When: Tuesday, January 26th @ 12:00pm Where: Online via Zoom Please register to receive a link to join the online program live. Join us online for a program with James Zogby, who will speak to us on "The Middle East's Tumultuous Decade: The World Biden Inherits" ![]() The Tumultuous Decade brings together nearly a decade of Zogby Research Services (ZRS) public opinion polling in Arab countries, Turkey, and Iran-a period of great tumult across the Middle East and North Africa. Through polling, ZRS gives people a chance to speak for themselves-people who are often "spoken for" by governments or elites who think they know what the "local" people think, or even what they should think. The danger of not listening is most acutely illustrated by the series of near-blind decisions that preceded and accompanied the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, but also rears its head in international decisions and actions in many Middle Eastern arenas, from the Israel-Palestine conflict to the Russian intervention in Syria. International policymaking toward the Middle East, while it considers matters of energy, security, trade, and the like, must always keep in view-front and center-the opinions and priorities of the people concerned. James Zogby co-founded the Arab American Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based organization which serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community, in 1985 and continues to serve as its president. He is Director of Zogby Research Services, a firm that has conducted groundbreaking surveys across the Middle East. In September 2013, President Obama appointed Dr. Zogby to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. He was reappointed to a second term in 2015 and concluded his service in May 2017. He was twice elected Vice Chair. He writes a weekly column published in 12 countries. He is featured frequently on national and international media as an expert on Middle East affairs. In 2010, Zogby published the highly-acclaimed book, Arab Voices. His 2013 e-books, Looking at Iran: The Rise and Fall of Iran in Arab Public Opinion and 20 Years After Oslo, are drawn from his extensive polling across the Middle East with Zogby Research Services. Dr. Zogby has also been personally active in U.S. politics for many years; in 1984 and 1988 he served as Deputy Campaign manager and Senior Advisor to the Jesse Jackson Presidential campaign. In 1988, he led the first ever debate on Palestinian statehood at that year's Democratic convention in Atlanta, GA. For the past 3 decades, he has served in leadership roles in the Democratic National Committee. In 1995, Democratic National Committee Chairman Don Fowler appointed Zogby as co-convener of the National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee (NDECC), an umbrella organization of Democratic Party leaders of European and Mediterranean descent. In 1975, Dr. Zogby received his doctorate from Temple University's Department of Religion, where he studied under the Islamic scholar Dr. Ismail al-Faruqi. He was a National Endowment for the Humanities Post-Doctoral Fellow at Princeton University in 1976 and is the recipient of a number of honorary doctorate degrees.
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When: Wednesday, December 9th @ 12:15pm Where: Online via Zoom Please register to receive a link to join the online program live. Join us online for a program from Thomas Countryman, who will speak to us on "13,000 Ways to Die: The Risk of Nuclear War Today" ![]() Thomas Countryman is the chair of the Arms Control Association board of directors, a position he has held since October 2017. Mr. Countryman was the acting undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. He served for 35 years as a member of the U.S. Foreign Service until January 2017, achieving the rank of minister-counselor, and was appointed in October 2016 to the position of acting undersecretary of state. He simultaneously served as assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, a position he had held since September 2011. When: Tuesday, December 1st @ 12:15pm Where: Online via Zoom Please register to receive a link to join the online program live. Join us online for a CIVIC co-sponsored program from Ambassador Emily Haber, who will speak to us on "German-American Relations After the Elections" ![]() Emily Haber has been German Ambassador to the United States since June 2018. Prior to her transfer to Washington, DC, she served in various leadership functions at the Foreign Office in Berlin. In 2009, she was appointed Political Director and, in 2011, State Secretary, the first woman to hold either post. Thereafter, she was deployed to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, serving as State Secretary in charge of homeland security and migration policy from 2014 until 2018. Emily Haber holds a PhD in history and is married to former diplomat Hansjörg Haber. In next weeks program... The United States and Germany share a long and steadfast friendship. Both countries are allies within NATO and share fundamental values as well as common interests. Recently, disputes over defense spending, tariffs and sanctions have put a strain on this partnership. At the same time, the major global challenges of our time, including the COVID-19 pandemic, global warming and international terrorism require the United States, Germany, and Europe to stand together. Please join German Ambassador Emily Haber for a discussion on the future of this important partnership following the recent US presidential elections. When: Wednesday, November 18th @ 12:15pm Where: Online via Zoom Please register to receive a link to join the online program live. Join us online for a program from Ted Powers, who will speak to us on "COVID-19, Austerity, and State Violence in South Africa" ![]() Following COVID-19’s arrival, the South African government has implemented a restrictive state-led response to the pandemic, limiting infections along with the survival strategies of those at greatest risk of illness. While the country’s aggressive tactics towards the epidemic have been lauded by some, the public health response has taken a violent turn towards the country’s historically marginalized black population. How are we to make sense of the ruling African National Congress’ decision to utilize the South African state’s capacity for violence towards poor and working-class black urban communities? How can this disease response be contextualized within the broader arc of South African history? When: Thursday, November 12th @ 12:15pm Where: Online via Zoom Please register to receive a link to join the online program live. Join us online for a program from Mark Kende, who will speak to us on "The Truth About the South African Truth & Reconciliation Commission" ![]() Mark Kende is a Professor of Law, the James Madison Chair in Constitutional Law, and Director of the Congressionally endowed Drake Constitutional Law Center. Kende earned his BA cum laude with Honors in Philosophy from Yale University, and his JD from the University of Chicago Law School where he was a member of the Law Review. Before entering academia, he clerked for a federal district judge and litigated employment, civil rights, and constitutional law cases at a Chicago law firm. He has co-taught constitutional law classes with two current U.S. Supreme Court Justices. Kende has previously taught at Notre Dame Law School and the University of Montana Law School. He was Teacher of the Year at Montana in 2002-2003. He has served as a Senior Fulbright Scholar and Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, and as a Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Paris Law Faculty II – Pantheon. He has lectured at Oxford University and in French at the University of Paris Institute for Comparative Studies, as well as at universities in Hong Kong, Spain, and the former Soviet Union. In 2003, he served as chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Africa, and he was the Constitutional Law Section Chair in 2008. He is the author of several books including Constitutional Rights in Two Worlds: South Africa and the United States (Cambridge 2009), and Comparative Constitutional Law: South Africa in a Global Context (Carolina 2015). He has also published law journal articles in Constitutional Commentary, the Notre Dame Law Journal, the Hastings Law Journal, and journals at Harvard Law School and the Univ. Penn. Law School. When: Wednesday, October 28th @ 12:15pm Where: Online via Zoom Please register to receive a link to join the online program live. Join us online for a program from Nicholas Grossman, who will speak to us on "Russian Electoral Interference and 21st Century Information Warfare" ![]() Nicholas Grossman is a Teaching Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Illinois, the author of Drones and Terrorism, and the Senior Editor of Arc Digital. You can also find him on Twitter @ngrossman81. When: Thursday, October 22nd @ 12:15pm Where: Online via Zoom Please register to receive a link to join the online program live. Join us online for a program from Elizabeth Bernal and Nicole Novak, who will speak to us on "Promoting Health and Wellbeing and Reducing inequalities in Iowa: Immigration Policy, Stress, and Community Health" ![]() Elizabeth Bernal lives in Iowa City, where she is involved with multiple community organizations that promote inclusion and wellbeing for immigrant communities. Elizabeth is a founding member of the board of directors of the Eastern Iowa Community Bond Project, a local community organization that pays immigration bond for incarcerated Iowa immigrants who cannot afford their immigration bond. Elizabeth also serves on the board of the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa, and last October she was awarded the Rick Graf award from the Iowa City Human Rights Commission. ![]() Nicole Novak is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health at the University of Iowa College of Public Health. She grew up in Iowa and first became passionate about public health while working as a health aide at mobile clinics for migrant agricultural workers. In her research at the College of Public Health Nicole uses epidemiologic and community-engaged research methods to examine historical, structural and policy influences on the health of immigrants, Latinos and rural residents. In next weeks presentation... As we mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, we will hear from Iowans about efforts to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals -- including health and equity -- at the community level. Elizabeth Bernal and Nicole Novak will discuss the ways that immigration policy and enforcement affect the health of immigrant communities, particularly Latino communities, in Iowa. They will share research evidence as well as examples of local efforts to promote inclusion and wellbeing for Iowa immigrants and their families. When: Thursday, October 15th @ 12:15pm Where: Online via Zoom Please register to receive a link to join the online program live. Join us online for a program from Chad Hart, who will speak to us on "COVID-19 and Global Agriculture" ![]() Chad Hart is an extension economist and associate professor of economics at Iowa State University. Chad is a native of southwest Missouri, growing up on a rural homestead near Stark City, Missouri. He received his Ph.D. in economics and statistics in 1999 from Iowa State University. His work has concentrated on crop marketing, crop insurance, international trade agreements, and bioenergy policy. Chad is also a partner in FarmRisk, an Iowa firm that develops revenue insurance products for agriculture. When: Wednesday, October 7th @ 12:15pm Where: Online via Zoom Please register to receive a link to join the online program live. Join us online for a program from Craig Just, who will speak to us on "Community-based Drinking Water Improvements in La Sirena, Nicaragua" ![]() Dr. Craig Just has served the College of Engineering at the University of Iowa since 1993. He earned a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Northern Iowa in 1994 and a Ph.D. in environmental engineering & science from the University of Iowa in 2001. He is an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and a research engineer at IIHR – Hydroscience & Engineering. Dr. Just teaches Principles of Environmental Engineering, Fundamentals of Environmental Sampling & Analysis, Water Quality & Flow, and Community-Centered Problem-Solving & Design. Dr. Just has active research in Nicaragua and India focused on flooding and water quality. When: Tuesday, September 29th @ 12:15pm Where: Online via Zoom Please register to receive a link to join the online program live. Join us online for a program from Erica Frantz, who will speak to us on "How Today's Democracies Fall Apart" ![]() Erica Frantz is an associate professor of Political Science at Michigan State University. From 2011 to 2015, she was an assistant professor in Political Science at Bridgewater State University, and from 2008 to 2011 she worked as an analyst at the Institute for Physical Sciences. She specializes in authoritarian politics, democratization, conflict, and development. She has published seven books on dictatorships and development, including Authoritarianism: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2018). |
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