Global Voices Lecture Program:
2012-2013
Lecture Program
The Global Voices Lecture Program presents prominent speakers and organizes round-table discussion groups and special interest conferences and seminars. As a part of this program, leading figures from the world stage come to share their thoughts and exchange ideas with students and members of Chicago’s civic community on major issues facing the country and the world. The Global Voices Program enables International House to continue to strengthen its links with the University of Chicago and the City of Chicago in ways that are commensurate with its institutional position of promoting cross-cultural understanding and respect and the exchange of ideas among people of all nations and backgrounds.
To view descriptions of past events, please visit our program listing archives. If you are interested in having the Global Voices Program co-sponsor one of your events, please check out our rooms available for reservation and the Co-Sponsorship Application and Terms.
Spring Quarter 2013
Marshall G.S. Hodgson: Islam & World History in the Modern Age
Monday, April 8, 2013, 5-7 pm., Home Room
Marshall G.S. Hodgson was a professor of Islamic Studies and Chairman of the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago during the 1950s and 1960s. As an Islamic scholar, Hodgson rejected the Eurocentrism of most historical study. He is known primarily for his books - Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization (1975, 1977) and The Secret Order of Assassins: The Struggle of the Early Nizârî Ismâî'lîs Against the Islamic World (1955). In these works, Hodgson broke with the dominant historiographical narrative of Islam, focusing on piety rather than on political or dynastic history. He was concerned with the way Islamic philosophers and historians used Qur'anic teachings to approach the problems and ideals of their contemporary societies. Professor Christopher Bayly, Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History is a leading scholar in Indian history at the University of Cambridge and will be discussing Marshall Goodwin Simms Hodgson’s contribution towards the research and understanding of Islam and World History in the Modern Age.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series, The Nicholson Center for British Studies and the Committee on Southern Asian Studies.
This event is free and open to the public.
What's Next for the Republican Party
Monday, April 8, 2013, 6 pm., Assembly Hall
In the wake of the 2012 elections, many political analysts and, indeed, many Republicans, are wondering: What's next for the Grand Old Party? After all, the GOP has lost the popular vote for president in five out of the last six elections, and Republicans also missed key opportunities to pick up seats in the Senate in 2012. Add to that national demographic trends, and some are beginning to question the long-term viability of the GOP. Is the party at a crossroads? What will it take for the GOP to win back the White House? And what's needed when it comes to tactics, candidates, strategies and policies? We'll convene a panel of leading Republican thinkers to weigh in on the debate—and explore the future direction for the party.
This event is free and open to UChicago students, faculty, staff and the public. To be admitted, you must present the ticket that is emailed to you after registering on Eventbrite. You must bring a photo ID. If you cannot attend, please cancel your ticket order on Eventbrite so others may register. Doors will open at 5:15 p.m. After 5:45 p.m., if you have not arrived, your seat will be given to a guest waiting on standby on a first-come, first-served basis.
For advance registration, click here. Presented by the International House Global Voices Performing Arts Series and the Institute of Politics.
Race and Chicago Politics: “30 Years after the Election of Mayor Harold
Washington”
Tuesday, April 9, 2013, 6 pm., Assembly Hall
To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the election of Harold Washington, Chicago’s first African-American Mayor, the Chicago Studies Program of the College and the University Community Service Center (UCSC), Institute of Politics (IOP), Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA), and the International House Global Voices Lecture Series are partnering to host a panel discussion called “Race and Chicago Politics: 30 Years After the Election of Mayor Harold Washington”. This event will explore the historic election and mayoralty of the late Harold Washington, examine the impact of race in what is distinctly “Chicago Politics," and consider the future of racial politics in 2013.
Panelists will include David Axelrod, Will Burns, Michael Dawson, and Jacky Grimshaw. Laura Washington, columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, will moderate. David Axelrod is the Director of the Institute of Politics and served as a media consultant to Harold Washington's 1987 mayoral campaign. Will Burns is a member of the Chicago City Council representing Chicago's 4th Ward. Michael Dawson is a Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture. Jacky Grimshaw is a Vice President of Policy at the Center for Neighborhood Technology and served as a political advisor for Harold Washington.
This event is free and open to the public.
Travels of Law: Networks, Trajectories, Transformations
Friday, April 12, 2013, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Assembly Hall
The research and scholarly collaboration components of this project are animated by the same questions: How does law travel? With what carriers, commodities and interests does it go? How was the law packaged for export, how was it translated and domesticated? What further journeys does the law undertake upon its arrival?
The spread of criminal, constitutional and personal laws throughout the Indian Ocean arena in the long nineteenth century contains both a story of the globalization of a technology of power as well as of multiple localizations of this power through local elites, regional institutions and networks. This spread was neither geographically nor substantively uniform, and this project will identify key nodes in the circulation of law, as well as specific legal institutions and ideas that travelled far better than others.
Law lends itself to the reconceptualization of flows, convergences and comparisons in particularly fruitful ways ‐ it is at one and the same time general and particular, global in its aspirations and deeply local in its politics and pragmatics. This research tells a comparative and cross‐regional story in which globality and locality are intertwined and mutually productive, in which modernity consists of the ability to harness both universalist and particularist visions of law in the service of state power, and in which new connections are overlaid onto old networks through the deployment of law. The oceanic perspective emphasizes a view of empire, state‐building and modernity in the nineteenth century both path‐dependent and in rapid transition.
Presented by the Committee on Southern Asian Studies & the Global Voices Lecture Series. This event is free and open to the public.
Diplomatic Encounters: Turkey
Monday, April 15, 2013, 5:30 p.m., Home Room
The “Diplomatic Encounters” series, sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the International House Global Voices Program, brings to the University of Chicago campus representatives of various diplomatic missions for short presentations followed by an opportunity for open dialogue. This time, the Honorable Fatih Yildiz, Consul General of The Republic of Turkey, Chicago will present the current situation in Turkey, describe and discuss the most important concerns of the present as well as challenges and opportunities that are visible on the horizon, and clarify Turkey’s official policy on various issues. Following the diplomat’s presentation, the audience will have time to raise questions about the country’s current situation or policies.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies
This event is free and open to the public. Students, faculty, and staff of the University community with an interest in the country being represented are especially encouraged to attend. Light refreshments will be served at the conclusion of each event.
George Herbert Mead Conference and Keynote Lecture
Thursday, April 18, 2013, 5:00 p.m., Assembly Hall
A conference will be held April 18-20, 2013 to celebrate the 150th birthday of George Herbert Mead. Born on February 27, 1863, Mead was a pioneering pragmatist philosopher who spent virtually his entire professional career at the University of Chicago until his death in 1931. His teaching and writing on the social nature of the self, along with a diversity of other topics, has had an enduring influence on social thought, especially on the development of the Chicago School of Sociology and Symbolic Interactionism. Recent research has only further reinforced Mead’s contemporary relevance to topics as diverse as cognitive science, the history of ideas, and democratic ethics.
The conference features a keynote speech by eminent and internationally recognized philosopher Charles Taylor, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at McGill University. Taylor, author of numerous books such as Sources of the Self (1989) and A Secular Age (2007), and winner of the prestigious Kyoto Prize and Templeton Prize, will give the lecture entitled, “Was Mead a Dialogical Thinker?" on Thursday, April 18 at 5:00pm in the Assembly Hall.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series, Committee on Social Thought and the Franke Institute for the Humanities.
Free and Open to the Public.
Midwest Polonia Civic Engagement Workshop 2013
Saturday, April 20, 2013, 12 pm., Assembly Hall
The American Polish Advisory Council (APAC) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization incorporated in Washington, DC, and dedicated to increasing the voice and visibility of Polish Americans in public life. This nationwide series of workshops is designed to enable and encourage civic participation in communities with significant Polish-American populations. A series of three panels will bring experts and practitioners from the region to discuss community organization, campaign structure and finance, and the political appointments process. Other highlights:
- LTG Edward L. Rowny, president of APAC and former arms negotiator for presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Carter and George H. W. Bush will attend the ceremony and give a brief introduction.
- US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, APAC Honorary Co-Chair, will broadcast a video message to participants.
- US Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) is invited to give the keynote address.
Tickets Information:
$30 General Admission
$20 Students
For online purchases, click here
Open to the public. Presented by the International House Global Voices Performing Arts Series and the American Polish Advisory Council.
Tetsuo Najita Distinguished Lecture Series in Japanese Studies
Forty Years of Japanese Feminism: "What it has achieved and what it has not” by Chizuko Ueno
Monday, April 22, 2013, 5:00 p.m., Assembly Hall
The Tetsuo Najita Distinguished Lecture series was launched in 2007 by the Japan Studies Committee to honor the legacy of Tetsuo Najita, Robert S. Ingersoll Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of History and of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, and his contribution to the university during his long career. 2013 Lecture: Chizuko Ueno is Professor Emeritus of Tokyo University. A sociologist by training, Professor Ueno is one of the leading feminist critics and public intellectuals in Japan. She is the author and co-author of more than fifty books that address issues of the family, patriarchy, gender, capitalism, and nationalism.
This event is Free and Open to the Public. Reception to Follow.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series and the University of Chicago Committee on Japanese Studies
Leonard D. White Memorial Lecture
with Professor Ira Katznelson, Columbia University
Reflections on Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time
Tuesday, April 23, 2013, 12 pm., Assembly Hall
The Leonard D. White Memorial lecture honors the legacy of Leonard D. White, former professor in the Department of Political Science and Ernest DeWitt Burton Distinguished Service Professor of Public Administration. He was one of the first and leading scholars of public administration starting in the early 1920s. He taught at the University of Chicago until his death in 1958.
Ira Katznelson is a prolific educator and writer of political science. Currently the Ruggles Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, he is a formidable figure in his field, having produced expert work on Marxism, the Democratic ideal, and race. His newest book, Fear Itself, is concerned with the survival of democracy against the enticement of other ideologies, such as fascism and communism, during the political struggle of the 30s and 40s.
This event is free and open to the public.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Performing Arts Series and the Department of Political Science.
Climate Change: A Policy Forecast
Tuesday, April 23, 2013, 6 p.m., Asssembly Hall
In his State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to pass legislation this year to limit greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the effects of climate change. But what are the prospects for legislative action—or executive action from the White House—this year? If so, what might it look like? And what effect, if any, will the resulting policies have on reducing carbon emissions and improving the environment? We'll explore those questions—and the policy climate in Washington—with a panel of leading experts, including former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner and the National Journal's Energy & Environment Correspondent, Coral Davenport.
This event is Free and Open to UChicago students, faculty, staff and the public. To register, please click hereTo be admitted, you must present the ticket that is emailed to you after registering on Eventbrite. You must bring a photo ID. If you cannot attend, please cancel your ticket order on Eventbrite so others may register. Doors will open at 5:15 p.m. After 5:45 p.m., if you have not arrived, your seat will be given to a guest waiting on standby on a first-come, first-served basis.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series and the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.
Global Voices Author Lecture with Rashid Khalidi
Brokers of Deceit: How the US has Undermined Peace in the Middle East
Wednesday, April 24, 2013, 7:30-9:30 p.m., Assembly Hall
Join acclaimed historian Rashid Khalidi in a discussion of his newest book, Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East. Through in-depth analysis of three historical moments and his own firsthand experience as an advisor to the Palestinian delegation, Khalidi reveals how the United States and Israel have actively colluded to prevent a Palestinian state and resolve the situation in Israel’s favor. Brokers of Deceit bares the truth about why peace in the Middle East has been impossible to achieve: for decades, US policymakers have masqueraded as unbiased agents working to bring the two sides together, when, in fact, they have been the agents of continuing injustice. Khalidi is also the author of six books about the Middle East and his writings have appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and many journals. For his work on the Middle East, Professor Khalidi has received fellowships and grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the American Research Center in Egypt, and the Rockefeller Foundation, among others. He is the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University in New York.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series.
This event is free and open to the public.
Chicago and the Built Environment
April 25, 5:30 pm, Assembly Hall
Over the past 175 years, Chicago has become one of the world’s great metropolises, and its dynamism and ever-changing landscape are a signature component of its outsized influence and power. Chicago and the Built Environment, the first of four Urban Forums this spring, is a three-day exploration of the spatial history of Chicago that will begin with a keynote address from Tim Samuelson, the official cultural historian for the city of Chicago. Samuelson is a respected advocate for the architectural preservation of Chicago’s built environment, and is a noted cultural historian with an encyclopedic knowledge of the city’s past. The conference will continue Friday with a full day of panels featuring scholars and practitioners, and will conclude with a day of site visits on Saturday, April 26.
Please visit urban.uchicago.edu for more information or to register for the conference. This conference is sponsored by the University of Chicago Urban Network, the Driehaus Foundation, International House, and the University Community Service Center.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series.
All events are free and open to the public.
Cold War in Asia
Friday, April 26, 2013, 9 a.m., Home Room & 6:30 p.m., National Room
Saturday, April 27, 2013, 10 a.m., Home Room
Much of the scholarship on the Cold War in Asia focuses on war and is in turn placed within a larger Cold War framework defined by oppositional binaries—United States versus the Soviet Union, communism versus capitalism, left versus right, and East versus West. This conference aims to take an active role in the recent trend to deconstruct these binaries and move beyond state-centered approaches that follow disciplinary lines by addressing and emphasizing the role of non-state actors, cultural practices, gender, the local, and movements and groups that defy a reliance on nationalist frameworks. Through visual culture, intersection of state and society, decolonization and non-alignment, and knowledge production and censorship, this conference will attempt to bridge gaps between various disciplines, time periods, and regional/national borders while also promoting a dialogue that will produce new approaches and perspectives on the Cold War in Asia.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series and the Center for East Asian Studies.
From the New Socialist Person to Global Mental Health: "The Psy-ences and
Mental Health in East Central Europe and Eurasia
Tuesday, April 30, 2013, 9:00 a.m., Home Room
Over the last three decades, the professions and disciplines concerned with the human mind, brain and behavior (“the psy-ences”) have undergone significant changes in the countries of East Central Europe and Eurasia. These transformations have articulated with global trends in mental health, but are also specific to the political economic collapse of the U.S.S.R. and other socialist states in 1989/91. This conference explores these two aspects of the psy-ences together.
This conference will focus on the psy-ences and their shifting objects of knowledge and intervention in the countries of East Central Europe and Eurasia. Specifically, this forum will examine several key issues:
1) psychiatry, psychology, psychopharmacology and addiction medicine as
social institutions and fields of expertise in the region – from the state
socialist period to the present day;
2) discourses of mental health, madness, addiction, trauma, psychiatry and
psychology among patients, laypeople, and expert publics;
3) the forms of subjectivity, sociality and citizenship engendered by
institutional changes in mental health care and social service provision,
and the experience of patients, family members and caregivers navigating
these systems;
4) the multiple relationships and looping effects between these domains.
This event is Free and Open to the Public.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series and the Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies (CEERES).
Pivot to Asia: a New Road Map to the Sino-US Relation
Thursday, May 2, 2013, 5:30 pm, Assembly Hall
In light of recent events, it is due time to consider the future of the relationship between the United States and China. Since 2012, China has displayed unprecedented belligerence in regional conflicts in the South China Sea. In turn, the US has shifted its foreign-policy focus to Northeast Asia, a move known as the Obama administration’s “Asia Pivot”. While the US did so to defend its national interest, partly in response to China’s growing international presence, China has interpreted it as an offensive stroke to encircle itself and contain what the Chinese government has called the dream of national rejuvenation.
How should we understand the intentions behind China’s actions in geopolitical affairs? What foreign-policy strategy should the US pursue? What lies ahead for the two powers, and how will it involve other countries? Join us for a discussion of these pressing questions by leading perspectives in international relations, featuring John Mearsheimer, the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and Deborah Larson, Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles.
An audience Q&A session with the speakers will follow the discussion. Dinner provided. Free and Open to the Public.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series and Chicago Society.
Globalization and Mobilities: "The Theory and Methods of Human Movement"
Friday, May 3, 2013, 4:00 pm, Assembly Hall
The last two centuries saw the massive movement of populations from their natal territorial spaces to other places, spurred by economic opportunities, political upheavals, warfare, and religious and ethnic persecution. In the age of industrialization, migrants moved mostly from Europe to Oceania and the Americas -- 85 percent of all global migrants went to five places: Argentina, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the USA. The US accepted 60 percent of this total. World Wars I and II and the Great Depression slowed this movement, but it accelerated again as post-industrialization created new geographies of labor migration and dispersed destinations. Migration since the 1970s has led workers from Africa, Asia, and Latin America to Spain, Portugal, France and Germany; from Asia and Africa to the oil-rich Gulf, and from lesser developed areas of Asia to the industrialized countries of Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.
"Mobilities: Methodologies, Circulations, and Regulations" is a collaborative project between the University of Chicago and the Université Paris Diderot that moves beyond the modernist frameworks that have marked migration studies. This project aims to elaborate new methods for the study of migration and to articulate theories less tied to the belief that the complete assimilation and acculturation of migrants by their hosts is possible or even desirable.
This event is Free and Open to the Public. Registration is NOT required but encouraged at https://urban.uchicago.edu/content/globalization-and-mobilities-registration. For more information, visit the Urban Network website http://urban.uchicago.edu/2013_Globalization_Mobilities
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series, the University of Chicago Urban Network, and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, & Culture.
Asylums and Prisons: Deinstitutionalization and Decarceration
Friday, May 3, 2013, 9:00 pm, Coulter Lounge
Since the early nineteenth century, carceral spaces such as asylums, prisons, and state schools have been central to U.S. governance. Yet in the twentieth century these institutions took drastically different paths, as institutions for developmental disabilities and mental health dramatically decreased and prisons became the dominant state‐run institutions. This one‐day symposium at the University of Chicago on Friday May 3, 2013, will bring together scholars from political science, law, history, sociology and disability studies to ask questions such as: How does deinstitutionalization in mental health relate to the rise of mass incarceration? How do medicalization, criminalization and technologies of surveillance intersect in the new penal state? What are the possibilities for change? The symposium will include a series of short presentations and discussion‐based sessions that will attempt to rethink these issues. Panelists include Bernard Harcourt, University of Chicago; Jonathan Metzl, Vanderbilt University; Anne Parsons, University of Illinois at Chicago; Michael Rembis, SUNY at Buffalo; Liat Ben‐Moshe, University of Illinois at Chicago; Christopher Berk, University of Chicago; Ray Noll, University of Chicago; Robert Fairbanks, University of Chicago.
Free and Open to the Public.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series and Chicago Society.
Sociology Spring Institute 2013
Studying Culture in the 21st Century: "Methods, Applications, and New Directions”
Friday, May 3, 2013, 9 a.m., Home Room & 11 a.m., National Room
Saturday, May 4, 2013, 9 a.m., Home Room
The Society for Social Research (SSR) was founded in the early 1920s by the Department of Sociology as a collegial research group for advanced graduate students and faculty. Over the course of its history, it has served as the intellectual home for many of the classic Chicago School studies, published a book by Georg Simmel, and run numerous academic workshops.
For nearly 90 years the SSR has been organizing the Spring Institute symposium, an annual event that brings together the University of Chicago Sociology community to attend two days of workshops, discussions and speeches. Recent Spring Institute speakers include: John Meyer, Michele Lamont, Claude Fischer, Gerald Suttles, Gary Alan Fine, Donald Bogue, Frances Fox Piven, and Loïc Wacquant.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series and the Society for Social Research, Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago.
40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy
Saturday, May 4, 2013, 2:30 pm, Home Room & National Room
The film explores the long-term multi-generational effects of the mass-killings in Indonesia in 1965 and 1966, where approximately half a million to a million suspected communists were killed in six months. The documentary weaves together archival footage, photos, interviews with historians and anthropologists, and the testimonies of victims and perpetrators of the 1965 mass-killings to reveal a complex story of politics, death, suffering, and coping.
Shot over the course of 10 years, with over 400 hours of footage, 40 Years of Silence follows four families, all of whom had family members killed or "disappeared" by soldiers and neighbors in the mass-killings in Bali and Java. The survivors and their children break the silence as they reveal how they are still subjected to and cope with the continual harassment, surveillance, and discrimination by the State and their community members.
Even today, few people are aware of the killings since it was hidden from the world's view with enforced silence for 35 years by the Suharto regime. With both historical and personal accounts, 40 Years of Silence provides a glimpse into a part of world history which needs to be remembered, discussed, and not forgotten.
Followed by discussion with Director/ Professor Robert Lemelson. Lemelson is a research anthropologist at the Semel Institute of Neuroscience, UCLA, and a filmmaker whose work focuses on Southeast Asian studies and the relationship of culture, psychology, and mental illness. He received his M.A. from the University of Chicago, and his doctorate from UCLA in Anthropology. Lemelson has been filming on the islands of Bali and Java in Indonesia since 1997, exploring the relation to culture to such disorders as Schizophrenia, OCD, Tourette's syndrome, and PTSD. 40 Years of Silence is his first feature length documentary and he is working on two more based in Indonesia. In the planning stages are three separate documentaries on psychosis outcome, gender-based violence, and trance and possession.
Free and Open to the Public.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series, Permias Chicago, Midwest-USA and Elemental Productions.
Global Voices Author Night Series
In Conversation: Keith Koeneman and Neil Steinberg w/ Steve Edwards
Tuesday, May 7, 2013, 6:00 p.m., Home Room
Neil Steinberg began writing for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1984 and became a columnist in 1996. His new book, You Were Never in Chicago, weaves the story of Steinberg's coming-of-age as a young outsider who made his way into the inner circles of Chicago journalism with a nuanced portrait of the city that will surprise even lifelong residents. Throughout, Steinberg deftly explains the city’s complex web of political favoritism and carefully profiles the characters he meets along the way, from greats of jazz and journalism to small-business owners just getting by. Steinberg has written for a wide variety of publications, including The Washington Post, The New York Daily News, and Sports Illustrated.
Keith Koeneman writes about Chicago history, politics, and culture. His book on the recently retired mayor of Chicago, First Son: The Biography of Richard M. Daley, is an in-depth biography of the longest-serving mayor in Chicago's history. Drawing on more than 100 interviews from members of the Daley administration and business and cultural leaders, Koeneman paints a nuanced portrait of a complex man. He also teaches and speaks as an expert on Chicago mayoral politics on television and radio.
This event is Free and Open to the Public.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series and the Seminary Co-op Bookstores.
Women in Politics
Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 6:00 pm, Assembly Hall
According to many political observers, 2012 should be considered “The Year of the Woman." Not only did voters send a record numbers of female senators to the U.S. Senate, they helped elect a Democratic caucus that is majority non-white male for the first time in the history of the House of Representatives. Female voters have routinely outnumbered male voters in presidential elections since 1984—and the gap is widening. Not surprisingly, women—and issues that directly affect women, from economic opportunity and education to health care reform and reproductive rights—emerged as driving forces in the 2012 campaign. So what impact are women having on our politics and public policy? And from the debate over Sheryl Sandberg’s "Lean In" to Anne Marie Slaughter’s "Why Women Can’t Have It All," what effect are these trends having on the challenges, opportunities and expectations facing women leaders?
Confirmed panelists:
- Mandy Grunwald, Democratic political consultant
- Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of Illinois
- Kathleen Parker, nationally syndicated columnist
- Bev Perdue, former governor of North Carolina
- Michele Norris (moderator), host and special correspondent, National Public Radio
This event is free and open to UChicago students, faculty, staff and the public. To be admitted, bring the ticket that is emailed to you after registering on Eventbrite. You must bring a photo ID. If you cannot attend, please cancel your ticket orderon Eventbrite so others may register. Doors will open at 5:15 p.m. After 5:45 p.m., if you have not arrived, your seat will be given to a guest waiting on standby on a first-come, first-served basis.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series and the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.
First Latin American Policy Forum: "Success Stories from Latin America"
Thursday, May 9, 2013, 8:00 p.m., Assembly Hall
Latin America has become a place where effective and innovative policies have been born. Success stories have positioned countries like Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru in the spotlight of the global policy debate. To recognize this development, and to engage with particular accomplishments in the region, Latin American Matters (LAM) has convened the First Latin American Policy Forum: “Success Stories from Latin America.”
This year’s participants will include: Álvaro Uribe, Former President of Colombia; Cristián Larroulet, Secretary General of the Presidency of Chile; Josefina Vázquez Mota, Former Secretary of Social Development and Presidential Candidate of Mexico; Jaime Lerner, Mayor of Curitiba of Brazil, and other policy leaders. In order to enhance debate, the conference will be divided into panels that will focus the following specific policy areas: Social Protection, Urban Development, Security, Energy and Trade. The forum will focus on these areas as it is these fields where we find the region’s most pressing concerns and accomplishments.
Free and Open to the Public. RSVP here
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series and Latin American Matters, a student organization at the Harris School of Public Policy.
Emerging Thailand: "The Spirit of Small Enterprise"
Thursday, May 16, 2013, 7:00 p.m., Assembly Hall
Emerging Thailand: The Spirit of Small Enterprise is a documentary film that takes viewers into the world of Thailand's small businesses and shows how the country's enterprises have diversified, grown and survived amid a rapidly changing marketplace and even led the marketplace itself. The film provides an intimate portrait of Thailand and its people, showcasing the country's diverse landscape, from rice paddies and farms to floating markets and chaotic urban centers.
Film Synopsis: For more than 15 years, Dr. Robert Townsend has led a team of economists from overseas and local researchers, traversing Thailand to conduct detailed assessments of the country's villages, towns, and urban neighborhoods—and the economies within. They have created a living database of the economic and financial behaviors of these households and small enterprises and made extraordinary observations about the nature of emerging markets, what makes entrepreneurs successful, how their communities support them, and the large role they play in national growth and the creation of wealth. This compelling documentary (34 minutes) reveals the emerging spirit and dynamism of the Thai people and shares discoveries that will change your perspective on developing countries worldwide.
This event is Free and Open to the Public.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series and the Consortium on Financial Systems and Poverty.
"Neither Whores Nor Submissive:" The Burqa Ban in France
Wednesday, May 22, 2013, 5:30 p.m., Assembly Hall
In September 2010, the French Parliament made it illegal to wear a burqa in public areas, with 70 percent of public support. The ban received vigorous applause from the prominent French feminist organization Ni Putes Ni Soumises (Neither Whores Nor Submissives), which considers the burqa a tool of female oppression. Join us for a talk and Q&A by Ni Putes Ni Soumises founder and former French minister Amara, moderated by Bernard Harcourt, political science department chair and law professor at the University of Chicago.
Born of Algerian immigrant parents in Clermont-Ferrand, France, Fadela Amara is a French feminist politician and activist. After a 17 year-old girl was burned alive by her ex-boyfriend in the suburbs of Paris, Amara led a nation-wide march to discuss the situation of women in the banlieues. In 2003, Amara founded Ni Putes Ni Soumises (Neither Whores Nor Submissive), one of today's most prominent French feminist organizations, dedicated to protecting and promoting secularism, diversity and gender equality. In 2007, Amara was named Secretary of State for Urban Policies (Secrétaire d’Etat Chargée de la politique de la Ville) under President Sarkozy. While in the government, Amara argued strongly in favor of the burqa ban, which became law in 2010.
Free and Open to the Public.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series and the University of Chicago French Club.
Global Voices Author Night Series
George Packer: "The Unwinding"
Tuesday, May 30, 2013, 6:00 p.m., Home Room
George Packer has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since May 2003. His newest book, The Unwinding, tells the story of the United States over the past three decades in an utterly original way, with his characteristically sharp eye for detail and gift for weaving together complex narratives. Packer is a respected political journalist who has covered stories on the war in Iraq, atrocities committed in Sierra Leone, civil unrest in the Ivory Coast, and the Al-Jazeera satellite news channel. Packer was awarded two Overseas Press Club awards for his work in 2003, one for his Iraq coverage and the other for his reporting on the civil war in Sierra Leone. Packer was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area. After graduating from Yale in 1982, he served in the Peace Corps in Togo, West Africa. He lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.
This event is Free and Open to the Public.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series and the Seminary Co-op Bookstores.
Robert H. Kirschner, M.D., Memorial Human Rights Lecture “What has the International Human Rights Movement Accomplished?” with Aryeh Neier, Founder of HumanRights Watch
Thursday, June 6, 2013, 6:30 p.m., Assembly Hall
The 2013 Robert H. Kirschner, M.D., Memorial Human Rights Lecturer is Aryeh Neier, a leading activist and public intellectual in the human rights movement. Neier founded Human Rights Watch and was HRW Executive Director for 12 years. He is President Emeritus of the Open Society Foundations and was National Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union. Author of seven books, his most recent work, The International Human Rights Movement: A History (2012), analyzes the growth of the modern human rights movement, including its main goals and internal debates.
This lecture series honors the life and work of Robert H. Kirschner, M.D., clinical associate in the Department of Pathology and Pediatrics and a founding member of the faculty board of the Human Rights Program at the University of Chicago. Dr. Kirschner was an internationally recognized authority on forensic pathology, human rights violations, police brutality, torture and child abuse and an outspoken opponent of the death penalty.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series and the Human Rights Program at the University of Chicago.
Free and Open to the Public.
Winter Quarter 2013
Humanitea Time: A Dynamic Platform for Inspiring Student Activism around Social Causes Sunday, January 13, 2013, 3:30 - 6:30 p.m., Assembly Hall
Humanitea is a dynamic platform dedicated to inspiring young activism around social causes from Chicago to Syria. Featuring presentations by Imam Suhaib Webb and Father Pfleger, this café-style event will cast a range of local and global causes through human rights theatre, riveting poetry, acoustic tunes and authentic narratives. The presentations will inspire youth to discover their potential as change-makers, and mobilize them around meaningful causes such as Street Violence Prevention and Food Justice. By the end of the event, students will have gained awareness of the featured issues and signed up for a prearranged program, which addresses the cause of their choice. Embellishments to the program include a poetry slam with the grand prize of a free student-service trip to Ghana in summer of 2013 with ZF, a Create-Your-Own-Cause contest offering ZF sponsorship to top finalists, as well as a dynamic line-up of speakers and performing artists. It's time to rekindle that prophetic legacy of serving humanity. It's Humanitea time.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Program and the Zakat Foundation of America.
This event is free and open to the public.
Author Lecture with Alex Lickerman, The Undefeated Mind: On the Science of Constructing an Indestructible Self
Monday, January 28, 2013, 6 p.m., Assembly Hall
In The Undefeated Mind, physician Alex Lickerman draws on the tenets of both Buddhism and new scientific research to argue that resilience isn't something with which only a fortunate few of us have been born, but rather something we can all take action to develop. Offering a set of guidelines not for solving problems but for establishing a life state that makes all problems solvable, The Undefeated Mind details nine principles we can all use to dramatically increase our ability to withstand adversity, exhorting us to stop hoping for easy lives and instead to focus on cultivating the inner strength we need to enjoy the difficult lives we all have.
Alex Lickerman, MD, is a physician, former assistant professor of medicine and director of primary care, and current assistant vice-president for Student Health and Counseling Services at the University of Chicago. He is also a practicing Buddhist. He was recently selected by the Consumers’ Research Council of America as one of America’s top physicians in their publication Guide to America’s Top Physicians and writes a blog on the website of Psychology Today. Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series.
Free and Open to the Public.
FULL ACCESS: Inside the Obama and Romney Campaigns
Campaign Strategists: 2012 Explained
Tuesday, February 5, 2013, 7:00 pm, Assembly Hall
Long before Election Day, Hurricane Sandy, the presidential debates, Libya, the 47 percent, the conventions or even the Iowa Caucuses, candidates and their strategists toiled away behind the scenes, mapping a path to victory. For some, the long hours and hard work paid off. For others, the efforts came up short. We’ll kick off our series by convening the lead strategists and managers from the Obama and Romney camps, in a freewheeling panel discussion about what went right, what went wrong, and what we learned in the process.
Guest speakers include:
David Axelrod, senior strategist, Obama for America
Eric Fehrnstrom, strategist, Romney for President
Larry Grisolano, director of paid media, Obama for America
Jim Messina, campaign manager, Obama for America
Beth Myers, advisor, Romney for President
Jen O’Malley Dillon, deputy campaign manager, Obama for America
Matthew Rhoades, campaign manager. Romney for President
Stuart Stevens, strategist, Romney for President
Chuck Todd (Moderator), chief White House correspondent for NBC News
Tweet about this event before, during, and after this event by using hashtags: #uchicago #2012explained
Sponsored with the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.
FULL ACCESS: Inside the Obama and Romney Campaigns
Presidential Pollsters: Tracking Public Opinion
Monday, February 11, 2013, 6:00 pm, Assembly Hall
During the 2012 election, presidential campaigns used a sophisticated mix of quantitative and qualitative data to understand voter concerns, to test ideas, and to create the most compelling messaging for their candidates. We’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at this process in a panel discussion with top researchers in the Obama and Romney campaigns.
Guest speakers include:
Joel Benenson, chief pollster, Obama for America
Neil Newhouse, lead pollster, Romney for President
Gerald Seib (Moderator), Washington bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal
FULL ACCESS: Inside the Obama and Romney Campaigns
Public Pollsters: The Art & Science of Public Opinion
Wednesday, February 13, 2013, 12:00 pm, Assembly Hall
From daily tracking polls to online trading exchanges, public opinion in 2012 was on display like never before, making this the most measured campaign cycle in history. But the flurry of numbers often produced confusing storylines and contradictory results. Our panel of leading pollsters and public opinion researchers will help sort through the noise to understand what’s driving the proliferation of polls; what role methodology plays in shaping results; and, in the end, what worked (and what didn’t) for pollsters and the public.
Guest speakers include:
Mark Blumenthal, senior polling editor of the Huffington Post and the founding editor of Pollster.com
Anna Greenberg, Democratic pollster
Mark Mellman, Democratic pollster
Bill McInturff, Republican pollster
Joel Benenson (Moderator), President & CEO, The Benenson Group
“Poverty and Education: To What End?” with Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis
Monday, February 18, 2013, 7:00 PM, Assembly Hall
Karen Lewis, the outspoken President of the Chicago Teachers Union, grabbed headlines nationwide last year when she led the first teachers strike in Chicago in 25 years. In a weeklong stand-off with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Ms. Lewis led a national dialogue on issues of teacher and classroom standards. Ms. Lewis is a leading advocate of education reform in a school district plagued by poverty. Over 1/3 of Chicago Public School students live below the federal poverty line, and the effects are deeply felt in the classroom. Ms. Lewis will lecture on her vision for reforming Chicago’s education system to promote equal opportunities for all public school students.
Co-sponsored by International House; Gender Activism, Learning, and Service (GALS); and the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality.
Free and open to the public.
Between the Ballot and the Bullet: Popular Resistance and Social Movements
Tuesday, February 19, 2013, 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m., Assembly Hall
“Between the Ballot and the Bullet” will explore the theory of resistance in international relations between states and non-state actors, between states themselves, and between non-state actors. Why are some resistance movements acceptable and others not? What, in the eyes of the international community, makes a resistance movement worth advocating for? And finally, to what extent can violent and non-violent resistance be applied? Join Professor Bernard Harcourt (University of Chicago Professor of Law and Chair of the Political Science Department), John Mearsheimer (Professor of Political Science), As’ad Abukhalil (Professor of Political Science at California State University), and Abdullah Al-Arian (Assistant Professor of History at Wayne State University) in an in-depth discussion surrounding these issues.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series, the Student Forum on Political Thought, the University of Chicago Department of Political Science, and Students of Justice in Palestine.
This event is free and open to the public.
Black History Month ‘Innovation Panel’
Tuesday, February 19, 2013, 6:00 p.m., Home Room
The Women’s Innovation Networks (WIN) , a Chicago-area, women entrepreneurs groups that celebrates Black History Month with innovation, inclusion, and inspiration, is hosting its second annual Black History Month Innovation Panel. Moderated by NBC5's entertainment reporter LeAnn Trotter, the 2013 Innovation Panel will provide a forum for successful women entrepreneurs to tell their stories of success and share pearls of wisdom to inspire others. Featured panelists include Jetta Bates, award-winning marketing expert and curator of JettaSetting; Makeba Kedem-Dubose, artist, curator, and art educator; Dori Wilson, president of Dori Wilson Public Relations, and former high fashion model; and Dawgelene Sangster, author and founder of Think Royally Inc. (NFP).
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series and the Women’s Innovation Network.
This event is free and open to the public. Space is limited, please RSVP at info@womensinnovationnetwork.org.
Legitimate Target: A Criteria Based Approach to Targeted Killing
Monday, February 25, 2013, 6:30 - 8:00 pm
Targeted killings represent both the contemporary weapon of choice and likely the weapon of the future. From the perspective of the nation-state, the benefits of targeted killing are clear: aggressive measures against identified targets can be carried out with minimal, if any, risk to soldiers. But while the threat to soldiers is minimal, there are other risks that must be considered. Particularly, there is a high possibility of collateral damage as well as legitimate concerns regarding how a target is defined. Clearly broad legal, moral, and operational issues are at stake when considering targeted killing.
For this The World Beyond the Headlines event, Amos Guiora will discuss why targeted killing decisions must reflect consideration of four distinct elements: law, policy, morality, and operational details, thus ensuring that it complies with principles of domestic and international laws. Based on personal experience and an academic perspective, Guiora will offer important criticism and insight into the policy as presently implemented, highlighting the need for a criteria based decision making process in defining and identifying a legitimate target.
Amos N. Guiora is a Professor of Law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, the University of Utah. Guiora who teaches Criminal Procedure, International Law, Global Perspectives on Counterterrorism and Religion and Terrorism incorporates innovative scenario-based instruction to address national and international security issues and dilemmas. He is a Member of the American Bar Association’s Law and National Security Advisory Committee; a Research Fellow at the International Institute on Counter-Terrorism, The Interdisciplinary Center, Herzylia, Israel; a Corresponding Member, The Netherlands School of Human Rights Research, University of Utrecht School of Law, was awarded a Senior Specialist Fulbright Fellowship for The Netherlands (2008) and research grant from the Stuart Family Foundation (2011).
Cosponsored by the International House Global Voices Lecture series, the Center for International Studies, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and the Jewish United Fund (JUF).
FULL ACCESS: Inside the Obama and Romney Campaigns
Ads, Messaging and Media Buying in 2012
Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 6:00 pm, Assembly Hall
The leading media consultants in conversation about the messaging they created to move voters and define candidates and opponents in 2012, from campaign ads to social media. What were the overarching media strategies employed? How did various campaigns use media effectively, from creative execution to ad-buying strategies? What worked? What didn’t? What impact is social media having on campaigns messaging—and vice-versa? How much has the practiced evolved in the last decade? In addition to those questions, we’ll also share and dissect a few key TV commercials from the campaign that just ended.
Guest speakers include:
Larry Grisolano, director of paid media, Obama for America
Ross Schriefer, media consultant, Romney for President
Jim Margolis, media consultant, Obama for America
Ashley O’Connor, director of advertising, Romney for President
Elizabeth Wilner, former political director of NBC News
15th Annual Chicago Ethnography Conference
Saturday, March 2, 2013, 8:30 a.m., Assembly Hall
The Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago and the International House Global Voices Program will host the 15th Annual Chicago Ethnography Conference. This daylong intercollegiate event provides the general public and students and scholars from Chicago-area Sociology departments, including Northwestern, the University of Chicago, DePaul, Loyola, Notre Dame, Illinois Institute of Technology, and Northern Illinois University an opportunity to explore ethnographic research focused on the individuals, communities and social spaces that make up the City of Chicago. Featuring keynote speakers, David Grazian, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania and Professor Jeffrey L Kidder, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Northern Illinois University. Dr. Grazian is an alumnus of the University of Chicago, and his first book Blue Chicago examines the production of authenticity and racial relations in the subcultural settings of Chicago blues clubs. Dr. Kidder has ethnographically studied the culture and practice of bike messengers in multiple urban settings and has recently studied subcultures in Chicago within the parkour community. Grazian and Kidder deploy ethnographic methods in urban settings and describe processes of identity-formation, practice, and cultural conflict that are defined by their urban milieu.
The conference is free and open to the public. Pre-registration requested.
Chicago Goes Global; Maternal/Child Health Global Policy Panel
Monday, March 4, 4:30-7:30pm, Assembly Hall
Join us for the second event in a collaborative series sponsored by Save the Children, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and University of Illinois at Chicago. A panel of five experts from various disciplines will discuss how low-resource settings are particularly challenging environments for mothers and children, both in the U.S. and globally. This event is free and open to the public. Space is limited; please RSVP at http://uchicagoci3.wufoo.com/forms/chicago-goes-global/.
Moderator: Paula Jaudes, MD
Panelists: Smita Baruah, MA,
Melissa Gilliam, MD, MPH
William Meadow, MD
Michael Msall, MD
Michael Schreiber, MD
Cosponsored by the International House Global Voices Program, the Center for Global Health, the Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Innovation in Sexual and Reproductive Health (Ci3), and the Department of Pediatrics. For more information, please email Rebecca Gieseker at rgieseker@medicine.bsd.uchicago.edu.
FULL ACCESS: Inside the Obama and Romney Campaigns
Looking Back & Looking Forward: Lessons of the 2012 Campaign
Wednesday, March 6, 2013, 6:00 pm, Assembly Hall
By many measures, the 2012 presidential election was historic and groundbreaking. We conclude our analysis by taking a big picture look at what happened last November, and what it might suggest for the future—for the president, for Congress, for campaigns and for the political parties.
The Question of Palestine
Thursday, March 7, 2013 6:00-7:30 PM
"The Question of Palestine" will feature a panel discussion focusing on potential outcomes from a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Under particular examination will be the one- and two-state solutions in light of realities on the ground, as well as whether or not the status quo is still relevant given recent developments at the UN and Netanyahu’s expansion of the E1 plan. Mitchell Plitnick (formerly of Jewish Voice for Peace), Ali Abunimah (Electronic Intifada), and Yousef Munayyer (the Jerusalem Fund) will featured in this discussion on the realities of pressing forward to find a solution to the ongoing occupation and conflict. Ultimately, they will address the question of whether a practical option - given the context on the ground - still includes the idea of two states. If not, what are the other options? Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series and Students for Justice in Palestine. This event is free and open to the public.
American Indian Speakers Bureau - Anishnaabe Food Tasting
Monday, March 11, 2013, 4:00 - 6:00 pm, Assembly Hall
For the Anishnaabe, food isn’t just something you eat. It’s ceremonial, a reason for friends and family to gather around a table to share stories and jokes, and to learn from one another. Learn from an Anishnaabe traditional foods teacher about the recipes for maple sugar, preparing walleye, musky and foods from the Great Lakes area. Tradition bound but still dynamic and passed down for generations.
To RSVP contact Chicago T7 at 773.534.2417 or t7volunteer@gmail.com.
Global Girls - Women & Girls Inspiring Change
Saturday, March 30, 2013 1-3 pm, Assembly Hall
For the second year in a row, we’ll honor individuals and organizations empowering voices and impacting women and girls locally and globally.
The highlight of the afternoon includes culturally diverse performances from organizations that represent a variety of traditional performing arts from around the world including Capoeira, Indian, African, Kuttu and ballet. Ayodele, Muntu, Baila and our very own Global Girls Everyday People Theatre company are among the scheduled performers. Awards recognizing eleven individuals/organizations will also be presented throughout the event.
In a variety of programs and special events, Global Girls prepares hundreds of youth annually to become socially-conscious, productive citizens who work not only toward their personal best, but also to inspire and influence their peers in their own community and throughout the world. In fact, our girls are the ones who came up with the idea of ending Women’s History Month with a program of gratitude and hope.
This event is co-sponsored by the International House Global Voices Program at the University of Chicago.
Autumn 2012
The Moral Issue of the Effect of Economic Sanctions: The Case of Iraq
Thursday, October 4, 2012, 6:00 pm, Assembly Hall
The economic sanctions imposed on Iraq by the United Nations Security Council have caused massive damage to the Iraqi population, and to Iraq’s health care, education, economy, and infrastructure. Joy Gordon and Hans von Sponeck will discuss the moral, political, and legal implications of this, as well as offer some thoughts to what this tells us about the current use of sanctions in Iran and elsewhere.
Joy Gordon teaches in the Philosophy Department at Fairfield University. Gordon is the author of Invisible War: The United States and the Iraq Sanctions (Harvard University Press, 2010), listed by Foreign Policy as one of the best book published in 2010. She has also published in Le Monde Diplomatique, Ethics and International Affairs, Global Governance, Arab Studies Quarterly, and the Chicago Journal of International Law. Her work can be found at www.invisiblewar.net.
Hans von Sponeck, former UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, received his education in Germany, the UK and the US, holds a PhD (University of Marburg), and served at the United Nations for 32 years. His assignments included head of mission in Botswana, Pakistan and India; UNDP Director, European Office in Geneva; and Coordinator for Iraq at rank of UN Assistant Secretary General. He is the author of A Different Kind of War, on the Iraq sanctions. He is currently teaching at the University of Marburg.
This event is co-sponsored by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series, the Center for International Studies, the American Academic Research Institute in Iraq, and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.
Free and open to the public. Click here to see the flier.
Argentina’s Economic Recovery After the Default
Tuesday, October 9, 2012, 1:00 pm, Coulter Lounge
World-renowned for its rich cultural traditions, Argentina is also an economic powerhouse. It is the third largest economy in Latin America, a G20 member, and boasts a highly educated workforce, strong agricultural and industrial sectors, and ample natural resources. Its economy grew by more than 8% in 2011 and unemployment is at the lowest level in decades. Argentina is also very active internationally, working to consolidate and expand Latin American trade blocs such as MERCOSUR and UNASUR, despite the increasing domestic challenges it is facing. However, some of the country’s economic and foreign policy priorities have been contentious, such as the nationalization of the Spanish-owned former state oil company YPF.
Join Ambassador Jorge Argüello for an open discussion on Argentina’s priorities, its place in the global economy, and the way ahead. Ambassador Argüello will share his views on the Islas Malvinas dispute.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series and the Consulate General of Argentina. Advance reservations required: call (773) 753-2274.
The World Beyond the Headlines Series presents Professor Martha C. Nussbaum
Tuesday, October 9, 2012, 6:30 pm, Assembly Hall
What impulse prompted some newspapers to attribute the murder of 77 Norwegians to Islamic extremists, until it became evident that a right-wing Norwegian terrorist was the perpetrator? Why did Switzerland, a country of four minarets, vote to ban those structures? How did a proposed Muslim cultural center in lower Manhattan ignite a fevered political debate across the United States? In The New Religious Intolerance: Overcoming the Politics of Fear in an Anxious Age, Martha C. Nussbaum surveys such developments and identifies the fear behind these reactions. Drawing inspiration from philosophy, history, and literature, she suggests a route past this limiting response and toward a more equitable, imaginative, and free society.
Fear, Nussbaum writes, is “more narcissistic than other emotions.” Legitimate anxieties become distorted and displaced, driving laws and policies biased against those different from us. Overcoming intolerance requires consistent application of universal principles of respect for conscience. Just as important, it requires greater understanding. Nussbaum challenges us to embrace freedom of religious observance for all, extending to others what we demand for ourselves. She encourages us to expand our capacity for empathetic imagination by cultivating our curiosity, seeking friendship across religious lines, and establishing a consistent ethic of decency and civility. With this greater understanding and respect, Nussbaum argues, we can rise above the politics of fear and toward a more open and inclusive future.
Martha Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, appointed in the Law School and Philosophy Department. She is an Associate in the Classics Department, the Divinity School, and the Political Science Department, a Member of the Committee on Southern Asian Studies, and a Board Member of the Human Rights Program.
Professor Nussbaum's recent publications include The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence, and India’s Future (2007), Liberty of Conscience: In Defense of America’s Tradition of Religious Equality (2008), From Disgust to Humanity: Sexual Orientation and Constitutional Law (2010), Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities (2010), Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach (2011). Her current book in progress is Political Emotions: Why Love Matters for Justice, which will be published by Harvard in 2013.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series, the Center for International Studies, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Southern Asia at Chicago, and the Seminary Co-op Bookstores. Reception and book signing to follow.
Free and open to the public. Click here to see the flier.
2012 Tetsuo Najita Distinguished Lecture in Japanese Studies:
A Structure of Deceit: The Japanese Nuclear Energy Program
Wednesday, October 10, 2012, 4:30 pm, Home Room
Prior to the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, Japan generated 30% of its electrical power from nuclear reactors and planned to increase that share to 40%. The 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused the failure at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power plan in the first ever nuclear emergency in Japan. Since then, public opinion has turned against nuclear energy and its potential in the country going forward.
The Tetsuo Najita Distinguished Lecture series was launched in 2007 by the Japan Studies Committee to honor the legacy of Tetsuo Najita, Robert S. Ingersoll Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of History and of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, and his contribution to the university during his long career.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series and the University of Chicago Committee on Japanese Studies.
Free and open to the public. Click here to see the flier.
Manifesting Ideas: A Chicago Ideas Week Affiliate Event
Thursday, October 11, 2012, 5:30 pm, Assembly Hall
“Everything begins with an idea.” - Early Nightengale
Ideas have the power to transform lives, communities, corporations, institutions & nations. Invaluable, “Ideas” take vision, purpose and action to manifest. This diverse group of speakers share insight on the power of an idea and what it takes to bring an idea to fruition.
Chicago Ideas Week (CIW) is about the sharing of ideas, inspiring action, and igniting change to positively impact our world. For one week each October, CIW brings together some of the world’s most outstanding speakers to present their ideas and inspire the innovations of tomorrow at 80+ sessions across the city of Chicago. CIW aims to be the platform for sharing big ideas and making big things happen.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series and Destiny Speakers Bureau.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door or at www.destinyspeaks.net. Free for University of Chicago students with ID. Click here to see the flier.
World Beyond the Headlines Series presents: Douglas Foster, Northwestern University
Wednesday, October 17, 2012, 6:00 pm, Assembly Hall
Recent works on South Africa have focused primarily on Nelson Mandela’s transcendent story. But Douglas Foster, a leading South Africa authority with early, unprecedented access to President Zuma and to the next generation in the Mandela family, traces the nation’s entire post-apartheid arc, from its celebrated beginnings under “Madiba” to Thabo Mbeki’s tumultuous rule to the ferocious battle between Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. Foster tells this story not only from the point of view of the emerging black elite but also, drawing on hundreds of rare interviews over a six-year period, from the perspectives of ordinary citizens, including an HIV-infected teenager living outside Johannesburg and a homeless orphan in Cape Town.
Douglas Foster is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, where he oversees the South African Journalism Residency Program. Foster's most recent major feature stories are “Jacob’s Ladder,” in the June 2009 Atlantic and “Letter from Johannesburg: The Trouble with Transformation,” in the September 2004 issue of Columbia Journalism Review. His most recent review in the Washington Post was “The Promise of South Africa,” published on Aug. 2, 2009.
Presented by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series, the Center for International Studies and the Seminary Coop Bookstores. Reception and book signing to follow.
Free and open to the public.
The Honorable Melanne Verveer, Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues
Monday, October 22, 2012, 4:00 p.m., Assembly Hall
Join the Global Health Initiative on Monday, October 22, 2012, to celebrate its inaugural Global Health Day and the launch of the University of Chicago Center for Global Health. Global Health Day will be an opportunity to bring the University of Chicago campus together to celebrate our ongoing commitment to global health.
This event will feature a keynote address from the Honorable Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues. GHI will also announce the winners of this year's student Global Health Photography Contest during the reception following the event.
President Barack Obama appointed Melanne Verveer as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. The President’s decision to create a position of Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues is unprecedented. In her capacity as director of the Department of State’s new office on Global Women’s Issues, Ambassador Verveer coordinates foreign policy issues and activities relating to the political, economic and social advancement of women around the world. She mobilizes concrete support for women’s rights and political and economic empowerment through initiatives and programs designed to increase women’s and girls’ access to education and health care, to combat violence against women and girls in all its forms, and to ensure that women's rights are fully integrated with human rights in the development of U.S. foreign policy.
Ambassador Verveer most recently served as Chair and Co-CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international nonprofit she co-founded. Vital Voices invests in emerging women leaders and works to expand women’s roles in generating economic opportunity, promoting political participation, and safeguarding human rights. Prior to her work with Vital Voices, Ambassador Verveer served as Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady in the Clinton Administration and was chief assistant to then-First Lady Hillary Clinton in all her wide-ranging international activities to advance women’s rights and further social development, democracy and peace-building initiatives. She also led the effort to establish the President’s Interagency Council on Women. Prior to her time in the White House, Ambassador Verveer served in a number of leadership roles in public policy organizations and as legislative staff.
Ambassador Verveer has a B.A. and M.A. from Georgetown University. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Women’s Foreign Policy Group, and numerous other organizations.
This event is cosponsored in part by the International House and the Center for International Studies Norman Wait Harris Memorial Fund.
This event is free and open to the public.
History, Fictions and the Politics of Justice
Thursday, October 25, 2012, 4:00 pm, Home Room
Saba Mahmood (UC Berkeley) and Mahmood Mamdani (Columbia) will each discuss their current projects and lead a discussion on the themes of religion, politics, history and justice, as they relate to their research.
Saba Mahmood, Associate Professor of Anthropology University of California, Berkeley Lecture, will discuss his paper "Azazeel and the Politics of Historical Fiction: Sectarian Dramas Ancient and Modern." The paper analyzes the recent debate and struggle that erupted over the publication of the prize winning novel Azazeel between Christians and Muslims in Egypt. Based on historical events in fourth century Alexandria, including the Nestorian controversy and the killing of the Greek mathematician Hypatia, the novel ignited fierce polemics about what it means to account for these events in the present. This paper tries to think through the relationship between fiction and history, and politics and religion, through the figural importance of the character Azazeel so central to all three monotheistic faiths.
Mahmood Mamdani, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University will lecture: “Beyond Nuremberg: The Historical Significance of the Post-Apartheid Transition in South Africa.” Nuremberg is the template through which we have come to define responsibility for mass violence in the post-Cold War period. Whether in the Balkans or in Rwanda or Congo, international criminal trials are the preferred response to extreme violence. The International Criminal Court claims to follow the precedent of Nuremberg. That precedent is that violence must be criminalized without exception, its perpetrators identified and tried in a court of law. Mamdani will offer a critique of the Nuremberg model from the vantage point of the political negotiations that led to the South African transition from apartheid and suggest an alternative way of thinking of mass violence, as political rather than criminal.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series, University of Chicago Department of Political Science, Nicholson Center for British Studies, Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory and the 3CT Generation Change collaborative.
Free and open to the public. Click here to see the flier.
Out of Eden: The Walk with Pulitzer Prize Winner Paul Salopek
Monday, October 29, 2012, 5:30 p.m., Assembly Hall
Early next year, journalist Paul Salopek will embark on a seven-year foot journey around the world that retraces the pathways of the first human migration out of Africa some 50,000 years ago. This slow journalism project, called "Out of Eden," will explore untold stories that most other reporters miss because they are moving too quickly. Toting a small laptop and a satellite phone in his rucksack, Salopek will report on the major issues of our day--poverty, conflict, climate change, local innovations--from street-level, living among the people he will cover from Ethiopia to Patagonia. Along the way, he hopes to reexamine the creative tenacity of our wandering ancestors--a lesson that may help us on our collective walk into a tough new century.
Join Paul Salopek for an engaging discussion detailing aspects of his upcoming journey and his inspiration for this project. Moderated by Jack Fuller, a Pulitzer Price-winning journalist and former editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, with opening remarks by Jon Sawyer, executive director of the Pulitzer Center.
Paul Salopek has lived and worked in the developing world for most of his life. Born in California, Salopek was raised in Mexico and for years made his living as a commercial fisherman in the Indian and Atlantic oceans. In his career as a foreign correspondent, he has covered dozens of wars, including conflicts in the Balkans, Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. His reporting has won most of the major print journalism honors in the United States, among them two Pulitzer Prizes; the National Press Club Award; the Overseas Press Club Award; the Daniel Pearl Award for Courage in Journalism; and journalism fellowships at Princeton and Harvard. He is known for his intensely physical form of immersive reporting. His work has appeared in National Geographic, the Chicago Tribune, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy and many other publications. He is currently finishing his first book, The Mule Diaries, which will be released by Random House in 2013. Salopek earned a B.A. in environmental biology from UC Santa Barbara.
Cosponsored by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series, The Center for International Studies, UChicago Careers in Journalism (UCIJ), the Program on the Global Environment, and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
Free and open to the public. Click here to see the poster, or view the video below:
When Islamists Rule: Economic Policies between Ideology and Pragmatism
Wednesday, November 7, 2012, 5:30 p.m., Assembly Hall
The 2012 Talat and Isabelle Othman lecture will feature Ibrahim Warde. Ibrahim Warde is Adjunct Professor of International Business at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the Associate Director of Business Programs at the Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies at Tufts University. He was named a Carnegie Scholar in 2007, in relation to his research on financial networks and practices in the Islamic world. Based on his research and recent books (Islamic Finance in the Global Economy, The Price of Fear: The Truth Behind the Financial War on Terror), his lecture, “When Islamists Rule: Economic Policies between Ideology and Pragmatism” will explore the role of Islamic finance in the global economy. Dr. Warde will also address the challenges facing newly ascendant Islamist parties in the wake of the Arab Spring considering the present moment against the evolution of Islamic finance from a historical and comparative perspective.
Warde completed his B.A. at Université Saint Joseph in Beirut, Lebanon, his business degree from Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC), France, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Warde’s books include Islamic Finance in the Global Economy, 2nd ed. (2010), and The Price of Fear: The Truth Behind the Financial War on Terror (2007). He is also a contributor to Le Monde Diplomatique.
This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Global Voices Lecture Program.
World AIDS Day Lecture, “An Intimate Evening with Sheryl Lee”
Saturday, November 17, 2012, 7:00 p.m., Assembly Hall
As part of the STI and HIV Intervention Network conference exploring the social determinants of HIV-infected minorities, the School of Social Service Administration and the I-House Global Voices Program present a one-woman show, written and performed by Sheryl Lee Ralph. In her moving performance “Sometimes I Cry,” Ms. Ralph breathes life into the true stories of women from different walks of life affected by HIV/AIDS. Inspired by the memory of the many friends Ms. Ralph lost to HIV/AIDS, this critically-acclaimed show has touched the hearts of audiences around the globe and earned her the first Red Ribbon Award at the UN for her unique use of the arts in HIV/AIDS activism. An intimate Q&A with Ms. Ralph will follow the performance.
For a list of sponsors and recommended advanced registration, please visit http://ssascholars.uchicago.edu/shine/event/intimate-evening-sheryl-lee-ralph.
This event is free and open to the public. Limited seating available. Doors open at 6 pm. Advanced seating will be held until 6:30 pm.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Program, STI/HIV Intervention Group, and the School of Social Service Administration.
After the Uprising: Governance and Activism in Post-Mubarak Egypt. A Lecture by Egyptian Presidential Candidate Abdelmoneim Abol Fotouh
Monday, November 26, 2012, 6 p.m.
Dr. Abdelmoneim Abul-Futooh was one of the leading Egyptian presidential candidates in the election held in June, which was the first democratic presidential election in Egypt. He has an M.D. and is a physician by training. He also has a Law degree and a Master's in Business Management. He has been President of the Arab Medical Association since 2004. Dr. Abul-Futooh has been a well known student and civic leader since the 1970s. He was outspoken against dictatorship and corruption during the Mubarak regime, and consequently was imprisoned for several years because of his political opposition. Dr. Abul-Futooh was also a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and served in a leadership position within the group for over two decades. He resigned from the group after announcing his candidacy for president shortly after the fall of the Mubarak regime in early 2011. He has just founded a political party called Misr Al Qawiyya (A Strong Egypt). Dr. Abul-Futooh is considered a liberal Islamic leader, and is well known for his moderate positions on the most contentious issues facing Egyptian society, such as the role of Islam as well women and minorities in Egyptian society. He is considered by many of his supporters as a bridge between Islamist, liberal, and leftist parties in Egypt.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series, the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture, the Department of Political Science, the Center for International Studies, and the Human Rights Program.
This event is free and open to the public.
International House Author Night with Nassim Taleb speaking on his latest book Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder
Friday, November 30, 2012, 6:00 p.m., Assembly Hall
Nassim Nicholas Taleb is considered by many to be the premier specialist of rare events ("black swans") and has advised heads of states, top financial institutions, and various central banks on tail risks. He is the author of Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, and The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical & Practical Aphorisms, which have been translated into over 32 languages.
Currently, he is a Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at New York University Polytechnic Institute and holds an academic position at the London Business School. Nassim is also a Distinguished Research Scholar at the Oxford University and a Distinguished Scientific Advisor for Universa Investments LLP.
Being a veteran options trader, Nassim has held senior trading and managing director positions at various investment banks, including BNP-Paribas, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, UBS, Credit-Suisse First Boston, Bankers Trust, CIBC, Banque Indosuez and others.
He holds a PhD, MS and BS degrees from the University of Paris, and an MBA from Warton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
In The Black Swan Taleb outlined a problem, and in Antifragile he offers a definitive solution: how to gain from disorder and chaos while being protected from fragilities and adverse events. For what Taleb calls the “antifragile” is actually beyond the robust, because it benefits from shocks, uncertainty, and stressors, just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension. The antifragile needs disorder in order to survive and flourish.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Program and the Seminary Coop Bookstores.
Free and open to the public. Click here to view the poster.
“Ending the Nuclear Age” Conference
Saturday, December 1, 2012, 8:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Assembly Hall
On December 2, 1942, an experiment at the University of Chicago led by Enrico Fermi produced the world’s first human-made sustained chain reaction, which culminated in the development of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The “Ending the Nuclear Age” conference marks the 70th Anniversary of this discovery and the birth of the Nuclear Age, addressing the continued threat of nuclear weapons and their wastes. Anti-nuclear activist Kay Drey of Beyond Nuclear will open the discussion with a plenary introduction, followed by the panel “Where are the People” with moderator and UofC Professor Emeritus Dr. Norma Field. Dr Arjun Makhijani of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research will then explore the possibility of a nuclear-free future, followed by a lunch presentation “Fukushima, the never ending story” with Akiko Yoshida, Friends of the Earth, Tokyo. The first part of the conference will conclude with two panels focusing specifically on nuclear power and weapons with moderator Kenette Benedit of Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
Presented by the I-House Global Voices Program, Nuclear Energy Information Service, Beyond Nuclear, and the UChicago Climate Action Network.
This event is free and open to the public. Click here to see the poster.
Dr. Norma Field on “Where are the People?” and Screening of “The Atomic States of America”
Saturday, December 1, 2012, 7:00 p.m., Assembly Hall
On December 2, 1942, an experiment at the University of Chicago led by Enrico Fermi produced the world’s first human-made sustained chain reaction, which culminated in the development of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The “Ending the Nuclear Age” conference marks the 70th Anniversary of this discovery and the birth of the Nuclear Age, addressing the continued threat of nuclear weapons and their wastes. Anti-nuclear activist Kay Drey of Beyond Nuclear will open the discussion with a plenary introduction, followed by the panel “Where are the People” with moderator and UofC Professor Emeritus Dr. Norma Field. Dr Arjun Makhijani of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research will then explore the possibility of a nuclear-free future, followed by a lunch presentation “Fukushima, the never ending story” with Akiko Yoshida, Friends of the Earth, Tokyo. The first part of the conference will conclude with two panels focusing specifically on nuclear power and weapons with moderator Kenette Benedit of Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
Presented by the I-House Global Voices Program, Nuclear Energy Information Service, Beyond Nuclear, and the UChicago Climate Action Network.
This event is free and open to the public.
Radical Interpretations of the Crisis: A Roundtable Discussion
Monday, December 3, 6:00 p.m. Assembly Hall
The present moment is arguable one of unprecedented confusion on the Left. The emergence of many new theoretical perspectives on Marxism, anarchism, and the left generally seem rather than signs of newfound vitality, the intellectual reflux of its final disintegration in history.
In this opaque historical moment, University of Chicago RSO Platypus seeks to raise some basic questions: Do we live in a crisis of capitalism today and, if so, of what sort? Why do seemingly sophisticated leftist understandings of the world appear unable to assist in the task of changing it? Conversely, can the world be though intelligible without our capacity to self-consciously transform it through practice? Can Marxism survive as an economic or social theory without politics? Addressing these important questions will be David Schweickhart and David Ruccio.
David Schweickart, Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University, is a leading theorist of what has come to be called “Economic Democracy,” an alternative to capitalism, a form of market socialism featuring workplace democracy and social control of investment.
David Ruccio, Professor of Economics at Notre Dame University, is a member of the editorial board and past editor of "Rethinking Marxism: A Journal of Economics, Culture, and Society," and a frequent speaker in interdisciplinary programs and conferences around the world.
Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Program and the University of Chicago Platypus Affiliated Society.
Free and open to the public.