The Civic Voices International Democracy Memory Bank Project is a civic education exchange program that involves teachers and students from around the world in the preservation of the legacy of their countries’ democratic struggles.

Download application | Informational flier

Participating teachers will ask their students to conduct interviews with activists who helped advance human rights and freedoms. Students will analyze these stories to explore how civic ideals are realized through grass-roots efforts. The narratives will then be archived for use by educators, scholars and researchers in a Democracy Memory Bank on the Civic Voices Web site. The Memory Bank, as well as a comprehensive teacher’s guide and other free teaching materials, will be available in October 2009.

The project will also offer international teacher exchanges and professional development programs in the United States and the partner countries listed below. Programs within United States will consist of a series of Civil Rights Seminars in Birmingham, Ala., and at the Martin Luther King Library in Boston, Mass. American civics teachers interested in participating in the project can download an application here.

The American Federation of Teachers Educational Foundation is proud to partner in this project with teachers’ unions in seven countries. The project will help commemorate the stories of these important struggles:

• Solidarity Movement in Poland
• The Troubles in Northern Ireland
• People Power Revolution in the Philippines
• Anti-Apartheid Struggle in South Africa
• Democratic Transition in Mongolia
• Struggle for Rule of Law in Colombia
• Rose Revolution in Georgia

Civic Voices is funded by a three-year grant (Q307A090003) from the U.S. Department of Education under the Education for Democracy Act approved by the U.S. Congress. However, the contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government. More information on the project is available on this downloadable flyer.