The Kozmetsky Center seeks to deepen understanding of the complex
challenges of an increasingly integrated world community—
Providing a Forum for Analysis & Dialogue on Critical Global Issues Fostering Educational & Professional Networks Among the St. Edward's University Community, Austin & the World
Featuring Contributions of Leading Academic Experts & Practitioners
Events, Programs, Conferences
Podcasts, Interviews
Global Student Seminar Series
Recent Visiting Scholars and Experts
Global Conference Sessions
Director's Speaking, Interviews
Publication Briefing Series
Educational and Professional Opportunities, Overseas Study and Internships
Supporting the mission of St. Edwards University in promoting global engagement & understanding, peace & social justice—
SPRING 2022 PREVIEW OF EVENTS
The Kozmetsky Center looks forward to launching a new lecture series beginning in Spring 2022 focused on developments in space. The series will feature expert lectures on new developments in astrophysics and other interdisciplinary research projects focused on private investment in space and the shift from government to commercial space exploration, critical infrastructure and space, cyber vulnerability, relationships between climate change and space, national competition and cooperation in space and exploring implications concerning the potential existence of life on other planets. We are delighted to welcome our first speaker in the new series Dr. Nestor Espinoza, Astronomer currently affiliated at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore Maryland. Dr. Espinoza's lecture entitled "Our Place in the Universe: New Directions in Exploring and Understanding Exoplanets" is scheduled for Tuesday February 22 at 12:00 noon (Central Time/Austin, USA). Register for the lecture event here: https://stedwards.zoom.us/s/99347281288
We will host a research and forthcoming book talk with SEU Assistant Professor of Global Studies, Dr. Angela Ju on Monday March 7, 12:00 noon (Central Time). Zoom Meeting link: https://stedwards.zoom.us/j/98486665538?pwd=aEsxWENEV3ZhN05zNHNXT0kwSUlSZz09
Dr. Ju's lecture based on her current research and book project entitled "Immigrant Political Incorporation in Another America: Brazilians of Japanese and Jewish Heritage" explores how immigrant groups pursue different strategies of political incorporation in the Brazilian case.
On Wednesday March 23, 12:00 noon (Central Time), the Kozmetsky Center will host an expert panel followed by our annual student international virtual seminar devoted to Afghanistan. Confirmed speakers for the panel session entitled "Twenty Year War in Afghanistan: Lessons, Consequences and the Future" include U.S. Army General (Ret.) combat veteran of the war in Afghanistan and Global Policy Scholar, Kennan Institute, Wilson Center, U.S. Army Bridgadier General (Ret.) Peter Zwack; Dr. Theodore Karasik, Senior Analyst, Gulf Analytics; Dr. Ralph Roloff, Associate Dean, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies and Mr. Sarang Shidore, Director of Studies, Quincy Institute and Senior Fellow at the Council on Strategic Risks.
On Thursday March 24, Professor Andrey Kazantsev (Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer, MGIMO) and Professor Rafael Biermann, (Chair of International Relations, Friedrich Schiller University, Germany) have been invited to participate as faculty discussants for the student Austin-Moscow-Jena annual student videoconference seminar.
On Tuesday April 4 at 12:00 noon (Central Time), the Kozmetsky Center will host an open forum discussion session with Dr. Maria Luisa Alaniz, Professor Emeritus (Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences) of San Jose State University, San Jose, California to discuss the significance of the experience of leading 20th century labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta for advancing social justice and human rights from the local to global levels.
The Kozmetsky Center looks forward to launching a new lecture series beginning in Spring 2022 focused on developments in space. The series will feature expert lectures on new developments in astrophysics and other interdisciplinary research projects focused on private investment in space and the shift from government to commercial space exploration, critical infrastructure and space, cyber vulnerability, relationships between climate change and space, national competition and cooperation in space and exploring implications concerning the potential existence of life on other planets. We are delighted to welcome our first speaker in the new series Dr. Nestor Espinoza, Astronomer currently affiliated at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore Maryland. Dr. Espinoza's research focuses on exoplanet detection. Nestor Espinoza completed his PhD in Astrophysics at Instituto Astrofisica Pontificia Universidad Catolica in Chile in 2017. He is the recipient of the Gruber Fellowship and Bernulli Fellowship for research in Astrophysics and was selected among 100 emerging leaders in Chile by El Mercurio. Dr. Espinoza will offer his perspective concerning the most valuable scientific methods employed to search for conditions that might be suitable for supporting life on other planets. Dr. Espinoza's lecture entitled "Our Place in the Universe: New Directions in Exploring and Understanding Exoplanets" is scheduled for Tuesday February 22 at 12:00 noon (Central Time/Austin, USA). Register for the lecture event here: https://stedwards.zoom.us/s/99347281288
Although the most common type of international migration in the world occurs between countries in the Global South, South-South migration is a phenomenon that has not received as much attention as migration to developed countries in Europe or North America. Dr. Ju's research encompasses issues of immigration within countries of Latin America and East Asia. Dr. Ju's lecture based on her current research and book project entitled "Immigrant Political Incorporation in Another America: Brazilians of Japanese and Jewish Heritage" explores how immigrant groups pursue different strategies of political incorporation in the Brazilian case. Prior to returning to academia in the 2017-2018 academic year, Dr. Ju worked in international development consulting in Washington, DC and in New York City. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.
On Wednesday March 23, 12:00 noon (Central Time), the Kozmetsky Center will host an expert panel followed by our annual student international virtual seminar devoted to Afghanistan. Confirmed speakers for the panel session entitled "Twenty Year War in Afghanistan: Lessons, Consequences and the Future" include U.S. Army General (Ret.) combat veteran of the war in Afghanistan and Global Policy Scholar, Kennan Institute, Wilson Center, U.S. Army Bridgadier General (Ret.) Peter Zwack; Dr. Theodore Karasik, Senior Analyst, Gulf Analytics; Dr. Ralph Roloff, Associate Dean, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies and Mr. Sarang Shidore, Director of Studies, Quincy Institute and Senior Fellow at the Council on Strategic Risks. On Thursday March 24, St. Edward's University students will meet in the virtual space with students of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) and Friedrich Schiller University in Jena Germany to discuss the panel session conclusions. Professor Andrey Kazantsev (Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer, MGIMO) and Professor Rafael Biermann, (Chair of International Relations, Friedrich Schiller University, Germany) have been invited to participate as faculty discussants for the student Austin-Moscow-Jena annual student videoconference seminar. Register for the March 23, 12:00 noon (Central Time) expert Zoom Webinar session at: https://stedwards.zoom.us/s/91505774706
On Tuesday April 4 at 12:00 noon (Central Time), the Kozmetsky Center will host an open forum discussion session with Dr. Maria Luisa Alaniz, Professor Emeritus (Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences) of San Jose State University, San Jose, California to discuss the significance of the experience of leading 20th century labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta for advancing social justice and human rights from the local to global levels. Maria Luisa's mother, Loretta Alaniz, was a farmworker who, although she did not have the opportunity to attend school, made education a priority for her three daughters. Maria Luisa feels it was a blessing to have come of age in the central valley of California during the 1960's and 1970's when Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta were organizing farm workers and founded the United Farmworkers Union (UFW). She had the opportunity, as a college student, to participate in rallies and marches; she also worked at the Stockton UFW Field Office. These experiences shaped her perspective regarding human rights and social justice. Based on these seminal life experiences, the prime motivating factor in Maria Luisa's pursuit of an education was to give back to her community. To that end; she attended San Joaquin Delta College (A.A.), San Jose State University (B.A., M.A.) and Stanford University (Ed.S., Ph.D.). Maria Luisa has had a rewarding career as a professor and department chair at San Jose State University since 1988 when she started her career as a lecturer in Mexican American Studies. She has served as program director for several educational and research projects focused on challenges for communities of color sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education: Title IX, Ford Foundation and National Institute of Health. Dr. Alaniz looks forward to meeting with the St. Edward's University community in this interactive dialogue venue to be held on campus at the Jones Global Events Center.
The Kozmetsky Center is delighted to continue our initiative on Global Investment, Finance, Emerging Markets and Geopolitical Risk in cooperation with the World Affairs Council Austin. The forum seeks to provide a bridge between academic experience and the professional world of global investment, finance and geopolitical risk providing unique insights for SEU students preparing for future careers with the hope of advancing responsible and ethical participation in global business, economic development and policy. On Tuesday February 1, 12:00 noon (Central Time) we will host our first monthly session for the Spring 2022 semester with Dr. Beat Habbeger, Global Fellow and Executive-in-Residence at the Geneva Center for Security Policy in Geneva Switzerland. Dr. Habeggar was former Head of Political Risk Management and Deputy Head of Sustainability Risk Management of Swiss Re Ltd. Earlier in his career, he worked as a risk and security consultant and project director at the Center for Security Studies of ETH Zurich and as a Visiting Research Associate at the UN, OSCE and the Council for Europe. Dr. Habegger will issues relevant in balancing geopolitical risk for investment in markets in Europe and beyond. Register for the ZOOM Meeting at the website of the World Affairs Council Austin: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvc-qsrT8iHNedkb1kAlE_CbEH1NWBAKav
On Tuesday March 1, 12:00 noon (Central Time) the Kozmetsky Center-World Affairs Council Austin forum will welcome the Honorable Levan Beridze, Consul General of Georgia. Levan Beridze was appointed as the Consul General of the Republic of Georgia in San Francisco in February 2020. Throughout his career in the foreign service he held the position as the Ambassador at Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, served in the position of Counselor at the Embassy of Georgia to the United States since 2016, where he headed up the Economic Section and earlier was the First Secretary at the Embassy from 2012 to 2016. Levan Beridze has devoted the focus of his work to the enhancement and deepening of economic and trade relations between the United States and Georgia and the creation of a platform for interaction between American and Georgian companies. The discussion will highlight U.S.-Georgia economic cooperation and the opportunities available in the country and in the region for U.S. companies. Register for the ZOOM Meeting at the website of the World Affairs Council Austin: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqcumhpjktGded8oOI7hnmCSGVPKmhx4Y-
Our program partners for our multi-year project on the "Religion and Security Nexus" of the Fletcher Initiative on Religion, Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law at Diplomacy, Tufts University have extended an invitation to the St. Edward's University student and faculty community to attend their 6th annual conference on "Religion, Science and Diplomacy" scheduled for Friday February 11 at 9:45 AM -5:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time). Panel topics include Religion and Public Health, The Diplomacy of Healing; Faith in Climate Advocacy: Religion as a Resource for Climate Action; and Religion and Nuclear Proliferation. Additional information on the event including speaker profiles and registration can be found at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sixth-annual-conference-religion-science-and-diplomacy-tickets-238814509627?keep_tld=1
We will continue to offer the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) lecture series during the Spring 2022 semester. The CFR Webinars provide an excellent opportunity for students to engage with subject matter experts as well as to hear perspectives of university student colleagues throughout the nation and world community. For additional information on the Council on Foreign Relations Spring 2022 programs please see:
https://kozmetskycenter.org/spring-2022-cfr-academic-webinar/
https://www.cfr.org/sites/default/files/pdf/WinterSpring%202022%20Academic%20Webinar%20Flyer.pdf.
Please note that times for the CFR series are listed on an Eastern Standard Time schedule and should be adjusted for Central Time for SEU viewers in Austin.
Please check our websites https://www.kozmetskycenter.org and https://www.stedwards.edu/kozmetsky-center-excellence for additional details on these Spring 2022 programs. The Kozmetsky Center Briefing Series https://kozmetskycenter.org/briefingseries
features short policy relevant articles prepared by our US and international speakers based on contributions to SEU campus programs providing a resource for students, academic research and the policy, private sector and civic communities. Information on virtual global internships, study and seminar opportunities will be posted at our website throughout the academic year.
The Kozmetsky Center looks forward to continuing to support the St. Edward's University campus during this unprecedented period for our campus community, the nation and broader global society.
Sharyl Cross, PhD, Director, Kozmetsky Center
sharylcross@stedwards.edu
Kozmetsky Center, St. Edward's University
Providing a forum for global dialogue enriching the educational experience & serving as a resource for the academic, policy & private/civic sector communities—
Main Building G11
kozmetskycenter@stedwards.edu
Abel Salazar, Original Web Designer