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Face Time: Erin Towns, teacher will travel-feature in Sun Journal

Face Time: Erin Towns, teacher will travel sunjournal.com/2019/09/08/face-time-erin-towns-teacher-will-travel/By Lindsay Tice Sun JournalSeptember 8, 2019 Edward Little High School social studies teacher Erin Towns in her classroom, where a giant map of the world shows pins indicating places she and her students have visited. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Erin Towns was teaching social studies one day in 2008 when a student asked her,”Why does this matter?” It wasn’t an outlandish thing to ask. In her early years of teaching, Towns had struggled with that question herself. That same day in 2008, she received an administration email with the subject line, “Are you interested in teacher travel?” She headed to the central office and promptly gave her answer: Yes. Since then, Towns has traveled to more than a dozen countries. Sometimes she’s part of fellowship programs for teachers. Other times she leads student trips. Always she brings what she’s learned back to the classroom,…

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Camden Conference focuses on China-by Ron Bancroft (Village Soup, Feb. 26)

“Is this China’s Century” was the question posed at the 32nd Camden Conference this past weekend. My conclusion, after hearing from some of the globe’s most accomplished China experts, was an emphatic yes. This is likely to be China’s century. The United States needs to find a way to live amicably with that outcome. China is on a remarkable 40-year economic run, initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1979 with his pragmatic reforms to open up the economic system and downplay the role of the Communist party. China is now the second largest economy in the world and is projected to surpass that of the U.S. by 2030 on a purchasing power basis, according to keynoter Martin Jacques, a professor at Cambridge University. Jacques, who has taught and lectured extensively in China, also noted that the U.S. was a country in relative decline – thus hastening the inevitable predominance of the…

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Thank you from the CC President

To members, supporters, and friends of the Camden Conference As we start the new year, I must admit that I long for some good news.  Populism and authoritarian regimes are on the rise worldwide and democracies seem to be in sharp decline.  Clearly part of this trend is driven by the refugee crisis, a topic that was covered by our 2017 Camden Conference, “Refugees and Global Migration:  Humanity’s Crisis.”  All forecasts point to this issue’s putting more pressure, not less, on Europe, the United States, and other nations in coming years. That message was also put forth by our speakers at the 2018 Camden Conference, “New World Disorder and America’s Future.” On the media and information front, technology and social media have turned the world upside down in less than two decades.  The new information ecosystem has given authoritarian regimes and bad actors new tools—including social media platforms such as…

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2017 College and University Student Award Winners

College & University Students Awards The Camden Conference is pleased to announce the winners of its college and university student essay contest which focused on the 2017 Conference theme: Refugees and Global Migration. First prize went to Jonas Eichenlaub, who participated in a 3-credit college course at the University College at Rockland as a dual enrollment, High School Aspirations student, for his essay entitled Refugees Can Be Part of the Solution: The Challenges of Lebanon. Second prize went to Zoe FitzGerald-Beckett from the University of Maine at Augusta for her essay entitled Climate Change Refugees: "What's in a Name?" Third prize was awarded to Brad O'Brien from the University of Maine at Augusta for his essay entitled Oh, Child Left Behind: The Next “Lost Generation”. The Conference congratulates our winners. 1st Prize                 Jonas Eichenlaub, University College at Rockland Center, High School Aspirations student 2nd Prize            ... Read More