By Sabrina Badger | Director
Dear Radarami supporters,
It has been a cold several months since we last wrote to you, although it seems that spring has arrived in Tbilisi. Radarami's staff has been busy with the four books we hope to publish in the next four months. Translation and editing are underway for the three books currently supported by grants: How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough, The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen by Kwame Anthony Appiah, and The Democracy Project: a History, a Crisis, a Movement by David Graeber.
We are also working hard to find funding for a very important book: Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder. Many people think of Stalin as a Russian leader, but in fact he was born in Georgia, about 30 minutes' drive from Tbilisi. Perhaps because he's a local boy, a majority of Georgians have a positive view of Stalin, in spite of the fact that he oversaw the murder, imprisonment in forced labor camps, and mass deportation of tens of millions of Soviet citizens. We think it's high time for a new history of the Stalinist period in Georgian, and this is why we are currently raising funds for this book. An important part of this fundraising is through Global Giving where we launched a new project in December to support this book. We hope you will take a look at the page for more information on the book and consider making a donation.
Our first Global Giving Project, which you have supported, was originally designed to raise money for Ill Fares the Land: A Treatise on Our Present Discontents by Tony Judt. On February 18, Radarami held a discussion at the National Parliamentary Library on this book's themes. The debate was led by Bakar Berekashvili, political scientist and lecturer at Georgian American University, and the four debaters were Political Science Faculty students at Tbilisi State University Irakli Iremadze, Levan Lortkipanidze, Sopo Shubitidze and a graduate Giorgi Khatiashvili. It was a well-attended and spirited debate, with the audience chiming in during the second half, and a large group congregated outside the library to continue the discussion after the library had closed. We are very happy this work is sparking such intelligent debate here in Georgia. If you are interested in learning more about one audience member's impressions of the debate, a young Georgian Radarami supporter who recently graduated from Connecticut College wrote a short review here.
Radarami also held an event on February 26 aimed at teachers and others interested in Georgia's education system. Alexandre Lortkipanidze and Irakli Kakabadze, journalists for the national education magazine, Mastsavlebeli, spoke about Radarami's Work Hard. Be Nice.: How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America by Jay Mathews, and about the issues facing Georgia's schools--whether lessons taken from America's charter school movement are relevant to Georgia. Over 70 people attended and received free books.
As publication of Ill Fares the Land has been completed, we will be closing that project on Global Giving. We would ask you again to take a look at our new project and consider it for any future donations. We greatly appreciate your support.
In the meantime, please enjoy the photos from our two most recent events.
Photo Credits:
Also, feel free to check out our new and improved website, thanks to our newest staff member Mariam Aduashvili!
Links:
By Mitch Belkin | Program Coordinator
By Mitch Belkin | Program Coordinator
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
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