Events 2006

21.04.06 The Fulbright Program Presentation

The American Information Center presented the Fulbright Scholarship Program. This event was aimed at providing information about the Fulbright Programs and how they work and also about the beginning of a new competition for the 2007-2008 academic years. This presentation was conducted with the assistance of students, aspirants, and the teachers of Kirovohrad institutes of higher education. 5 exchange programs were presented to the participants: Master Degree Program, Program for Scientists and Arts Critics, Program for Young English Teachers, Internship Program for the Teachers of institutes of higher education and workers of the culture sphere, and the Academic Fulbright Program. All the participants were able to ask questions about the conditions of participation, the competition stages, the specificities of Master Degree programs, nuances of filling in the application forms and visa legalization.   

24.04.06 Let us walk the Green Planet

Our center hosted an exhibition dedicated to the Earth Day. Our aim was to attract people’s attention to ecology problems. The worldwide action The Earth Day started in the USA on the 22^nd of April 1970. Its aim was to unite the efforts of mankind for the environment protection. By tradition on this day all the volunteers take part in organization of amenities and in planting greenery on their streets as well as in various ecological events.

This exhibition is addressed to those who aren’t indifferent to the environmental problems. 

12.05.06 the Mother Day

The Mother Day is the wonderful occasion to congratulate our mothers once again. So we decided to show our users how to do it in the best way. We prepared an exhibition to help everyone to organize a festive occasion. The Certificates ‘Super Mother ’, ‘The Best Mother in the World’ were the most popular among the visitors.   

19.05.06, 26.05.06 What? Where? When?

In May the IRC “Window on America” held the surveys ‘What? Where? When?: Dictionaries, Reference books, Encyclopedias’ (from the main collection). The participants learned the difference between the British and American dictionaries, about various types and kinds of dictionaries. The 30-volume encyclopedia “Americana” is the pearl of our collection of reference books, we also have guide books dedicated to the American history, to American folklore and literature, to famous people of the USA, to educational establishments of the USA, etc. Various electronic reference resources impressed the participants most of all.  
 
 

8.06.06 “Decorative Art of North American Indians”

Opening of the exhibition “Decorative Art of North American Indians” became a bright event in the work of our center. The preparatory work for the exhibition was extremely interesting and useful.

The exhibition was organized with the assistance of the Department of Media, Culture and Education of the US Embassy in Ukraine. 140 works of modern Indian artists who work according to their historic traditions were displayed at the exhibition.

The solemn event took place on the 8^th of June 2006. The exhibition closed on the 30^th of June.

The center workers were pleased to conduct excursions for various categories of visitors. This event was attended by additional 488 people. And as a result there appeared 7 publications in regional media.  

6.11.2006 John Sallivan’s visit

The IRC “Window on America” hosted a friendly meeting with the press attache of the US Embassy in Ukraine Mr. John Sallivan. The conversation topic was: ‘The Present Condition of the US journalism in general and mass media in particular’ and the review of the past journalist experiences of Mr. Sallivan. 45 people were present: the students of the Journalist Department of the Kirovohrad State Vynnychenko Pedagogical University and the students of the Linguistic Department of the Pedagogic Academy. The representatives of mass media were also present at the meeting: newspapers “Kirovohradska Pravda”, “Narodne Slovo” and regional TV company. The event was both important and useful for the future journalists who had the opportunity to get acquainted with the world reporters practice. This event also helped to strengthen the US-Ukrainian relations. 

10.11.2006 “Women make difference in Ukraine”

Round table “Women make difference in Ukraine” was held at our center by the representatives of the “US Women’s Electors League” Zaida Arguendos (Washington) and Joyce Benson (Dulus, Minnesota). 48 people were present, among which there were the representatives of the regional women public organizations. The questions of the women leadership and gender in the USA and Ukraine were discussed. Another question touched the ability of women to change life in Ukraine. Our American guests shared their experience of influencing the state political and legislative processes by means of the women community.

The representatives of mass media were present: newspapers “Kirovohradska Pravda”, “Narodne Slovo”, “Ukraina Center”; TV company “TTV” and regional Tv-radio Company.  

21.11.2006 The positive outlook on NATO?

This day the IRC “Window on America” was visited by Vladyslav Yasnuk, deputy director of the NATO department of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to him, the main purpose of his visit to our city in general and to our center in particular was forming a positive outlook on NATO. In the course of the meeting Mr. Yasnuk dwelled on the points of cooperation between Ukraine and NATO and the possibilities of joining the alliance. According to him, it is still early to talk about Ukraine joining NATO. The point, which is under discussion, is the agreement of the action plan as for Ukrainian membership in NATO – since 1991 Ukraine has been striving to  cooperate with this organization. As Vladyslav Ivanovych pointed, it’s not propaganda, which matters, but broad opportunities of scientific cooperation with NATO, even for the Kirovohrad region. Mr. Yasnuk remarked that only a quarter of Ukraine-NATO cooperation projects have to do with military questions. Other projects are aimed at the development of local government, economy, independent mass media, education, science, etc. Participation in these projects enables Ukraine to receive grants for carrying out investigations. For example, in 2004 Ukraine received a grant for realizing the project ‘Security through science’. Contests for high school and first-year university students continue. The winners of these contests will have the opportunity to visit the countries, members of NATO, with educational and investigation purposes.

The meeting was held with the assistance of the Kirovohrad regional government. The event was attended by the students of Kirovohrad cybernetic-economical college and 3 media. 

2.12.2006 “Let’s stop modern slavery!!!”

The IRC “Window on America” together with its visitors from the Kirovohrad Institute of Commerce and Pedagogical Academy took part in the national action dedicated to the International Day of Fighting Slavery. Our aim was to inform the youth of Kirovohrad region on the problem of human trade and to encourage youth to get involved in resisting slavery and to sign ‘The appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to solve the problem of human trade’.

The main part of the event was a creative task for the participants to draw posters under the title “We are against slavery!” The result surpassed all our expectations. And the pictures are the proof of it; we enclose them with the report. It should be mentioned that the groups knew this problem very well.

Here are several responses: “It’s a great lesson for the future. I suppose this event won’t be forgotten for a long time”, “I am quite surprised that there are people in our city who are preoccupied with these problems”, “I am very proud of taking part in solving such a horrible problem”…

Every participant could sign an all-Ukrainian petition “Let’s stop present day slavery!!!” the text of which we received from the International Migration Organization.

75 people took part in the event, which was also attended by media representatives.  
 

22.12.2006 “Merry Christmas!”

There was conducted the Christmas evening “Traditions of American Christmas”.

Pages from the history of Christmas celebration in the USA were presented to the visitors’ eyes. This is a national holiday in a multi-national country. So we presented customs and traditions of different states and Diasporas; favorite Christmas melodies and films of the USA; Santa Clause, Christmas tree, gifts, deer, the Magi and such symbols of American Christmas as the song ‘White Christmas’, the ballet “Nutcracker”, etc. It was conducted in the form of the Power Point presentation and a book exhibition. And the music sounded from the compact disk stereo cassette receiver. Several guests had already visited the USA during Christmas. They shared their impressions with great pleasure and made a little photo trip for all the guests. And as a logical end of the fest – all the participants together decorated the Christmas tree with the toys, which they made themselves in the course of the evening. The fest seemed to be a success!!!

The active participants were gymnasium students and the students of the Linguistic Department of the Pedagogic Academy, the teachers of this higher educational establishment and the employees of the department of documents in foreign languages. 35 people were present. The book and photo exhibition were demonstrated for the next 15 days and they drew great public attention.