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31 Oct 2018
Posted by Lauren Lewis
Category All Events, News

Maine Public is a Media Sponsor for the 2019 Camden Conference

The Camden Conference is pleased to announce that Maine Public will be a Media Sponsor for the 2019 Conference. Maine Public will be promoting the Conference, airing many of the presentations after the Conference and airing a segment of Maine Calling on Friday, February 22 from the Camden Opera House with Conference keynote speaker Martin Jacques. The Camden Conference is offering early registration for the February 2019 Conference to Maine Public members. Registration opens to the general public November 26, 2018, but Maine Public members can register starting October 26, 2018. This is an early chance to sign up for this always sold out Conference. Call the Conference office to register at 207-236-1034. Registration for the Conference live at the Camden Opera House is $275 and at the live stream venues in Portland, Rockland and Belfast is $150. See the Conference website at www.camdenconference.org for more information.

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31 Oct 2018
Posted by Lauren Lewis
Category All Events, CC In the World, News

Camden Conference in the World-November 2018

“When developing countries and partners think of the China Model, they often, incorrectly, think of it as purely a top-down model,” 2019 Camden Conference speaker Yuen Yuen Ang told an audience in Cambodia recently, in a display of the “fresh perspectives” for which she was named an Andrew Carnegie Fellow earlier this year. In fact, “different parts of China have followed many different paths to economic and social development over the last several decades. Their commonality is the adaptation of central mandates to local conditions.” Praising attempts to revive the traditional Cambodian silk weaving industry, University of Michigan professor Ang suggested that China itself needs to learn that other countries “want to build their future their own way, too.” MIT Professor and fellow 2019 Camden Conference speaker Yasheng Huang, who has his own insightful take on the Chinese development model, argued recently in the MIT Technology Review that China’s adoption…

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31 Oct 2018
Posted by Lauren Lewis
Category All Events, News

Camden Conference Registration Begins in November

November is here which means the beginning of winter in Maine and time to register for the Camden Conference. Members can register anytime; registration for nonmembers begins November 26 – the Monday after Thanksgiving. You can become a member online and register HERE. If you are already a member, please call the office at 236-1034 to register by phone. Online registration for all begins November 26. This year’s Conference “Is This China’s Century?” will be insightful and timely as always. The speaker line-up is complete and features a range of experts on and from China. Indira Lakshmanan, last year’s superb moderator, will return. The Conference takes place live at the Camden Opera House with streaming to the Strand Theatre in Rockland, the Hutchinson Center in Belfast, and USM in Portland, February 22, 23 and 24, 2019. Registration for the Camden Opera House is $275 and for the three streaming venues…

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01 Oct 2018
Posted by Lauren Lewis
Category All Events, CC In the World, News

Camden Conference in the World-October 2018

Keynoter for the 2019 conference Martin Jacques this summer provided the perfect segue to the China theme from 2018’s New World Disorder, arguing in this interview that as the first leading US politician to recognize America’s decline, President Donald Trump would also be wise to come to terms with — rather than fight via trade wars or otherwise — the “deep historical forces” leading to China’s ongoing rise. Basically answering “yes” to the Camden Conference’s 2019 title “Is This China’s Century,” global best-selling author Jacques says that at the heart of the question is: “How is the West going to handle its own relative decline?” Hear the latest on China’s tumultuous economic situation in this late September podcast by Kaiser Kuo, another speaker on the 2019 conference roster and founder of the Sinica weekly online discussion of events in China. Kuo was previously director of international communications in Beijing for…

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01 Oct 2018
Posted by Lauren Lewis
Category All Events, News

Camden Conference 2019 Membership Drive is on now

The Camden Conference announces the beginning of its annual membership drive for the 2019 season. What began in 1987 with a handful of Midcoast residents with insight, enthusiasm, and connections and the idea of “bringing the world to Camden,” is now entering its 32nd year. The Conference now boasts an audience of over 1100 people each February, frequently selling out the 4 venues, but ticket sales cover only 45% of the operating budget. In addition to the February Conference, programs include related high school and college courses during the year, plus nearly 100 community events in schools and libraries around the state.  The Camden Conference is still a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization, committed to keeping registration fees low and accessibility high, and membership is vital to ensure the continuation of the mission to “foster informed discourse on world issues.” This year the Conference has new and improved benefits to offer Members, including:…

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04 Sep 2018
Posted by Lauren Lewis
Category All Events, News

Introduction to “Is This China’s Century?”, February 22-24, 2019

As China emerges as a major global power, it faces complex challenges in its domestic economic, social, environmental and political affairs and its relations with Asian neighbors, the United States and the broader international community. Chinese investment on all continents is both welcomed and regarded with some anxiety, while Chinese diplomatic intervention has been essential to stability on the Korean peninsula. Taking an active role in shaping global dialogues, China is now attracting European as well as Asian nations to new multilateral institutions.     In Beijing, the absolute authority of the Chinese Communist Party has been reconfirmed, and President Xi now has the option to remain his country’s leader for as long as he wishes. “Chinese wisdom and a Chinese approach to solving the problems facing mankind” can help solve global problems, says President Xi.  But is China ready for global leadership? And as its global role expands, by intention or by…

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04 Sep 2018
Posted by Lauren Lewis
Category All Events, CC In the World, News, Uncategorized

Camden Conference In the World-September 2018

It’s been an active summer for Camden Conference alumni speakers, including on topics directly related to our 2019 theme “Is This China’s Century?” Hannah Beech explored the state of China’s relationship with Malaysia under Malaysia’s recently returned leader of an earlier era, Mahathir Mohamad. A 2011 Camden Conference speaker on “How Asian Journalists Operate with State-Controlled Media,” Beech is now southeast Asia Bureau Chief for the New York Times, having served for a decade as East Asia bureau chief for Time magazine. Thea Lee defended a thesis that is at the core of the percolating trade war between China and the US — Globalization Has Undermined America’s Working Class – in this Intelligence Squared debate aired on public radio. For the full debate, listen here. Thea is president of the Economic Policy Institute, past deputy chief of staff and chief international economist for the AFL-CIO, and a speaker at the…

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04 Sep 2018
Posted by Lauren Lewis
Category All Events, Education News, High school, News

Two Camden Conference in the Classroom teachers, Hennessey and Goodall, are finalists for the 2019 Maine Teacher of the Year

Article from The Piscataquis Observer, August 29, 2018: Three Maine teachers have been announced as state finalists for the 2019 Maine Teacher of the Year. Among the three is 2018 Piscataquis County Teacher of the Year Joseph Hennessey who teaches American, World, AP Literature and Composition and Camden Conference Seminar for grades 11-12 at Piscataquis Community High School. He has been teaching for six years. Joining Hennessey is 2018 Penobscot County Teacher of the Year Shana Goodall of Orono High School and 2018 Cumberland County Teacher of the Year Connie Russell who is a grade 2 teacher at the Mabel I. Wilson School in Cumberland. The finalists were chosen from the 2018 Maine County Teachers of the Year honored earlier this year. Among the 16 county honorees was former SeDoMoCha Elementary School art teacher Anthony Lufkin, who taught for four years at the school in Dover-Foxcroft a decade ago, as…

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28 Jun 2018
Posted by Lauren Lewis
Category All Events, News

Kimberly A. Scott of Northport has been named executive director of the Camden Conference

The Camden Conference, now in its 31st year, is a citizens’ forum in Midcoast Maine, committed to fostering informed discourse on key global issues.  Kimberly will be the first executive director of the organization. The Conference is a dynamic volunteer organization offering an array of educational programs on a year-round basis, including its flagship event – the annual Camden Conference – that brings together world leaders on a given topic to share knowledge and insight with over 1000 participants.  “We are delighted to name Kimberly Scott as our Executive Director,” said Bruce Cole, president of the Camden Conference.  “Over the past decade our education and community events programs have more than doubled as has our audience for the big February Conference.  Kim brings the skills and strengths to work with dozens of volunteers to insure that our year-round programs are of the highest quality.”  Kimberly joined the Camden Conference in the…

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28 Jun 2018
Posted by Lauren Lewis
Category All Events, CC In the World, News

Camden Conference in the World-July 2018

How serious are perceived threats to democracy around the world and at home in the US? A prognosis for democracy that “although hardly inspiring — is less dire than much commentary suggests” was outlined by UCLA political science professor and 2015 Camden Conference speaker Daniel Treisman in the Washington Post last month. Not only do four commonly cited ratings system reviewed by Treisman show the global proportion of countries that are democracies “at or near an all-time high,” but his own historically based research indicates a likelihood of less than one in 3,000 of a democratic breakdown in a country as wealthy and with as long of history of democracy as the US.   Cas Mudde, a University of Georgia professor and widely cited commentator who spoke on the rise of the far right at our 2017 conference on Refugees and Global Migration, argues in The Guardian that liberals, fearful…

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