2011 Conference: The Mitigation, Management and International Response to Environmental Crises
Environmental disasters have been afflicting mankind for millennia. Earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, drought, and in modern times, industrial calamities number only a few of thedestructive forces that have continually plagued life on Earth. In the ensuing months and years following these crises communities, governments, aid agencies and NGOs have banded togetherto assist in the relief and recovery process. As a result, questions arise as to the efficacy and frequency of the fiscal, environmental and social responses to these disasters. As the world'spopulation continues to grow exponentially, the instances of natural and man-made disasters are increasing in both size and scope.
The goal of this conference is to explore the myriad of historical responses, as well as the potential theoretical solutions to future crises. The impacts of these crises are broad, as arethe disciplines that explore their consequences. The organizers seek a wide range of topics and faculties that will contribute to this discourse. Topics may include, but are not limited to legal/arbitrative responses, environmental/ ecological impacts, state and non-state relief efforts and the development movements present during these events.
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2010 Conference: Evolving Borders: Identity and Affiliation in a Volatile International Landscape
As a field of inquiry which took for granted the centrality of the state in world affairs, no issue has so agitated contemporary International Relations as the possible decline of state relevance. The major IR debates of the 20th Century focused on the relationship between the state and the individual, between hegemonic and peripheral states, and between blocs of states linked together in political superstructures. However, as states authority declines, and new post-state forms of organization arise, it seems inevitable that other modes of human affiliation must also arise. Transportation, communications, migration, and evolving economic and legal structures all tie humanity together across national borders. Religion, language, ethnicity, ideology, geography, culture, trade relations, and countless other constructions provide means by which people can understand themselves and form identities, and by which groups can include some people and exclude others. If the borders of the 20th century separated the territory of nation-states, what will new borders separate? Will national citizenship remain a valuable piece of identity, or will new affiliations take precedence? If states retain their central role in IR, how will they cope with interstate and non-state forces, and how will borders and state identity be affected? Along what fault lines, if any, must world affairs ultimately be re-organized? How will we think of ourselves, and what will be the future of “us” and “them?” The volatile 21st Century world demands answers to these pressing questions.
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2009 Conference: Democracy in the 21st Century: Relevant, Redundant or Risk?
Democracy as a form of governance has a tumultuous history. From the American and French revolutions, two models emerged. And throughout the following two centuries plus, a multitude of democratic style governments emerged, flourished, failed, or were forgotten.
The 21st century was inaugurated by an almost complete lack of other dominant forms of governance on the world’s stage. Democracy became the catchword not only for aspirations of peoples but also for foreign policy goals of western governments.
If history is to teach us anything, it is that nothing is static and nothing is stable. What does this historical lesson have to teach us about the present and future formations of democracy? Is Democracy as we have known it still relevant in our present world? Is the form of governance born from revolution redundant in a world where revolution seems more and more impossible because of greater interdependence or merely concentrated power? And as more governments across the world sign on to the ideological front of the spread of Democracy, what are the risks for self-determination, independence, and the demos?
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2008 Conference: Searching Beyond the State: Intercultural Dialogue and Alternative Approaches to International Politics
The new problems arising in world politics are veering away from the state-centric perspective into an as of yet undefined post-modern situation. This new scenario demands unique approaches to the present and emerging problems, relying upon new actors, new institutions and new strategies. Exploration of intercultural dialogue, the emerging role of NGOs, MNCs and other non-state actors, and the changing role of traditional political players is crucial to understanding and forming the new structure of the international system. What possibilities arise? What hope?
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