​When: ​Friday, February 25th, 2022 @ 12pm - 1:00pm
Where: Online via zoom
Speakers: Kirsten E. Kumpf Baele & Waltraud Maierhofer

Waltraud Maierhofer (Dr. phil., equivalent to Ph. D. Regensburg, Germany 1988) is professor of German and also in the Global Health Studies Program at the University of Iowa. She loves to get students excited about another culture, learn what we have in common and what differentiates us, and explore human nature through narratives of human striving and accomplishments in its diverse forms. Her research and teaching interests include German literature and culture from the eighteenth century to the present. She is especially interested in representations of health and Human Rights issues (contraception, abortion, disabilities), in intersections of historiography and fiction, ego-documents and biography, but also book illustrations and text–image relations, and she has edited several historical documents and translations including nineteenth-century illustrations of the Reynard-the-Fox epic and Lion Feuchtwanger’s 1948 play The Devil in Boston about the Salem witchcraft trials. A translation of the novel The Child Witches of Lucerne and Buchau by Swiss author Eveline Hasler is forthcoming with Lehigh University Press.

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My name is Hannah Gorsline, and I am a senior at the University of Iowa studying Marketing, with a minor in Rhetoric and an International Business Certificate. I am involved in various student organizations on campus, including Delta Sigma Pi, the Professional Business Fraternity, Women in Business, and the Marketing Institute. I also serve as a Senator within Tippie Senate, alongside a dozen other Tippie students. I am passionate about finding ways to increase my cultural intelligence and am very grateful for the opportunity to share our findings from our podcast in Professor Johnson's course. ​

My name is Allie Zucker and I am a Marketing Management major at the University of Iowa with a physical activity and nutrition science minor as well as an international business certificate. I am also involved in multiple organizations on campus such as Women in Business, American Marketing Association, and Marketing Institute. I have a love for traveling and enjoyed learning how to enhance my cultural intelligence this past semester! ​

Americans born since 1997 are known as Generation Z (Zoomers). They grew up as part of the most racially and ethnically diverse population in U.S. history and are the most digitally capable generation. They turned out to vote in in record numbers in 2020 and comprise 10% of the American electorate yet they often feel their views on critical issues such as global climate change are not taken seriously enough by political leaders. This panel comprised of different generations of experts, including two university students, will discuss how Gen Z differs from previous generations regarding their views on international issues and American foreign policy and how those differences will shape public policy in the future. 
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Dr. Brian Lai is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Iowa. His research and teaching are on US foreign policy, public opinion on US foreign policy issues, military alliances, and terrorism. 

Dr. Michael D. Hais is retired as Vice President, Entertainment Research at communications research and consulting firm, Frank N. Magid Associates. While with Magid, Mike handled both quantitative and qualitative research in 48 states and a dozen foreign countries primarily, but not exclusively, focusing on television news and entertainment programming. 
​Prior to joining Magid in 1983, Mike was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Detroit, where he taught graduate and undergraduate courses in American government and political institutions, the legislative process, the U.S. presidency, and political behavior. He also conducted political polls for the Michigan Democratic Party, a number of candidates and office holders including Governor James Blanchard and U.S. Senator Carl Levin as well as media outlets such as the Detroit Free Press and the Booth newspaper chain.
Mike earned a B.A. with honors from the University of Iowa (1965), an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin—Madison (1967), and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland (1973), where he was the first student in the department’s history to pass his comprehensive exams with distinction. His doctoral dissertation focused on American political party realignments.
Since retiring from Magid in 2006, Mike has co-authored three books on American generational change and its impact on society and politics—Millennial Makeover (2008), named a New York Times favorite book, Millennial Momentum (2011), and Millennial Majority (2013) as well as Healing American Democracy (2018), that focused on defending and preserving the constitutional order in the United States.
Mike now resides with his wife, Reena, within walking distance of the Rose Bowl Parade route in Pasadena, California where he hopes to watch the University of Iowa marching band on a future New Year’s Day.

​Amelia Thoreson is a senior from Eden Prairie, Minnesota. She is pursuing bachelors degrees in Spanish and International Relations on the Conflict and Foreign Policy track with a minor in Latino/a/x Studies. Her research interests include civil conflict mediation, peace agreement implementation, and gender issues as related to civil conflict. Amelia interned virtually with the U.S. Department of State's Embassy in Quito, Ecuador during the summer of 2021 and she is currently a virtual intern with the U.S. Mission to the United Nations Human Rights Council. She plans to earn a graduate degree in International Affairs before pursuing a career in the Foreign Service. 

Amna Haider is a senior from Omaha, Nebraska. She is studying for B.A. degrees in Philosophy and International Relations (on the Conflict and Foreign Policy track), and a Certificate in Human Rights. Amna's involvements with the UI Department of Political Science spans from serving as a Resident Assistant for the Political Matters Living Learning Community, acting as a peer mentor for the department's first-year students, and working as a research assistant for Dr. Menninga's research on cooperation in civil wars. Amna also interns with ICFRC and is an undergraduate representative for both the UI Lecture Committee and Center for Human Rights Advisory Board. Other campus involvements include being an Honors Writing Fellow, President of the Walk It Out Multicultural Fashion Show, and the founder/President of the new global peace activism student organization called Peace by Peace. Upon graduation, Amna hopes to attend graduate school and later work for an international governmental organization focused on international law, security, and human rights.

We invite you to join us for a discussion with three University of Iowa Mandela Washington Fellow Graduates: Valeria Adzo Adzatia, Edgar Munatsi, and Sandra Ejang. This Iowa City Foreign Relations Council program will feature a panel discussion, moderated by Dimy Doresca, Director of the International Business Institute at the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business.
 
These three young entrepreneurs are eager to share with you how their ventures have progressed since they left Iowa City. In addition to discussing their successes, the discussion will include conversation around the current health, political, and economic contexts within their respective countries.  

The U.S. State Department's Mandela Washington Fellowship, started in 2014 as part of the Young African Leaders Initiative created by President Obama, empowers young people from Sub-Saharan Africa through academic coursework, leadership training, and networking. Each year the Fellowship provides 1,000 young ambassadors with the opportunity to hone their skills at U.S. higher education institutions. Over the years, the Iowa delegations of Fellows spend six weeks in Iowa taking entrepreneurial classes and touring the state.
 
Each year ICFRC hosts a program featuring the Mandela Washington Fellows visiting the University of Iowa. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are bringing you a virtual discussion from three former fellows. You won't want to miss this new twist on our annual Mandela Washington Fellowship spotlight!

Thank you to all of our summer program attendees!

ICFRC will return on Thursday, August 24 with a lecture entitled “Health Care– Lessons from Abroad” by U of Iowa Professor Peter Damiano.

In the meantime, are you a U of Iowa student interested in helping ICFRC put together weekly luncheon lectures on international issues? ICFRC will be losing several key interns after the 2017-2018 school year and we are more than interested in taking on fresh talent ASAP!​