Eastern Kentucky University is looking for host families who can host seven Ukrainian educators coming to the Richmond campus for five weeks this fall to learn more about citizenship education in a democracy.

The international guests, all of whom can communicate to some degree in English, teach English or history at the secondary or post-secondary level. Seven host families are needed from Oct. 10 through Nov. 17. A $100 weekly stipend will be provided. For more information about participating as a host family, call Project Director Dr. Samuel Hinton at 622-1127 or Beth Brickley at 622-2962.

EKU's College of Education received a $25,085 grant from The American Councils for International Education to participate in the Partners in Education program.

Hinton, a Fulbright Scholar who teaches in EKU's Department of Curriculum and Instruction, said the project will involve the College of Education, Model Laboratory School and several other local secondary schools, the Department of Government, the Department of History, and the Eastern English Language Institute.

While at Eastern, the Ukrainians will hear lectures, participate in workshops, be paired with secondary-school teachers/mentors who teach civics, and enjoy cultural field trips around central Kentucky. They'll leave with teacher-training materials appropriate to Ukraine.

"We've been a democracy much longer than they have," Hinton said. "They can take what they learn here about citizenship education and then develop their own workshops at home and train their own people."

The project also will benefit the campus community, said Hinton, who will participate this summer in the Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program in the Czech and Slovak Republics. In 1993, Hinton traveled to Brazil as part of the same program.

"I feel very strongly that we cannot just educate teachers in a vacuum," he said. "We can learn much from doing these kinds of comparisons."

Before the Ukrainian educators arrive this fall, Dr. Larry Sexton, interim dean of EKU's College of Education, will visit Ukraine this summer.

"Dr. Sexton will meet the seven participants for several days to get their input so we can tailor the curriculum content to them," said Brickley, grants and research specialist with EKU's College of Education.

Of the 12 institutions that applied for the grant, EKU was one of six host sites accepted. The others are California State University-Chico, Eastern Michigan University, University of Alabama-Huntsville, University of Iowa and Montana State University.

The program is funded by the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State Office of Global Educational Programs, Teachers Exchange Branch.