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Parkison invited to economics symposium in Kiev
August 13, 2004 | |||||
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KOKOMO, Ind.—Associate Professor of Economics Kathy Parkison, Ph.D., will be an observer during the 2004 International Symposium, “Partnerships for Professional Development in Economic Education,” to be held in early September in Kiev, Ukraine. The invitation-only conference will bring together ministry of education officials from former Soviet bloc countries, to discuss economic education during their nations’ transition from socialist systems. “Countries such as Poland that have just joined the European Union are not invited nor are countries vying for admission to the European Union, such as Romania,” Parkison said. “Countries attending will include Georgia, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan—nations that haven’t yet advanced economically as far as some of their more entrepreneurial neighbors.” The symposium, and Parkison’s involvement, is sponsored by the National Council for Economic Education (NCEE), through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education in coordination with the U.S. Department of State. Parkison has taught basic concepts of free enterprise economies in three previous NCEE programs in Eastern Europe, part of the Department of State’s “nation-building” efforts. As an observer at the September event, Parkison plans to “get to know some of the people and renew acquaintances with others I do know from my trips and work in Armenia, Ukraine, Belarus, and other locations.” This will further connections that Parkison and Professor of Education Margo Sorgman, Ed.D., can use in their joint research on the teaching of economics in Eastern Europe. The pair received NCEE grant funding to analyze survey data on that topic from the council’s database. Parkison hopes to hear soon on her application for a Fulbright grant that would cover specific research in the former Soviet state of Georgia. She is focusing on Georgia because “It seems to be living a dichotomy,” Parkison said. “Georgia led in breaking away from the Soviet Union, but it has not yet developed a fully stable political system. Its president since fall 2003 is American-trained, but the country leans toward Russia.” With abundant natural resources, Georgia was formerly one of the richest Soviet republics. Today, it has one of the poorest economies in the region, and is struggling to feed its people, Parkison said. “It is also strategically important to the United States in that an oil pipeline is being constructed to carry oil from Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia.”
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