Sarah Peck Named Director of U.S.-Pakistan Women's Council

Sarah Peck has been named the executive director of the U.S.-Pakistan Women's Council, announced Dean James Goldgeier.

"Sarah's previous work serving in Afghanistan and on the Pakistan Desk at the State Department make her an excellent choice to direct the US-Pakistan Women's Council," said Goldgeier. "We are excited to house the Council in SIS and look forward to working with organizations supporting women in Pakistan."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last fall announced the co-founding of the Council, which is co-chaired by AU President Cornelius Kerwin and Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer. Dean Goldgeier, senior diplomat Ambassador Robin Raphel, and Nabeela Khatak, Vice President of Strategy and Program Development at the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North America, also are members of the leadership team.

The Council will collaborate with other organizations in support of its mission, such as the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs (OPEN), a Pakistani-American nonprofit dedicated to entrepreneurship. The Council will work with schools and businesses in both countries to promote opportunities for women in the workplace and to encourage women to create companies. Programs might include training women in financial management, product development, market access and leadership.

"I believe in the mission of the Council, because it will unlock the potential of Pakistani women and fuel economic growth in Pakistan, which is an important national foreign policy priority for the U.S. Government," said Peck. "American University is the ideal partner for the Council. I look forward to working closely with its talented faculty and students to advance our mission."

Peck, a career foreign service officer from Boston, Mass., served most recently as a political officer on the Pakistan Desk at the State Department. Before joining the desk, she worked for Senator John Kerry as a Pearson Fellow on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, focusing on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

As the Deputy Rule of Law Coordinator at U.S. Embassy Kabul, Peck coordinated the Embassy's efforts to strengthen the rule of law and fight corruption in Afghanistan. She also helped establish a task force at NATO headquarters to help the military fight corruption in Afghanistan.

Peck has previously served in Manila and Prague, and, before entering the State Department, worked as an intellectual property attorney in Boston and as a corporate counsel for a software company in Paris.

MORE HEADLINES - 1/15/2013

Dean William Olson: Scholar, Mentor and Family Man
Speakers announced for 14th Annual IMI Conference on Intercultural Relations
SIS Partners With LanguageCorps
Ahmed Succeeds in "Bridging the Great Divide"
Father and Son Share Passion for SIS

Dean William Olson: Scholar, Mentor and Family Man

If William Olson wasn't in his office at the School of International Service, the best bet was to look outside. Dr. Olson, who served as SIS dean for six years until his retirement in 1986, spent so much time on a bench outside, greeting faculty, sharing gems of wisdom and meeting with students that the perch was dubbed "The Dean's Bench."

When Dr. Olson died in November at age 92, he was remembered as an exemplary mentor, a quintessential storyteller and a pioneer in the field of international relations who also contributed deeply to the lives of his students and colleagues.

"He was a remarkable figure in international studies, one of the pioneers in our field," said Dean James Goldgeier. "His impressive legacy at SIS embraced the operative value in our school's name: service."

Dr. Olson founded the field's honor society, Sigma Iota Rho and was a founding dean of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA). He wrote The Theory and Practice of International Relations, a pivotal book in international studies, and was a respected scholar who lectured around the globe.

But those closest to him say there were really just two things that anchored his life. "Family came first. And students came a very close second," said Betsy (Mary) Olson, his wife of 69 years.

He earned his Ph.D. at Yale University on the GI Bill following military service in World War II. Dr. Olson then went on to develop a program in international relations at Pomona College in California before moving to Washington, D.C., where he directed the Foreign Affairs Division of the Legislative Reference Service at the Library of Congress from 1961 to 1965. That was followed by two years as associate dean of Columbia University's School of International Affairs. From 1970 to 1979, just before taking the helm of SIS, Dr. Olson directed the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center in Italy.

Dr. Olson was active with the Council on Foreign Relations, the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs, the International Institute of Strategic Studies, the International Studies Association and American Friends of Wilton Park. He was a trustee of the Experiment in International Living and the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver.

Like Dr. Olson, SIS Professor James Mittelman lived in Denver. The two men's careers overlapped in other ways. Mittelman was on the faculty at Columbia, and Dr. Olson served as a trustee of the Social Science Foundation when Mittelman was its director.

"He was an extremely gracious man," Mittelman said. "He welcomed people; he would make individuals feel important. He took time for them, and he enjoyed entertaining."

Mittelman described Dr. Olson as skillful in encouraging students and colleagues, opening professional doors for them. "A great mentor can make a great impact on individuals," Mittelman noted.

He was an inveterate storyteller and highly regarded teacher. That legacy is honored each year when SIS awards the William C. Olson Award for Outstanding Teaching to a PhD student.

"He was a caring and consummate mentor. I'd go so far as to call him a 'mentor's mentor,' " said SIS Professor Nanette Levinson. "He provided wise guidance to faculty, students and alumni. It's astonishing, the number of people he linked, the number of people who were touched by former Dean Olson in a positive way."

Sherry Mueller, SIS/BA '65, agreed.

"I've had a number of mentors over the years, but it was with Bill that I had the strongest enduring relationship," said Mueller, president emerita of the National Council for International Visitors.

Dr. Olson was new at the helm of SIS when he spoke at an International Studies Association event that Mueller attended. Impressed, the SIS alumna introduced herself. That led to subsequent meetings and the launch of the SIS Alumni Association - with Mueller as its first president.

The pair collaborated on publications, and Mueller became an adjunct professor at SIS, unveiling a course on public diplomacy. He introduced her to World Learning, a nonprofit that builds global leadership through education, exchanges and development programs; she joined its board. For years they met nearly monthly for breakfast at D.C.'s Cosmos Club, where Dr. Olson was a member.

"He spotted potential in people, and he helped them find opportunity," Mueller said. "Then he encouraged his mentees, his protégées, to pay it forward."

Dr. Olson also encouraged people to value their families. Central to his life were his wife and three children.

The romance between Dr. Olson and the woman who would become his wife began when both were students at what is now the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Because of his work, international travel was a big component of the couple's life together. When they hit the road, it was often with their children - Eric, Peter and Annie (Elizabeth) - in tow.

"I remember when the children were 6, 9 and 12, we had our first sabbatical," said Mrs. Olson. "We decided he would be at Oxford for a year. We took the summers on either side of the sabbatical in Europe camping."

"We had a grand time," she said.

Speakers announced for 14th Annual IMI Conference on Intercultural Relations

Bryan A. Stevenson (left) and Dr. Janet Bennett

Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative Bryan A. Stevenson will deliver the keynote address for the 14th Annual Intercultural Management Institute (IMI) Conference on Intercultural Relations March 14 - 15, 2013 at American University's School of International Service. Stevenson successfully argued Miller v. Alabama at the Supreme Court in June 2012, banning life-without-parole sentences for children.

The 1995 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship recipient also received one of the longest standing ovations in the history of the non-profit TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design - an organization devoted to ideas worth spreading) for his inspirational speech, "We Need to Talk About an Injustice," in March of 2012.

The 14th Annual IMI Conference on Intercultural Relations is a professional development opportunity for intercultural relations professionals. The cross-sector representation at the conference spans professional backgrounds such as government, academic, legal, military, NGO, corporate, consulting and training. Since the conference's launch in 2000, IMI has worked to bring together an audience of over 200 professionals to share knowledge and best practices.

Participants choose from more than 30 workshops, including topics such as healthcare, international education, mediation, public diplomacy and negotiation. Combined with experiential learning, participants leave with a toolkit of resources to apply to their own work. The IMI conference combines a focus on dialogue and learning with networking opportunities in an open community atmosphere.

Joining Stevenson as a keynote speaker will be Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Intercultural Communication Institute (ICI) Dr. Janet Bennett. Bennett chairs the ICI/University of the Pacific Masters of Arts in Intercultural Relations program. She also co-edited the 3rd edition of the Handbook of Intercultural Training and is an expert in developmental "layered" intercultural training and adjustment processes.

The Intercultural Management Institute at American University (IMI) provides customized training for effective communication, negotiation and leadership across cultures. IMI consults with organizations across sectors and trains personnel to recognize and manage cultural differences, turning them into competitive advantage. The Institute provides academic courses, workshops, symposia and conferences covering a range of topics in intercultural relations.

To register for the conference or for more information, visit www.imi.american.edu/conference or contact Conference Coordinator Mary Margaret Herman at (202) 885-6434 or mmherman@american.edu. Varied admission rates are available. In addition, students and recent graduates are welcome to apply for a scholarship to attend the conference.

SIS Partners With LanguageCorps

The School of International Service has partnered with the Massachusetts-based business LanguageCorps to support alumni from the organization who are interested in graduate study at SIS.

LanguageCorps offers teaching jobs abroad for those interested in gaining international experience. Programs are offered in 21 different locations in 18 countries, with opportunities to teach English in Europe, Latin America and throughout Asia.

According to the SIS Graduate Admissions website, LanguageCorps teachers and alumni admitted to one of SIS's graduate degree programs in international affairs will receive a guaranteed minimum scholarship award equal to one academic credit, up to a maximum of 18 credits for highly qualified applicants. In addition, their SIS application fees are waived.

"The partnerships and special fellowships offered by SIS help to attract and support potential students who have already demonstrated a commitment to public service and international affairs through their volunteer experience in like-minded organizations," said Sarah Goldberg, the marketing and recruitment manager for SIS Graduate Admissions.

SIS also offers similar partnerships and financial incentives with AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, Fulbright and Rangel Fellowship alumni and veterans of the armed forces.

Ahmed Succeeds in "Bridging the Great Divide"

As any student of AU Professor Akbar Ahmed's "World of Islam" class knows, historical and contemporary relationships between Muslims and Jews have long been the subject of contention and misunderstanding. In an effort to dispel myths and build constructive cross-cultural communication, Professor Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, and Edward Kessler, founder of Cambridge University's Woolf Institute, introduced an online course last fall for SIS and Cambridge students called "Bridging the Great Divide: The Jewish-Muslim Encounter" (BGD). The students from around the world joined a virtual forum to learn about the two great religions, how they relate to one another and how to improve relationships.

Last fall, students viewed 30-minute prerecorded lectures from a variety of esteemed scholars and discussed topics in the online forum. The topics included how various names for the land of Israel evoke clashing claims to the territory, how anti-Semitism and anti-Islamic sentiments are two sides of the same coin, and what the Golden Age of Andalusia, a time of unprecedented religious tolerance in medieval Spain, can teach people about living together despite religious differences.

Josef Meri, a course tutor and former academic director of the Centre for the Study of Muslim-Jewish Relations at the Woolf Institute, said, "While running BGD on a day-to-day basis, I especially enjoyed the interpersonal interaction with a group of highly dedicated students via the online platform. BGD gave the course participants the knowledge they need to build bridges between faiths and communities and to break down the barriers between the West and the Middle East."

Stephanie Tankel, assistant director of Washington Hebrew Congregation's religious school and teaching fellow for BGD, said, "Throughout this course, students have the opportunity to wrestle with familiar and unfamiliar sacred texts from both faiths, opening their minds to all of the similarities and some of the differences. This exercise gives them a foundation and vocabulary through which they can go forward, engaging in progressive dialogue within their own religious group and with others."

Professor Ahmed intends to repeat the course in spring 2014 and looks forward to educating the next wave of future bridge builders. "It is a lack of everyday encounters that prevent human connection," he noted in his end-of-term conclusion. "If only we could meet in a common intellectual space, we could engage with each other based on all the facts at hand. Beyond this, if Muslims and Jews living, working and thriving side by side acknowledge each other on a basic human level - 'this is my neighbor, my friend, regardless of creed' - it would go a long way towards eroding stereotypes and misconceptions."

Father and Son Share Passion for SIS

Bradford Richardson, SIS/BA '86, hadn't anticipated the pull of SIS when he began his college search. He liked the idea of studying how political campaigns worked and planned to run for office someday.

But the energy around the SIS building and program "drew me in like a siren song," Bradford said. "SIS is a special place that attracts intelligent and dynamic people from all over the world. It was impossible to not want to be a part of that."

One of those dynamic, intelligent people at SIS just happened to be Bradford's father, Professor John Richardson. For the younger Richardson, that was just a coincidence, but one that enriched both of their lives and has now culminated in establishing the Professor John Richardson Faculty Lounge.

The younger Richardson said that after studying abroad in Belgium and Denmark for a year, focusing on international economics and business, he knew he had made the right choice to attend SIS.

"It was great that my father worked at an institution of such high quality, which also specialized in my areas of interest," said Bradford.

The two men shared more than a passion for international studies. For two years while Bradford studied at SIS, they shared an apartment near AU.

"Living with my father was great," he remembered. "We would occasionally eat together, play tennis and just spend time connecting. He and I have always been, and remain, very close."

Professor Richardson recalled the experience with equal fondness.

"We never experienced any difficulties at all," John said. "I would say that we have a collegial relationship of equals, so we share experiences, we share ideas and we share advice."

When he graduated, Bradford wanted to avoid the usual entry-level job path and decided instead to go to Taiwan. He now serves as president of the natural nutrition company Shaklee International, based in Pleasanton, Calif., where he is responsible for cultivating the company's Asian presence.

Despite often working halfway around the world, Bradford never forgot the impact of his SIS education. When Dean Emeritus Louis Goodman approached him about a donor naming opportunity in the SIS building, he jumped at the chance to honor both his father and his educational experience.

"I have tremendous respect for him and his decades of commitment to SIS and American. To that end, the Professor John Richardson Faculty Lounge commemorates his years of service to the institution and students at AU," said Bradford. "It was also recognition of the impact that American and particularly SIS has made in my life. I hope that more students, especially of my era, will consider giving back to the university - we can make a true difference."

Election Night Video Available

If you missed SIS's election night party Nov. 6, watch the student-created video, which emphasizes the enthusiasm and energy of the night's events.

ALUMNI NEWS

Join Dean James Goldgeier and D.C.-area alumni and friends for a networking event Wednesday, Jan. 23 at the Mad Hatter Restaurant and Bar (1813 Connecticut Avenue, NW in Dupont Circle) from 6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. There will be a cash bar and complimentary appetizers. Click here for more information and to RSVP.

Calling all current or former Peace Corps volunteers: We're updating our lists and want to make sure we have everyone's areas and dates of placement. Please contact us with this information at sisalum@american.edu.

Thank you to all of the alumni who visited SIS in fall 2012 as featured guests for the Alumni in the Atrium event series. These events occur a few times a month. An alumnus/a sits in the atrium for about an hour to speak with current students about networking and career tips. If you would like to be considered for the Alumni in the Atrium event series, please contact sisalum@american.edu.

Class Notes

We invite readers to send comments to SISComm@american.edu. Please include your graduation year and degree.

So Min Oh, SIS/BA '10, is working for Panda Media in Seoul.

Kelly Thomas, SIS/BA '11, has been offered a position at The George Washington University Office of Summer Sessions.

Hong Dinh, SIS/BA '12, is interning for Project 2049 Institute. Liang Du, SIS/BA '12, is interning for Relief International this fall.

Gianluca LaManno, SIS/BA/MA '12, '13, will be starting full-time with the FBI in May 2013.

Cynthia Lu, SIS/BA '12, is working for Octagon as an account executive in Va.

Aaron Zisook, SIS/BA '12, is now working for the Grant Training Center.

Getting to Know You - Ali Ghobadi

Job Title: Systems Analyst

Job Duties: IT Systems administration and life-cycle management of SIS-owned IT assets - Forget the technical stuff; I give out new computers!

How long I have worked at SIS: A long time, but not as long as Suzanne Skillings, Leeanne Dunsmore and Mary Barton (apologies to others I may have left out; you know who you are).

What my colleagues would be surprised to learn about me: I now speak Japanese better than Farsi.

The best part of working at SIS: An environment dedicated to learning and so many colleagues, both faculty and staff, working on so many different projects.

My first job: As a cashier and bookkeeper. I am amazingly fast at using a 10-key calculator or keyboard.

Where I grew up: Mostly in Rockville, Md. and Northern Virginia with a few separate, longer stays in Iran and Egypt.

My family: I am married and I have two daughters. I live in Northern Virginia, not too far from campus, and my extended family is also mostly in the Washington area.

My hobbies: If I had the time, it would be kyudo (Japanese archery) and making pottery.

What I enjoy doing on the weekend: turning off all my computers and electronic devices.

What I'm reading: Most of my current reading relates to my graduate research, so this week I was reading An Archaeology of Interaction by Carl Knappett, Measuring Time with Artifacts by R. Lee Lyman and Michael J. O'Brien, and The Marathon Monks of Mt. Hiei by John Stevens.

Favorite movie: I don't think I can answer with a singular favorite. An interesting movie for me that I saw recently was the 1957 film "Sayonara," starring Marlon Brando.

Favorite D.C. hangout: The National Mall, near the Smithsonian museums.

Favorite food: I like a lot of cuisines. I like Chinese food, the type you only can get in the U.S., and Japanese food, the type you can only get in Japan.

My last vacation: Some years ago, I visited Ireland purely for vacation. My favorite part of that trip was visiting the Aran Islands. Since then, I haven't had a pure vacation in a long time, but if I were free to choose my next destination, it may be somewhere in Scandinavia or Russia.

Getting Ink

After the launch of the International Relations Online Degree Dec. 11, the University Communications and Marketing press release generated over 200 pickups by local news, ranging from The Boston Globe to The San Francisco Chronicle through the Associated Press and other outlets, such as PRNewswire and PRWeb.

Professor Celeste Wallander: Interviewed in "Obama's Remade Inner Circle Has an All-Male Look, So Far," The New York Times, Jan. 9.

Professor Robert Pastor: Interviewed in "Can Kerry Make Friends With Cuba?," Salon.com, Jan 3.

Professor Gordon Adams: Opinion piece, "Fiscal Cliff Follies and Defense," Foreign Policy, Dec. 20.

Professor Jordan Tama: Interviewed in "Experts: Obama's Gun Panel Might Actually Work," U.S. News and World Report, Dec. 19.

Dean James Goldgeier: Interviewed in "U.S. Tech Company 2U Expands Network of University Partners," in Financial Times, Dec. 11.

Professor Gordon Adams: Interviewed in C-SPAN's Washington Journal regarding the fiscal cliff, Dec. 10.

Professor Matthew Taylor: Interviewed in "Will Brazil's 'Mensalao' corruption trial bring change?," in BBC News, Dec. 7.

Professor Robert Pastor: Interviewed in "American Held in Cuba Takes Aim at Impasse," in The New York Times, Nov. 28.

To see more SIS media appearances, please visit our SIS in the Media page.

Intellectual Contributions

Professor Amitav Acharya published The Making of Southeast Asia: International Relations of a Region (Cornell University Press, 2012).

Professor Nina Yamanis published "From Coitus to Concurrency: Sexual Partnership Characteristics and Risk Behaviors of 15-19 Year Old Men Recruited from Urban Venues in Tanzania," (with Irene A. Doherty; Sharon S. Weir; James M. Bowling; Lusajo J. Kajula; Jessie K. Mbwambo and Suzanne Maman) in AIDS and Behavior, 2012.

Professor Loubna Skalli-Hanna published "Youth, Media and the Art of Protest in North Africa" in Mediating the Arab Uprisings, Adel Iskander and Bassam Haddad, editors (Tadween Press, 2012).

Professor Emeritus Joshua Goldstein won the Conflict Research Society's 2012 Book of the Year Award for Winning the War on War: The Decline of Armed Conflict Worldwide, co-awarded with Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature.

Professor Gary Weaver published Intercultural Relations: Communication, Identity and Conflict (Pearson Learning 2013).

Professor Eric Abitbol published "On Adaptive Water Governance: Producing an Equitable and Reflexive Hydro-Politics of Security and Peace" in Governance and Security as a Unitary Concept, Graham Kemp and Tom Rippon, editors (Agio Publishing, 2012).

Professor Hillary Mann Leverett's forthcoming book, Going to Tehran: Why the United States Must Come to Terms with the Islamic Republic (with Flynt Leverett), has been named one of Foreign Policy's top books to read in 2013.

Professor Eric Hershberg co-edited New Institutions for Participatory Democracy in Latin America with Maxwell A. Cameron and Kenneth E. Sharpe (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012).

Professor Nina Yamanis will receive a grant from the District of Columbia Developmental Center for AIDS Research (D.C. D-CFAR) to undertake her proposed study, "Exploratory Investigation of the Social and Geographic Context of Sexual Risk Behavior, Identity Development and Service Use among Adolescent Black Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM) in D.C." She will gather preliminary data to guide the subsequent design of an intervention to increase service utilization and decrease sexual risk behavior among adolescent black MSM, a high-risk group that has experienced the largest recent increase in HIV infections but for which there has been insufficient attention in intervention research. She will conduct this research in Washington, D.C. in collaboration with Dr. Sharon Lambert at The George Washington University and the MSM Working Group of the D.C. D-CFAR.

Professor Rachel Sullivan Robinson and Professor Jeremy Shiffman of AU's School of Public Affairs will receive a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for their project, "Managing the Politics of Adolescent Sexuality Education in Nigeria and Mississippi." Through 2015, they will investigate the factors that explain differences in adoption of sexuality education across geographic areas, paying particular attention to the strategies of proponents.

Professor Ken Conca delivered the keynote speech Monday, Nov. 26 at the Norwegian Association for Development Research Conference in Oslo, Norway.

Professor Gordon Adams participated in NATO Parliamentary Assembly's Parliamentary Transatlantic Forum, "National Security Implications of the U.S. Budget Debate " Dec. 11. Adams served as a panelist Dec. 13 at the National Journal Policy Summit "America's Inheritance: Where to Begin on the Big Issues." On Dec. 17, Adams was named number 75 in Defense News' list "The 100 Most Influential People in U.S. Defense."

Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies Ambassador Akbar Ahmed screened his film, "Journey into America," the 2010 documentary of his trip across the United States to document the Muslim-American experience, at The University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies Dec. 12.

Professor Amitav Acharya has been elected president of the International Studies Association (ISA) for 2014 - 2015. Representing 80 countries, the ISA has over 5,800 members worldwide and is the most respected and widely known scholarly association in this field. On Nov. 28, the Governing Body of St Catherine's College, Oxford, named Professor Acharya to a Christensen Fellowship for the Trinity Term 2013. Christensen Fellowships are awarded to distinguished academic visitors who are members of their national academy. As a Christensen Fellow, Acharya will work on the topic of "Emerging Powers and Global Governance."

Professor Daniel Esser has been invited for a residency at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center to continue work on his project, "Community-Driven Mitigation, Transformation and Inertia in the Face of Urban Violence: Learning from Ciudad Juárez." He will spend part of the summer at the Center in Italy, engaging fellow scholars and preparing publications from the research he gathered this fall in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, where he studied the origins of resilience among urban communities.

Events

As the world prepares for President Obama's second term as president, the Office of Development and Alumni Relations is also gearing up to honor one of the country's most enduring and patriotic of traditions: the 57th presidential inauguration. On Saturday, January 19, join fellow AU alumni, parents, friends, neighbors, faculty, staff, and current students for a unique experience of networking, academic discussion and celebration. Click to learn more at the event web page.

Glenn Hastedt, professor of political science and justice studies at James Madison University, will discuss the politics of the intelligence process Tuesday, Jan. 29 in SIS Room 300 from 4 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Experts and practitioners will discuss the state of human rights in China Thursday, Jan. 31 in the SIS Abramson Family Founders Room from 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Also on Thursday, Jan. 31, Dr. Martin Murphy, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, will speak on a panel about developments in maritime piracy off Somalia and West Africa. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place in the SIS Abramson Family Founders Room from 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.

The International Development Student Program Association's Friday Forum will be held on Friday, Feb. 1 from 5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. in the SIS Abramson Family Founders Room. The event is free and open to the public.

The next chapter in the Islamic Lecture Series will be "Exploring Religious Freedom" with Dr. Azizah al-Hibri, professor emerita, The University of Richmond School of Law and founder and chair, KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, hosted by the Mohammed Said Farsi Chair of Islamic Peace on Wednesday, Feb. 6. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be in the SIS Abramson Family Founders Room from 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.

The International Communication program will host a multicultural alumni panel on Friday, Feb. 8 from 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Grande Lum, the U.S. Justice Department's new director of the Community Relations Service, will speak in the SIS Abramson Family Founders Room Wednesday, Feb. 13 at noon. Sponsored by the International Peace and Conflict Resolution Program and SIS, the event is free open to the public.

George Washington University Professor Stephen B. Kaplan, author of Globalization and Austerity Politics in Latin America, will discuss his book Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 11 a.m. in the SIS Abramson Family Founders Room. The event is free and open to the public.

Skills institutes will be occurring on select dates this spring led by practitioners from the Intercultural Management Institute. These weekend-long courses provide both practical intercultural communication skills and theoretical knowledge to professionals working in the international and intercultural spheres, aspiring intercultural trainers, as well as those with interest in training for overseas living. For more information on courses, fees and locations, or to register, visit: http://www.american.edu/sis/imi/institutes/institutes.cfm.

ALUMNI NEWS

Join Dean James Goldgeier and D.C.-area alumni and friends for a networking event Wednesday, Jan. 23 at the Mad Hatter Restaurant and Bar... Read more.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU - ALI GHOBADI

Job Title: Systems Analyst

Job Duties: IT Systems administration and life-cycle management of SIS-owned IT assets - Forget the technical stuff; I give out new computers!