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Report of 2008 "Lessons of Liberty" Summer Seminar
July 2008, we had most of the teachers from last year,
and a few new ones--including Jan Narveson, distinguished philosophy professor emeritus and renowned author. Instead of our usual beachside venue, we met at Bakuriani,
a small town in western Georgia foothills, near ski slopes.
We were still able to swim, at an indoor swimming pool.
Some of us went for excursions into the quaint village, featuring a few log cabins, and many gardens. A sign
there said, "Birthplace of Europe".
Much new construction is occurring in this resort area,
and cows still meander the old dirt road. The talent show was
great fun and enjoyed by all participants and spectators.
The camp ended about two weeks before the Russian invasion,
in a conflict over break-away, ethnically-cleansed provinces. The 2008 camp was a great success, perhaps still the largest
liberty camp in Europe, though attendance was lower than in
2007, due to anticipations of war. People of different
countries again came together, furthering common values
and giving hope for a "pax libertas". If you would like to help next year's liberty-studies summer camp, as a teacher, student, or donor, please contact kevinsbjornson@yahoo.com |
| Paata Sheshelidze and the New Economic School (Georgia) typically host one or two libertarian events each month. Last July, NES hosted a first for Georgia--a week-long liberty-studies summer camp for university students. Featuring both English teachers from America and Russian teachers from nearby countries, the focus was study of Liberty. We had six classes per day. After breakfast and lunch, teachers with a special expertise delivered a lecture to the whole group. Sometimes we showed a video from the John Stossel in the Classroom series, narrated by Professor Ken Schoolland. The other four classes were about 5-10 students per teacher, using the Socratic method of questioning students to encourage their performance. Teachers had a wide variety of professional and educational experiences, and discussed liberty from a variety of perspectives, both practical and theoretical. Last year's English teachers were: Louis James (ISIL board member and financial newsletter editor) Ken Schoolland (ISIL board member, Jonathan Gullible author, and economics professor) Li Schoolland (experienced language teacher) Kenli Schoolland (recent graduate in Economics) Sunni Maravillosa (Psychology teacher and entrepreneur) Kevin Bjornson (retail store owner and writer with emphasis on Jus Gentium) Last year's Russian teachers are young scholars who have been to the Liberty Camp of Lithuania many times. They gave a slide presentation about their previous camp experiences, helped with teaching, participated in classes, and helped make this a regional event. You will see photos of most of them--Anna, Andrea, Nata, Dima, Tanya, and Andre--in our photo collection. If you would like to help next year's liberty-studies summer camp, as a teacher, student, or donor, please contact kevinsbjornson@yahoo.com 16-23 July 2007 Photos: |
Brilliant Georgians  Wolf and Students  Computer Lab  Tatiana with students in Rapture  Anna from Kiev with eager students  Sunni with students  Foriegn Policy panel discussion with Anna and Kevin shown ( also Ken and Sunni not shown )  Our Liberty-studies teaching assistants (TA's) from Belarus and Ukraine, with NES President Paata, and Kevin  Lecture to whole group  Whole group with "lessons of liberty" Banner  Hallway outside classrooms  Courtyard outside Classroom building  Hotel and Surrounding Buildings  Beach .JPG) Black Sea Sparkles  Black Sea Waves  Black Sea Waves on rocky beach  |