Thessaloniki, Greece, June 10th-11th 2019
Between the 10th and 11th of June 2019, President Emil Constantinescu and the General Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, Mrs. Luiza Niță, attended the 43rd International Congress of the American-Romanian Academy of Arts and Sciences (A.R.A.), an event held under the patronage of the Romanian Presidency of the European Union Council, and organized by the A.R.A. in partnership with the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, with the support of the Romanian Academy, the Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences, and the Romanian Academy of Scientists.
The American-Romanian Academy of Arts and Sciences (A.R.A.) was established in 1975 by a group of Romanian intellectuals who had settled in the United States, and was created as an open forum where Romanian researchers, academics, intellectuals and scientists could present, debate and disseminate their scientific theories and discoveries in their chosen academic field. Contributors to the Academy hailed from a wide variety of specializations such as law, philosophy, theology, history, political sciences, anthropology, linguistics, literary studies, economics, environmental sciences, biology, medicine, engineering, applied mathematics, physics and chemistry. At present, the Academy numbers approximately 220 members and, ever since its establishment, enjoyed the support of resonant Romanian academics and intellectuals such as Eugen Ionesco, Mircea Eliade, Virgil Gheorghiu, George E. Palade and Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu.
On June 10th 2019, the opening session of the 43rd International Congress of the A.R.A. – presided by Dr. Lucian Dindirică of the “Alexandru and Aristia Aman” Library in Craiova and by the Consul-General of Romania to Thessaloniki, Mrs. Sabina-Mădălina Șomăcescu – saw a number of interventions from Professor Apostolos Patelakis of the Institute for Balkan Studies in Thessaloniki, the Rector of Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Professor Pericles A. Mitkas, the Consul-General of the United States to Thessaloniki, Gregory W. Pfleger and from President Emil Constantinescu, who gave a speech titled The Ancient Greek Myths and Education Based on Knowledge of Human Nature. In it, he highlighted the importance of an educational system based on humanist moral values both for the societies of Antiquity and for our contemporary world, and underlined the danger of losing these values in the current context of unbridled economic pragmatism which risks endangering the social and cultural foundations of modern society.
Later on, during the plenary session held that same day, president Constantinescu gave a speech titled The intelligent management of mineral resources as the foundation of a sustainable development strategy, in which he drew attention to the importance of a durable, scientific and applied approach to the capitalization of mineral resources for the balanced and sustainable development of intra- and inter-national regions, through the active engagement of the academic community in the creation and management of underground resource extraction projects.
During the same session, the General Director of the IASLCC, Mrs. Luiza Niță, presented a brief history of the Institute, highlighting its objectives, activities and current and future scientific projects.
