May 5, 2008
In this issue
- Coming up at the Mershon Center
- Other events
- Mershon Center announces study abroad scholarship
- Denman research forum set for May 14
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Friday, May 9, 2008
Maud Mandel
"'Each Algerian Must Feel Palestinian': 1967, 1968, and Muslim/Jewish Relations in France"
Noon, Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.
Maud Mandel is Associate Professor of History and Judaic Studies at Brown University. She specializes in modern Jewish history and has focused particularly on the 20th-century French Jewish experience. Mandel is author of In the Aftermath of Genocide: Armenians and Jews in Twentieth Century France (Duke University Press, 2003). Her current book project, Beyond Antisemitism: Muslims and Jews in Contemporary France, has been awarded an advance contract by Princeton University Press. Her most recent article, "Transnationalism and its Discontents during the 1948 Arab/Israeli War," appeared in Diaspora. Read more and RSVP
Monday, May 12, 2008
Layna Mosley
"Risk, Uncertainty, and Autonomy: Financial Market Constraints in Developing Nations"
3:30 p.m., Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.
Layna Mosley is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research examines the influence of global capital markets on government policymaking; the politics of international financial regulation; and the relationship between multinational production and labor rights in developing nations. Mosley is author of Global Capital and National Governments (Cambridge, 2003). Her articles have appeared in International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, and Comparative Political Studies, among others. This talk is part of the Mershon Center's Globalization, Institutions and Economic Security (GIES) Workshop. Read more and RSVP
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Anthony Cordesman
"The Changing Nature of the Afghan-Pakistan War"
Noon, Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.
Anthony Cordesman holds the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He is also a national security analyst for ABC News. His analysis has been featured prominently during the Gulf War, Desert Fox, the conflict in Kosovo, the fighting in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War. During his time at CSIS, Cordesman has been director of the Gulf Net Assessment Project and the Gulf in Transition Study, and principal investigator of the Homeland Defense Project. He also directed the Middle East Net Assessment Project and was co-director of the Strategic Energy Initiative. Cordesman formerly served as national security assistant to Sen. John McCain, as director of intelligence assessment in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and as civilian assistant to the deputy secretary of defense. Cordesman is author of more than 50 books, including a four-volume series on the lessons of modern war. Read more and RSVP
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Amaney Jamal
"Barriers to Democracy: The Other Side of Social Capital in Palestine and the Arab World"
Noon, Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.
Amaney Jamal is Assistant Professor of Politics at Princeton University. Her current research focuses on democratization and the politics of civic engagement in the Arab World, as well as the study of Muslim and Arab Americans in the United States. Jamal has two books: Barriers to Democracy: The Other Side of Social Capital in Palestine and the Arab World (Princeton, 2007), which explores the role of civic associations in promoting democratic effects in the Arab World; and Race and Arab Americans after 9-11: From Invisible Citizens to Visible Subjects (Syracuse, 2007), which looks at the patterns and influences of Arab American racialization processes. Jamal is currently writing a third book on patterns of citizenship in the Arab world. Read more and RSVP
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson
"Why Afghans Are Losing Faith in the Post-Taliban Government"
Noon, Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.
Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is the chief for NPR's bureau in Afghanistan. She covers stories that give listeners a better sense of life inside Afghanistan, from the increase in suicides among women in a tribal society that sees them as second class citizens, to the growing interference of Iran and Pakistan in Afghan affairs, and the impact of Western policies in the region. Her reports can be heard on NPR's award-winning programs including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. Read more and RSVP
Friday, May 23, 2008
Nita Rudra
"Have Governments Gone Too Far?""
3:30 p.m., Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.
Nita Rudra is Assistant Professor of International Affairs at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at University of Pittsburgh. Her teaching and research interests include international political economy, politics of welfare in developing countries, globalization studies, comparative politics, and labor in developing countries. Rudra is author of several articles in such publications as Journal of Politics, Comparative Political Studies, American Journal of Political Science, Studies in Comparative International Development, International Studies Quarterly, and International Organization. She also has a book forthcoming from Cambridge University Press called Who Really Gets Hurt? Globalization and the Race to the Bottom in Developing Countries. This talk is part of the Mershon Center's Globalization, Institutions and Economic Security (GIES) Workshop. Read more and RSVP
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Joseph Slaughter
"Human Rights, Inc.: The World Novel, Narrative Form, and International Law"
4 p.m., 311 Denney Hall, 164 W. 17th Ave.
Sponsored by the Department of English
Joseph Slaughter, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, will speak from his new book Human Rights, Inc.: The World Novel, Narrative Form, and International Law. Slaughter argues that the 20th century rise of the "world novel" and international human rights law are related. They share a vocabulary and a deep narrative grammar for imagining what sociologists, early theorists of the novel, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have called "the free and full development of the human personality." International law projects an image of the human being whose life story corresponds to the classic European Bildungsroman, which gives literary form to the moral and ideological claims of human rights. Human Rights, Inc. is the recipient of this year's Rene Wellek Prize from the American Comparative Literature Association for an outstanding work in the field of literary and cultural theory. To attend, contact Wendy Hesford at hesford.1.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Salih Memecan
"Drawing on Politics"
Noon, Athletic Club of Columbus, 136 E. Broad St.
Cost: $25 members, $30 non-members, $15 students, $225 corporate table
Sponsored by the Columbus Council on World Affairs
Join us as we discuss the power of cartoons and their political, social and cultural statements with famed artist Salih Memecan. Memecan is the most prominent cartoonist and political satirist in Turkey. He will analyze Turkey’s internal political debate and relationship with the world via 20 of his most powerful cartoons. His front page "Bizimcity" and back page "Sizinkiller" strips are published daily in Sabah, a leading national Turkish newspaper. The animated version of "Bizimcity" takes place on a prime-time news program on ATV, the most popular national TV channel in Turkey. Memecan's editorial cartoons have appeared in major U.S. newspapers including The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Baltimore Sun; and his illustrations are regularly submitted to The New York Times. To attend, please register online or call Maria Bowman at (614) 229-4599, x402.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Kathryn D. Sullivan
"Generative Leadership: Shaping New Futures for Today's Schools"
5:30 p.m., Saxbe Auditorium, Drinko Hall, 55 W. 12th Ave.
Sponsored by the John Glenn School of Public Affairs
Kathryn D. Sullivan, Director of the Battelle Center for Mathematics & Science Education Policy at the John Glenn School of Public Affairs, will discuss the book Generative Leadership: Shaping New Futures for Today’s Schools at the 2008 Deborah Jones Merritt BookMarks Lecture. The book, by Sullivan with Karl J. Klimek and Elsie Ritzenhein, highlights a new concept of leadership that taps into an organization’s collective intelligence to produce effective solutions for today's educational needs. In addition to a 13-year career as an astronaut with NASA, Sullivan served as an oceanography officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve and was chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. After leaving NASA, Sullivan served as President and CEO of the COSI Columbus. This lecture is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. Please register online or call (614) 688-3206, ext. 3, by May 5, 2008.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
International Studies: Springing into its 65th Year
3 p.m., Reception, West Lawn of University Hall, 17th and Neil Ave.
3:30 p.m., Keynote Address, 100 Independence Hall, 1923 Neil Ave.
John Mueller, Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies, and author of Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them (Free Press, 2006), will speak on "Trends in International Relations." Mueller will recount and evaluate changes in international politics and foreign policy since 1943, including the aftermath of World War II, the demise of colonialism and the idea of conquest, the Cold War's rise and eventual evaporation, the decline in international and civil war, the rise of democracy and capitalism, and the growth in wealth and life expectancy. Welcoming remarks by Richard Sisson, former provost and interim president of Ohio State.
The Mershon Center for International Security Studies has established the Ralph D. Mershon Study Abroad Scholarship to support undergraduates who wish to enhance their education by studying in a foreign country.
Students are encouraged to take foreign language courses, especially those deemed critical for national security, such as Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, Farsi, and others. Priority will be given to students who are preparing for a career related to international security studies.
Applications will be evaluated by an interdisciplinary review committee that will make recommendations to the director of the Mershon Center. As many as 10 scholarships of up to $2,000 each will be awarded. The deadline for receiving applications is June 1, 2008.
For more information and application instructions, visit the Mershon Center website at http://mershoncenter.osu.edu.
Students with questions about the scholarship may contact Melanie Mann, Grants and Fellowships Coordinator, at mann.281@osu.edu or 688-5944.
The Denman Undergraduate Research Forum, an annual event that provides Ohio State students an opportunity to showcase their research projects, will take place this year on Wednesday, May 14, from noon to 3 p.m. at the RPAC, 337 W. 17th Ave.
The event brings together some of the best and brightest undergraduates on campus, showing off top-level research that is usually reserved for graduate study. Students enrolled in any undergraduate degree program at The Ohio State University are invited to participate, provided they are engaged in supervised research projects.
More than 400 students will display presentations outlining their research projects. Among those advised by Mershon associates are:
• Katherine Munyan, "Capability Challenges: Women’s Development in Honduras" (Advisor: Irfan Nooruddin)
• Benjamin Childers, "The Effects of Nationalist Movements on Economic Growth in Post-Colonial African Countries" (Advisor: Irfan Nooruddin)
• Nicholas Jordan, "Missing in Education: Factors Contributing to the Absence of Social Movement Activity" (Advisors: J. Craig Jenkins, Edward Crenshaw)
• Hannah Pechan, "The Adverse Effects of Microfinance on Gender Equality in Rwanda and Bangladesh" (Advisor: Jennifer Mitzen)
• Suzanne Wagner, "Understanding Complexity in Conflict" (Advisor: John Mueller)
• Ashanthi De Silva, "Defining a New Rentier State and Rentier Status" (Advisors: Katherine Meyer, J. Craig Jenkins)
• Ramzy Mardini, "Foreign Policy Modeling and Domestic Power Dynamics: An Iranian Case Study" (Advisor: Randall Schweller)
• Erin Lyons, "The Implications of Sarbanes-Oxley on U.S. Foreign Relations" (Advisors: Anthony Mughan, Richard Dietrich)
• Jillian Pearsall, "The Social Dimension of Accountability in Mexico: The Case of Lydia" (Advisors: Sara Schatz, Anthony Mughan)
A panel of university and corporate judges will review the posters or other media and assess points based on clarity, knowledge of subject matter, and poise in answering questions. Cash awards will be given to winners in each category.
For more information contact uro@osu.edu or go to http://denman.osu.edu.
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