or sometimes strategic communications management), reputation management and relationship management. In delineating these, all are managerial roles. We can describe the function and role of public relations practice by stating 10 basic principles: 1. Public relations deals with reality, not false fronts. Conscientiously planned programs that put the public interest in the forefront are the basis of sound public relations policy. (Translation: PR deals with facts, not fiction.) 2. Public relations is a service-oriented occupation in which public interest, not personal reward, should be the primary consideration. (PR is a public, not personal, service.) 3. Since the public relations practitioner must go to the public to seek support for programs and policies, public interest is the central criterion by which he or she should select these programs and policies. (P'R practitioners must have the guts to say "no" to a client or to refuse a deceptive program.) 4. Because the public relations practitioner reaches many publics through mass media, which are the public channels of communication, the integrity of these channels must be preserved. (PR practitioners should never lie to the news media, either outright or by implication.)

 Prof. Dr., International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

158

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

5. Because PR practitioners are in the middle between an organization and its publics, they must be effective communicators—conveying information back and forth until understanding and ideally consensus are reached. (The PR practitioner probably was the original ombudsman/ woman.) 6. To expedite two-way communication and to be responsible communicators, public relations practitioners must use scientific public opinion research extensively (PR cannot afford to be a guessing game.) 7. To understand what their publics are saying and to reach them effectively, public relations practitioners must employ the social sciences—psychology, sociology social psychology—and the literature of public opinion, communication and semantics. (Intuition is not enough.) 8. Because a lot of people do PR research, the PR person must adapt the work of other, related disciplines, including learning theory and other psychology theories, sociology, political science, economics and history. (The PR held requires multidisciplinary applications.) 9. Public relations practitioners are obligated to explain problems to the public before these problems become crises. (PR practitioners should alert and advise, so people won't be taken by surprise.) 10. A public relations practitioner should be measured by only one standard: ethical performance.

PR and Related Activities Public relations involve many activities. People's participation in the activities of public relations and their subsequent assertion that, therefore, they are "in public relations" often cause confusion in others' understanding of what public relations is. The activities of PR practice include: press agentry, promotion, publicity, public affairs, research (primary and secondary), graphics, and advertising, marketing, integrated marketing communications .and merchandising support. ■ Press agentry involves planning activities staging events—sometimes just stunts —that will at tract attention to a person, institution, idea or product ■ Promotion goes beyond press agentry into opinion making. Promotion tries, to garner support and endorsement for a person, product, institution or idea.

159

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

■ Publicity is placing information into a news medium. Publicity is not always good news. A PR writer may be crafting a response to an unpleasant situation. Publicists are primarily writers, one of the technical support team for public relations. Publicists working for government are often called information officers. ■ Public affairs, when the term is used by government, means the same thing as public relations, with external publics. However, in companies or nonprofit organizations, it usually means the person responsible for that organizations relationship with all branches of government. Most of the activity is with the legislative and regulatory branches. ■ Research is the foundation of all good public relations strategy. Much research involves publics and public opinion, although other research may involve the marketplace and the social, economic and legal climate in which a public relations activity is centered. ■ Graphics are important because all public relations readers and viewers are "volunteers" who will reject any presentation that is visually unappealing and not user-friendly ■ Advertising is usually commercial time or space bought in specific media to control the time, place and message. However when nonprofits use advertising, the time or space may be donated by a medium, but what is lost is control over use and timing. ■ Marketing is directed toward consumers of a service or product In 2004, the American Marketing Association (AMA) defined marketing as "an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders."4The AM A includes in that definition activities (ideas and services) of nonprofit organizations, as well as those sold for profit. ■ Integrated marketing communications (IMC) began developing in the 1990s and emerged from what had been called Marketing/PR. Then IMC began to focus on branding to give instant recognition for a product or company. IMC, talked about "relationship building," which sounded a lot like what PR was doing. Although some PR people accepted the development as IMC other PR people agreed only that organizations should unify all communications to "speak with one voice": what

160

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics they called IC or integrated communication. As a result IC and IMC terms began showing up in name changes for firms and in curriculum changes in some colleges and universities.5 ■ Merchandising is concerned with presentation. Its focus is the packaging for a product, idea or perhaps even a political candidate.6 Technology has changed merchandising in the diversity of de livery: compact disc (CD) or fax, in addition to audiocassette or print, plus the direct response of online purchasing and cable-television shopping channels. Merchandising experts are strong in the application of graphics, color, tactile responses and emotional reactions to physical imagery. All of these are important elements in the "toolbox" of solutions to reaching publics. But public relations is something greater than just this collection of activities. Changes in the environment for public relations can shift the emphasis from one activity to another over time. Recently, advances in technology—such as significant differences in the way the news media operate—have driven many of these shifts. Another result of these advances has been increased globalization, affecting both internal and external communication and significantly altering the way crises are handled. All crises now get global attention, which creates considerable urgency for appropriate organizational responses that are destined to be weighed in the world court of public opinion.

The importance of the public relations function and practical strategy (Georgian based) The importance of the public relations function as an integral part of the effective activity of any organization is still relatively unknown in Georgia, although there are some fledgling attempts to establish commercial PR agencies in the country. To date, however, there is a deficit of skilled public relations professionals in the country. The PR strategy for local government that will be undertaken as a result of US-based research on PR strategy for government is aimed at establishing effective Public Relations Departments in the offices of city assemblies throughout Georgia. A successful PR function in local governments will facilitate active involvement of society in the process of decision-making

161

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics by government structures and raise transparency of the reform activities undertaken by local government authorities. At this stage in the democratization process in Georgia, there is a critical need for society to understand the roles, responsibilities and functions of local government, and the rights and responsibilities of citizens in relation to local government. Active engagement by the citizenry and civil society organizations in local government is essential in building a democratic society. The policy and functioning of local government in Georgia is still in the early stages of development and the strength of local governments’ capacity is still far from ideal. Local governments are in need of a great deal of assistance to prepare them to undertake their responsibilities in an effective manner. The proposed research will focus on the role of public relations function in relation to local government, and the resulting training package will be designed to assist local government offices to communicate government priorities, options, challenges and courses of action to constituents. An enhanced PR function will help to overcome current low levels of confidence and mistrust in government and build understanding of the reforms being undertaken by the government, and facilitate the establishment of productive and lasting partnerships between communities and their local governments. Objectives and overall purpose of the proposed PR strategy and subsequent research is establishment of the principles of transparency and accountability in elected governmental structures, through strengthened capacity within those structures for public education, communication and engagement. The focus of this capacity building effort will be establishment of effective public relations functions within city assemblies and other local government bodies. The srtategy and subsequent research activity in Georgia is expected to verify the following working hypotheses: 1. Election of local governmental institutions, such as city assemblies, will establish a body considered to be the “facilitators of democracy” between local and national administrative bodies and the public. The legislative system governing formation and function of local government is not yet fully established in Georgia, and public participation in governance is a new phenomena. There is no tradition of public engagement in

162

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

2. governmental administration and decision-making, and the population currently has very little access to information about the reform agenda of the government and the role of their local government – either appointed or elected – in carrying out the reforms. The lack of transparency in development of an agenda for change and poor communication of goals, strategy and poor communication has resulted in growing mistrust in the motives and capacity of the new government and their local representatives. This is a timely issue for Georgia right now, as legislation for local self-governance is being formulated. 3. The practical need for city assemblies to establish open, productive partnerships with civil society (non-governmental organizations (NGOs)) communities has created an imperative for the establishment of capacity for effective public relations within local government structures. PR, as a vital part of institutions that function for and in relationship with the public, is recognized as an important tool of local government in countries throughout the world. There is a critical need to build this function within governmental offices as democracy evolves in Georgia, in order to facilitate constructive engagement between communities, civil society and local administrations. 4. Deficiency in the information that flows to the public often results in tensions between central government and regional bodies. Development of the public relations sector, encompassing a wide range of mechanisms for communication and public participation, will facilitate resolution of these tensions. Establishment of effective partnerships between government and non-governmental groups and exchanges of information between appointed and elected officials, civil society organizations and the public will be greatly assisted by development of the PR sector in government. The proposed effort to build local governments’ capacities for effective interchange with the public will actively involve both governmental institutions and civil society organizations.

Methodology and strategy will be implemented in two stages: (a) research, study and practical experience in government sector public relations and (b) implementation of PR training and ongoing support to selected city assemblies in Georgia.

163

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

Research: In association with an appropriate academic institution, I will undertake a combination of individual study and will endeavor to arrange short practical appointments (internships) in the PR department of one or more local government offices. The outcome of this theoretical and practical experience will be a package of PR training materials for use by local governments in Georgia. It is anticipated that this training package will consist of a combination of:  Short practical seminars for members of city assemblies and other local government offices, supported by appropriate written resource materials; seminar topics will tentatively include:  Democratic evolution and social, political and economic sector reforms in Georgia; the current state of legislation and reforms related to local self-governance.  The main principles of Public Relations and the potential for PR to enhance the effectiveness of local government.  Media relations (preparation of press releases, informational bulletins, advertisements, and public service messages).  Establishing effective partnerships with NGOs; the role of NGOs and civil society in building democracy.  Formation of public opinion; organization and management of public opinion (alternatives for overcoming negative opinions and dealing constructively with opposing views, and public communication in times of crisis.  Strategic management of PR.  On-the-job coaching and mentoring of city assembly staff responsible for PR; and  Placement of Public Relations interns from Tbilisi Technical University, where I am currently a Lecturer in Public Relations, in local government offices. The practical and Concrete tasks for PR strategy implementation include:  Establishment of Public Relations Departments within selected city assemblies and local government institutions in Georgia;  Undertaking training and ongoing capacity strengthening with these local government offices and, in particular, with the staff responsible for public relations;  Engaging the media and government in joint efforts to popularize mass media in the rural areas of Georgia (known as “the regions”);

164

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

 Supporting local government to planning and implement PR campaigns to raise awareness among the public of their role in supporting and engaging in democratic processes;  Assisting government to establish transparent mechanisms for routine citizen engagement in decision-making, governance and public administration; and  Supporting establishment of effective partnerships between local government and networks of civil society organizations/NGOs. Significance and thestrategy project is important in several ways. First and foremost, development of a cadre of effective public relations professionals within government offices in Georgia is critically important to the success of current efforts to build public support for reform and engage Georgians in the process of democracy building. The Georgian government is currently facing a monumental tasks related to the evolution of democracy in the country – building public trust and confidence, establishing transparent and participatory mechanisms for local self-governance and successfully engaging civil society and the citizenry in democratic processes. The approach to public relations that I have pursued in my PR strategy and my teaching is one that focuses on establishment of effective, two-way communications, with the aim of creating common ground and identifying areas of mutual benefit. This very approach will lend itself quite well to the needs and priorities of newly formed local government structures in Georgia. It will be the basis for development of the PR training package for local government. At the same time that my research work will result in positive outcomes for the democratic process in Georgia, it will yield great benefits for my own professional pursuits. (a) The results of the research will enhance my ability meet my professional commitments (i.e., to analyze and monitor the contributions of PR to state-building in Georgia and serve as an expert advisor in the field; and (b) The research results will greatly enrich the content of the PR lecture courses that I teach at the International Black Sea University. The proposed PR strategy research will be evaluated on two levels. The package (seminar session plans, proposed methodology, support materials and individual coaching strategy) will be evaluated for excellence of professional standards, practicality of approach, use of current best practice in the field and soundness of learning methodologies.

165

SECTION III: History, Art, Economics

The second level of evaluation will focus on the ultimate outcomes of application of the PR training package on a practical level, with selected local government offices in Georgia. Expected outcomes include: (a) establishment of functioning PR Departments in local government offices; (b) establishment of fruitful partnerships between local government and non-governmental structures; (c) greater transparency of and public participation in the activities undertaken by local governments; (d) greater understanding of and support for ongoing national and local reforms among constituent populations; (e) active participation by the society and non- governmental organizations in democratic processes, and in articulating problems and resolving them with local resources and input; and finally, (f) firm establishment of the academic discipline and practice of PR for governmental institutions in Georgia, resulting in the development of a cadre of qualified PR professionals working in the service of democratic reforms in the country.

166