Campus Life

International Affairs Colloquium brings experts on global issues to Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Several prominent authors, scholars, and experts will visit the Penn State School of International Affairs throughout the spring semester to discuss the latest research, trends and challenges affecting global affairs. Speakers will present on intelligence, the Middle East, nation-building, the news media, poverty, and world health during this year's SIA Global Affairs Colloquium. 

The semester-long speaker series begins on Jan. 14 and continues from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Thursdays in Room 012 of the Lewis Katz Building. All of the presentations are free and open to the public.

Organized by Dennis Jett, retired U.S. ambassador and SIA professor, each presentation will consider the various global challenges and dilemmas of the world today. The colloquium is part of a required first-year course for SIA students, designed to provide broad exposure to a wide range of critical issues.     

Date

Speaker/Topic

January 14

James Piazza, Penn State Department of Political Science, “Profiles of Terrorism Supporter”

January 21

Richard Alley, Penn State Department of Earth and Mineral Sciences, climate change

January 28

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell, "Whose Fault Is It When We Don't Get It Right? Intelligence, Bureaucracy, Politics, and Power"

February 4

Khanjan Mehta, founding director of the Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) Program and assistant professor of engineering design at Penn State, “Appropriate Technologies in the Globalized World”

February 11

Greg Kruczek, 2009 SIA graduate currently studying for his doctorate degree at Virginia Tech, “Why People Rebel — Greed versus Grievance”

February 18

Roger Finke, Penn State Department of Sociology and Criminology, “Religious Freedom: A Global Historical Exploration”

February 25

Krishna Jayakar, Penn State Department of Telecommunications, “The Digital Divide and Its Implications”

March 3

Leif Trana, Economic Minister, Norwegian Embassy, “Managing the Global Commons — Norway’s Interests in the Artic”

March 17

Mark Reese, U.S. Naval Academy, “Identity in Central Asia”

March 24

Lakshman Yapa, Penn State professor of human geography, “Redefining Poverty”

March 31

Karl Hofmann, SIA Advisory Board member, “Demography, Fertility, Sustainability — How Global Population Trends Shape Your Future”

April 7

Peter Van Buren, 24-year veteran of the U.S. Department of State, “Nation Building and Why It’s So Hard to Do”

April 14

Evans Revere, former expert on Asia for the U.S. Department of State, “Dealing With North Korea”

April 21

Ryan Crotty, 2011 SIA alumnus and deputy director for defense budget analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, “Guns or Butter — How Defense Budgets Are Made”

April 28

Gregory Gottlieb, USAID Mission Director for Pakistan, “The Interface Between Politics, Diplomacy and Development in Pakistan”

 

Last Updated January 8, 2016

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