Voskresenskaya, Natalia

ENCAENIA, MAY, 2003
NATALIA VOSKRESENSKAYA
to be Doctor of Letters

Dr. Natalia Voskresenskaya is one of Russia's leading advocates of human rights and democracy. To our great satisfaction, she is also a collaborator with UNB's Faculty of Education in what is called "The Spirit of Democracy Project," a joint Russian-Canadian undertaking that promotes civic education, democratic development, and international understanding in Russian schools. We welcome her here today to thank and honour her for her outstanding contribution to the field of education in general and to the success of the Democracy Project in particular.

Dr. Voskresenskaya's life and career have been shaped by a half century of momentous change within Russia. She was born in the post-war Stalinist Soviet Union, grew up during the thaw of Nikita Khruschev, and took full advantage during the years of Perestroika to broaden her interests and international contacts. Like both of her parents, her interest was in education. Her father began as a rural science teacher and eventually rose to become Deputy Minister of Education. Her mother was a teacher of English, and eventually a researcher in the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences in Moscow. The young Natalia followed in their footsteps by becoming an educator, carving out for herself a career in languages and eventually in comparative education. With speaking skills in English, Spanish, French, and Italian, she became an interpreter, and was particularly influential in helping Russian agencies better understand Western policies and practices in the field of education. In 1976, she received her doctorate, became a researcher in comparative education, and began publishing extensively. She was thrilled when eventually she was able to travel abroad in Britain, the United States and Canada. By the 1990s, she had become one of Russia's most prominent scholars in comparative education; she became head of the Comparative Education department in the Russian Academy of Education and Vice-president of the Russian Association for Civic Education. In 1995, she published a book, Russian Education: Tradition and Transition, detailing the sweeping changes that had taken place in Russian education during her lifetime. As her international stature grew, she was much in demand as a speaker at conferences in the United States and Europe.

Today, Dr. Voskresenskaya is at the pinnacle of her illustrious career. Her textbook, Democracy: State and Society has been adopted for use in Russian schools and has gone through several editions. She has written a newspaper column entitled "Learning Democracy" that has appeared regularly in the largest teachers' journal published in Russia. She has also published extensively outside of Russia, mostly in English, establishing her reputation both at home and abroad as a leader in human rights and democracy education.

The University of New Brunswick is proud of its collaboration with this remarkable scholar and humanitarian. As co-director of the Spirit of Democracy project, which is based at UNB, she has visited the university on several occasions. Just last fall, she led a delegation of Russian teachers to New Brunswick to work in our schools and experience first-hand our Canadian approach to education. Natalia Voskresenskaya is an ambassador of understanding, goodwill, and humane forbearance. She practices what she preaches. She has distinguished herself as a champion of diversity, toleration, the rights and responsibilities of democracy, and due process. Above all, she is convinced that the key to advancing democracy in her country is through education. She has dedicated her life to this cause, and we salute her for her commitment, idealism, and very considerable accomplishment.

From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 4