Fall Term: Security

The preeminent issue in international affairs is conflict. In the fall Scholars will have the opportunity to explore some of the profound and powerful issues relating to war and peace. A few highlights include:

*An off-campus retreat that includes a global conflict simulation run by US State Department war games expert.

*A lecture & dinner discussion with Anne-Marie Slaughter, Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University and former Director of Policy Planning for the United States Department of State.  She appears regularly on CNN, the BBC, NPR, and PBS, lectures widely, and has served on boards of organizations ranging from the Council of Foreign Relations and the New America Foundation to the McDonald's Corporation and the Citigroup Economic and Political Strategies Advisory Group. Foreign Policy magazine named her to their annual list of the Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2009 and 2010.  Among her books are A NEW WORLD ORDER (2004) and THE IDEA THAT IS AMERICA: KEEPING FAITH WITH OUR VALUES IN A DANGEROUS WORLD (2007). 

Winter Term: Environment

Melting ice is raising temperatures, flooding communities, opening Arctic waterways, encouraging mineral extraction, and challenging the lifestyles and rights of indigenous peoples. In the winter, Scholars will consider these, and other, issues related to climate change and its effect on the environment.   Highlights of winter term programs include:

*Special access tour of ice-core research labs and an examination of the science behind the issue of climate change

*Shared read and discussion with the author

*Lecture and discussion with Aqqaluk Lynge,  former member of the Parliament of Greenland and President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council.  An indigenous Kalaallit, Lynge is a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which is an advisory body to the U.N.'s Economic and Social Council. The Forum examines indigenous issues such as economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights.

Spring Term: Global Health

The challenges in global health are complex. Solutions to worldwide health problems, therefore, require a variety of expertise. Scholars will spend spring term exploring the interconnectedness of global health, poverty, education, and human rights. Just a few highlights of spring events include:

*Game night with Tilt Factor Lab. Scholars will meet global health game designers to learn how this interactive medium can be used to educate individuals and communities about important public health issues.

*Attendance at the annual Global Health & Innovation Conference at Yale featuring keynotes by: Sasha Dichter, Director of Business Development, Acumen Fund, Seth Goldman, President and TeaEO of Honest Tea, Jeffrey Sachs, PhD, Director of Earth Institute at Columbia University; Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, Professor of Health Policy and Management, Columbia University; Special Advisor to Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, & Sonia Ehrlich Sachs, MD, MPH, Director of Health, Millennium Village Project, Earth Institute at Columbia University