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A
Brief History of RVP Regional Programs
The
overall development of this work has been as follows.
In the 1960s the RVP effort on culture and values began
as a series of workshops in an attempt to articulate the
new sense of the person which underlay the postwar and
post-colonial changes sweeping across the world.
In the 1970s and 1980s, a system of joint colloquia was
developed with the national academies of sciences in
Central and Eastern Europe to break through ideological
barriers. The colloquia focused mainly on human dignity
as seen by various cultures, and how this could provide
philosophical foundations for a transformation of their
social lives and systems. One conference in Poland
provided the philosophy of Solidarity with its final
critical review before it became the transforming and
liberating force for all of Eastern Europe.
Concurrently, a number of continuing initiatives were
realized in other regions: interdisciplinary and
intercultural seminars were held on such topics as
"Urbanization and Values" and "Relations Between
Cultures"; research scholars from all fields took part
in the RVP seminars in Washington, D.C. to develop
their competencies as leaders and to update their
competencies, research agendas and methods of
interdisciplinary work; and structures of
interdisciplinary cooperation were developed, e.g., on
the foundations of moral education.
During the 1990s, a series of joint colloquia and
general conferences were held on crucial issues
including "Economic Ethics and Chinese Cultures" and
"Civil Society and Models of Identities in
Post-Communist Societies." A global network of up to 60
research teams generated studies constituting the
extensive RVP series Cultural
Heritage and Contemporary Change in
print and on the web (www.crvp.org).
At the turn of the millennium, the Center for the Study
of Culture and Values was established by the Council as
a university footprint to support this effort with the
full breadth of the academic research competencies of a
University. With the integration of the many regional
research teams with their cultural resources and
concerns, work is proceeding on humanizing the forces of
globalization.
More specific information on each region follows.
Central and Eastern Europe
In 1989, as the highly centralized governments of
Central and Eastern Europe began to crumble, the RVP
convoked the Institutes of Philosophy of the Academies
of Science to retrieve the foundational values in their
cultures and apply them to national rebuilding as
democratic societies. The drafts of the resulting
volumes on social reconstruction were presented for
critical debate with the other teams from the region,
first at a meeting in Krakow in 1991, then at meetings
in Stara Lezna and Smolenice, Slovakia in 1992 and 1994,
and at annual meetings thereafter in each of the Central
and Eastern European countries. Each team has since
published a second volume on building democratic
societies, or even a third volume on the current theme
rejoining Europe in a global context. Over 30 volumes
have been published in this series. With the evolving
challenges regional sets of teams have been formed in
the Balkans, Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia and
an active role has been played in the meetings of the
World Forum sponsored by the Russian Orthodox church,
with cooperation by Greece, Iran and India and held in
the Isle of Rhodes and at UNESCO-Paris. The RVP will
publish a book of its proceedings.
Asia
The first Chinese joint colloquium was held at Peking
University in 1987. Since 1991, annual colloquia with
the Shanghai Academy of Social Science and Fudan
University were held alternately in China and in the
countries along the Asian Pacific rim. Colloquia have
covered such issues as "The Humanization of Technology"
(Japan), "Economic Ethics and Chinese Culture," and
"Civil Society" laying the foundation for the new China.
Eight colloquia were held across China one year and a
Chinese team visited six University centers in India in
search of the Hindu roots of Chinese Buddhism. Since
2000 the themes have concerned the life of the new
China, e.g., urbanization, international relations and
public administration as public service. 35 volumes have
been published in this series. The Council has played an
active role in the Peking Forum which opens in the Great
Hall of the People and is publishing the papers of its
philosophy section.
In Southeast Asia, the Council has coordinated biannual
conferences with the scholars from the region to discuss
such topical issues as "Cultural Traditions and
Contemporary Challenges in Southeast Asia; Thai
Philosophical Studies," "Relations between Religions and
Cultures in Southeast Asia," "Philosophy in the
New Age of Religious and Cultural Pluralism," and "The
Role of Philosophy in the Development of South East
Asia." Thus far 4 biannual conferences have been held in
Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Phnom Penh. The next
two Southeast Asian biannual conferences were planned to
be hosted by The Institute of Philosophy, Vietnamese
Academy of Social Sciences in 2011 and The Graduate
School of Philosophy and Religious Studies, ABAC
University in 2013.
In South Asia, the Council has coordinated a set of
conferences and seminars across the continent, and also
published a set of philosophical studies by the scholars
from the region.
In Central Asia, the Council began its work with the
scholars from the region in early 1990s by cosponsoring
conferences, seminars and inviting professors to take
part in international conferences and seminars in other
countries. A set of publications has been published.
Islam
Since 1991 a special focus has been the work with Islam
in its meeting with modernity. This has included
lectures at al-Azhar University the intellectual center
of Sunni Islam in Cairo, and courses and annual
conferences in Tehran and Qom the academic center of
Shiite Islam. An intensive series of conferences have
been held across Central Asia and Pakistan as well as in
Malaysia and Indonesia in Southeast Asia on issues of
faith and reason, religious fidelity and modern life,
Islam and its quest for peace, the title of one of the
resulting volumes. Some 18 volumes resulting from this
work have appeared in the RVP Islamic series.
Africa
The RVP established personal connections with some 24
universities across Africa to assist in their emergence
from colonialism and establishment of a world view and
philosophy appropriate to their diverse African
identities. This has been implemented by a continual
series of participants in the annual 10 week seminars in
Washington, D.C., a series of lectures held in African
university centers ranging from a simple conferences to
a major international meeting of over one hundred
participants from Africa and other continents; the
promotion of research teams; and the publication of a
series of 12 volumes.
Latin America
The work of the RVP focused along the Andes from
Venezuela to Paraguay. Its theme related especially to
the indigenous cultures and the philosophical
foundations of moral education. In addition there have
been a series of meetings in Brazil and a team from the
Southern Cone has been meeting annually. There have been
multiple participants in the annual 10 week seminars in
Washington, D.C., meetings in Bogota and Lima had
substantive participation from North America and Europe
as well. Due to difficulties of language fewer books
have been published in the RVP series from Latin
America then from other continents, though one from
Argentina is presently in process.
In all over 200 such studies have been published and are
available on the internet atwww.crvp.org.
These, in turn, reflect the scope of the RVP
international network not only of individual scholars
but of research teams structured in regional and global
unities. The complete list of this series is found at
the end of this report.
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