World Affairs Council of Rhode Island

02/03/2025

Register now: join us for an insightful evening with Professor Al-Ali on February 20, 6:00 PM at the Hope Club in Providence.

Nadje Al-Ali is the Robert Family Professor of International Studies, and Professor of Anthropology and Middle East Studies at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Her main research interests revolve around feminist activism and gendered mobilization, mainl....

03/21/2024

Peter Krause is an Associate Professor of political science at Boston College and a Research Affiliate with the MIT Security Studies Program. His research focuses on Middle East politics and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, terrorism and political violence, nationalism, rebels and revolution, and p...

01/15/2024

Thursday January 18, 2024:
North Korea, Kim Jong-un, and East Asian Security: Terence Roehrig at the Hope Club in Providence. Please follow the link to register.

Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. Nuclear Umbrella: Deterrence After the Cold War (Columbia University Press)The Evolution of the South Korea-United States Alliance (Cambridge University Press)

09/14/2023

Join us on Thursday, September 21, at the Hope Club in Providence, RI for a joint event with the German Marshall Fund.
Click the link to register.

Renee Hobbs is an internationally-recognized authority on digital and media literacy education who works to advance the quality of digital and media literacy education in the United States and around the world. A professor at the Harrington School of Communication and Media at the University of ...

05/03/2023

03/13/2023

Please register today for our next event at the Hope Club on Thursday March 16.

In this 27th year since Congress established Women’s History Month, WACRI is honored to feature a presentation by Rear Admiral Shoshana Chatfield who has made history as the first woman president of the Naval War College at Newport.

The Naval War College was founded in 1884 and is the oldest College of professional military education in the U.S. Its Naval Command College, for senior military officers, and Naval Staff College, for junior officers provides both residential as well as online education through its College of Distance Education. Its 600 students are recruited annually from all branches of the U.S government agencies and departments, and from global communities from which junior and senior officers are recruited, often using the support of in-country American embassies. The officer candidates and their civilian fellow students hail mostly from the U.S. but some 100 + international students are recruited from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, South America, and Europe. Alumni from the War College continue their professional application of knowledge, skills and most importantly relationships gained at the NWC through global maritime partnerships. The non-military graduates most often in American embassies and U.S. Aid programs abroad. We are honored to present this historic leader as our March speaker, and to recognize the twin traditions of women’s history and Naval War College history that she represents.

-Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban

02/12/2023

Our Monthly Dinner and Speaker Series Returns to The HOPE CLUB, Six Benevolent Street, on Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 6:00PM with:

"The Crisis in China and Taiwan"

A presentation by: Lyle J. Goldstein PhD, Visiting Professor at the Watson Center for International and Public Affairs at Brown University.

Follow the link for more information.

"At Brown, [Dr. Goldstein] is investigating the costs of great power competition with both China and Russia in association with the Costs of War Project at Watson. He is also assisting in the further development of Watson's China Initiative."

01/18/2023

When: Thursday, January 19, 2023 6:00 PM, EST
Where: Zoom

The New World Disorder: the Battle for Values, Identity, and Engagement

A World Affairs Council of Rhode Island Zoom Presentation with Dr. Roman Gerodimos

The international system is experiencing a profound transition. The post-World War II / post-Cold War norms-based international order is facing existential challenges. These stem both from within liberal democracies, which are facing a multifaceted identity crisis of their own, and from authoritarian states and 'bad actors' exploiting the weaknesses of the system. The long-term strategies of Putin's Russia and Xi's China have created a New Cold War with the West.
The hearts and minds of citizens, young people in particular, in some ways constitute the frontline of this new hybrid war. In order to understand what prospects, threats and opportunities exist for liberal democracy and for global security, we need to understand the drivers of, and barriers to, civic and global engagement. And in order to do that, we have to return to the question of values: it is values that motivate us to listen and to take individual and collective action, and it is contrasting assessments of values' relative importance that create deep polarizations and conflicts.
As we move towards a multipolar world, we have to start to think of the institutions of global governance and global citizenship that would ensure that this world is free, fair and peaceful.

In this talk, Dr. Gerodimos will cover both his recent work (the Deterrence project and the New Cold War with Russia, and a current investigation on China's global expansion) as well as an overview and reflections on two decades of research on civic engagement, and what emerging patterns could mean for the future.

Dr Roman Gerodimos is Professor of Global Current Affairs at the Faculty of Media and Communication, and a faculty member at the Salzburg Academy on Media & Global Change.

Roman's background is in political science and international studies. He holds an MSc in European Politics & Policy (LSE) and a PhD in Political Communication (Bournemouth). He is the winner of the Arthur McDougall Prize awarded by the Political Studies Association for his research on online youth civic engagement.

Roman is an interdisciplinary thinker, educator, writer and filmmaker whose work spans politics, sociology, international relations, psychology, urban and communication studies, focusing on the ways in which 21st century citizens engage with the self, with the urban landscape, with others around them, and with the world at large.
He recently completed a project on shame and violence funded by the ISRF, a report on the refugee crisis for Greek think-tank Dianeosis, and produced Deterrence a feature-length documentary on European security and deterrence funded by NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division. He previously led or worked on projects funded by the UK Department for International Development, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US Embassy in London.
He has written, directed and produced several short and documentary films: At the Edge of the Present (2015), A Certain Type of Freedom (2015), Essence (2018), Deterrence (2020), and We’ll Meet Again (2021).

Roman's latest book is Interdisciplinary Applications of Shame/Violence Theory: Breaking the Cycle (Palgrave Macmillan 2022).
His previous co-edited books include The Media, Political Participation and Empowerment (Routledge 2013) and The Politics of Extreme Austerity: Greece in the Eurozone Crisis (Palgrave Macmillan 2015). His first book in Greece - Dispatches from the 21st century (Papadopoulos 2020) - was named Best Non-Fiction Book of 2020 and one of the 'Best Books of the 21st Century' by the Greek press.

His work has appeared in numerous global media outlets (CNN, BBC, AP, Euronews, USA Today, Newsweek etc) and he has written hundreds of op-eds and essays on international affairs. He has been a Visiting Scholar at Emerson College in Boston, and at the Salzburg Global Seminar in Austria.

General Audience $10

Students Free

https://worldaffairscouncilofrhodeisland.wildapricot.org/event-5112381

11/15/2022

“Caring for the Future: Drawdown Climate Solutions.”

Thursday, November 17, 2022
7:00PM via Zoom

The focus of this presentation is to accelerate and scale the actions that we can take towards creating a climate safe planet. During our time together, we will explore the top ten most important things we can do to get to Drawdown, the point when greenhouse gases have peaked and will start to come down. By the end of the presentation, it is our hope that we will each have discovered an action that fits with our own passions and leverage points to take action for a healthy planet.

Our Speakers:

Larry Tishkoff

Former Director of Missions for the Jewish Federations of North America Missions Department. In the summer of 2022, together with his cousin Bert Cohen and an Israeli climate activist, he launched a pilot course to train 100 Israeli school teachers who teach English and who we envision can then make "Caring For the Future" available to hundreds, if not thousands, of Israeli youth. Currently the Israeli Ministry of Education has engaged us to offer an additional CFF course which we plan to launch in the coming weeks.

Bert Cohen

Bert Cohen has focused on solutions to the climate crisis presented in the book Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken. With a small international team, he created the course “Caring for the Future: Drawdown Solutions.” Most recently this course has been presented to teachers in a 30-hour teacher training for the Ministry of Education in Israel. Bert’s international involvement goes back many years starting in the 1980s when he founded the Belize-New Hampshire Teacher Program. His global interests continue in his work to create formats on the internet to build learning communities worldwide to take action for the health of the planet.

General Audience $10.00

Students Free

https://worldaffairscouncilofrhodeisland.wildapricot.org/event-5029536

10/20/2022

Our October Event will be a Zoom Event

TONIGHT: Thursday, October 20, 2022 at 7:00PM

Critical Race Theory: What It Is And What It Is Not

“While birthed through justice struggles in legal studies pertinent to American jurisprudence, CRT as a theory on race, and a praxis for being in the world that critically seeks to acknowledge, understand, and challenge racism, has implications for social interactions globally. Thus, CRT should not be seen as a theory that is only beneficial to the US context, as it is used throughout the globe in matters of international racial justice, particularly as it relates to matters of colonialism, anti-blackness, linguistic marginalization, border policies, militarized policing, etc. CRT is a gateway for us to understand the ways race and racism, which are global phenomena, impact us within and across our global territories.”

Dr. Justin Coles

Justin A. Coles, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Social Justice Education in the department of Student Development at the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education. Within the College, Dr. Coles serves as the Director of Arts, Culture, and Political Engagement at the Center of Racial Justice and Youth Engaged Research (CRJ). His research agenda converges at the intersections of critical race studies in education, Black studies, youth languages & literacies, and urban (teacher) education. Central to Dr. Coles’ research agenda is leveraging the stories of youth life through arts-based methods as a prime research analytic to inform the ways we develop counter structures to oppressive school and societal regimes. Dr. Coles is a William T. Grant Theories of Blackness, Indigeneity, and Racialization in Research to Reduce Inequality in the Lives of Young People Writing Fellow.

Included will be a discussion with our own Christopher Souza on teaching history

General Audience $10.00

Students attend for free

https://worldaffairscouncilofrhodeisland.wildapricot.org/event-4996718

“While birthed through justice struggles in legal studies pertinent to American jurisprudence, CRT as a theory on race, and a praxis for being in the world that critically seeks to acknowledge, understand, and challenge racism, has implications for social interactions globally. Thus, CRT should .....

03/26/2022

Members Salon on 3/30:
"Putin’s Ukrainian Onslaught: Geopolitical Implications, Humanitarian Crises, and Prospects for Conflict Resolution" with guest speaker Kevin M. DeJesus, PhD on Wednesday, March 30, 2022; 7:00 PM on zoom.

Dr. Kevin M. DeJesus, Associate Professor at Johnson and Wales University of Politics, International Relations, and Social Sciences, will speak to the long evolution of Putin’s Russia, a manifestation, DeJesus argues, of his geopolitical mental map. DeJesus will explore how Putin conceives of Russia’s place in a multilateral world order, the logics of his assessment of realpolitik as it shaped his decision-making in undertaking his war on Ukraine, and the role of China in his geopolitical reasoning, Dr. DeJesus will also explore the multitude of effects and implications of the massive humanitarian crises Putin’s war has triggered, both in the immediate and longer term. Prospects for how Putin may maneuver an exit from this politico-military quagmire, which has needlessly cost scores of lives, and wrought enormous economic devastation, for both Ukraine, and Putin’s Russian Federation, are considered.

Follow the link to register: https://worldaffairscouncilofrhodeisland.wildapricot.org/event-4758457

03/18/2022

Celebrating Women's History Month
March 24, 2022; 7:00PM Via Zoom

"THE SUFFRAGETTE MOVEMENT IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND: LESSONS FOR TODAY." Presenting: Hilary McCollum

Hilary McCollum is an Irish writer and feminist activist. Her writing puts women’s lives and experiences centre stage, often focusing on female agency and women’s resistance to abuse and oppression. She is Publishing Fellow at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s University Belfast, having completed a PhD in Creative Writing at the Centre in December 2021. She has been researching the suffragette movement in Britain and Ireland for more than a decade.

Click here to register: https://worldaffairscouncilofrhodeisland.wildapricot.org/event-4666803

02/05/2022

The Rhode Island Black Battalion, 1775-1783

February 10, 2022 at 7:00PM

"The Context and Importance of The Rhode Island Black Battalion, 1775-1783"

An Illustrated Lecture By Dr. Richard Lobban,
Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Afro-American Studies, RI College;
Former Vice President, RI Black Heritage Society;
Adjunct Professor of African Studies, Naval War College

More SHOTS HEARD ROUND THE WORLD…The historical context for the mustering of the RI Black Battalion is much neglected, yet it was very important in the success of the American Revolution in general and for the end of slavery in Rhode Island. They fought as early as 1775 at the Siege of Boston on through significant battles in NY and NJ. They spent the miserable winter at Valley Forge and then the significant Battle of Rhode Island in Portsmouth in 1778. Finally they went on to Siege at Yorktown in 1783 and the defeat of the British; the birth of independent America and the gradual end of slavery in RI.

Follow this link to register: https://worldaffairscouncilofrhodeisland.wildapricot.org/event-4666796

01/25/2022

“This is the best time to bring in a voice of diversity, a voice of the immigrant community,” said Bah, who would be the first Black US congressman from Rhode Island. “I got everything from America, so participating in the civic world is a duty. That is why I am running.”

11/16/2021

"The Haitian Political Crisis - A Nation in Peril: Now and Then"

Thursday, November 18, 2021
7:00PM Via ZOOM

Join us for a conversation with Haitian Entrepreneur/Activist Ralph Emmanuel François
•

A Historical Perspective with an Eye for an Optimistic Future

Ralph Emmanuel François is a disaster risk resilience (DRR) management and climate resilience specialist with 15+ years of experience working with communities in Haiti. In 2015, Ralph founded Cocread, a social enterprise and community incubator that creates self-sustainable communities using art and technology. As CEO of Cocread, Ralph was first-runner up at the Singularity Global Impact Challenge for the Caribbean.

During the course of his career in private, international, and government agencies, Ralph has contributed to key research studies and developed methodologies and toolkits in the DRR field, including the first evacuation guidelines, the disaster response experiences during the January 12, 2010, earthquake, and research on risk ecology.

Ralph studied sociology in Haiti and went to CATIE in Costa-Rica for an integrated risk management and technology program. He recently started a political consulting firm, Koraks, which empowers political leaders and improves an affirmative political presence and performance in communication. In 2018, Ralph became a World Yale University Fellow, the first Haitian to receive this distinction.

Click here to register:
https://worldaffairscouncilofrhodeisland.wildapricot.org/event-4558107

10/14/2021

Thursday, October 21, 2021
7:00 PM via Zoom

"Intergenerational Health Impacts of Genocide: Evidence from Rwandan Adults Conceived during the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi People "
presented by Glorieuse Uwizeye, Ph.D/RN, Dartmouth College Postdoctoral Fellow in Anthropology, Society of Fellows, 2021

Dr. Uwizeye explores the question of both social and biological intergenerational trauma resulting from the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Rwandans conceived by r**e during the genocide against the Tutsi endured not only a violent beginning, but troubling biological effects and childhood social trauma. Her measures with her colleagues, of multiple adult health characteristics were collected by a recent study of young adult Rwandans conceived during the genocide period. One-third were conceived by genocidal r**e with matching age and gender; one-third were born of genocide survivors who were not r**ed, and were also age- and sex-matched; and one-third were born of women with neither exposure. Results show significant differences among: 1) individuals conceived during the genocide but unaffected by r**e; 2) individuals conceived by genocidal r**e; and 3) the group conceived via genocidal r**e and exhibiting Adverse Childhood Experiences. Her findings, that are comparable to other cases of genocide, highlight the opportunities for strategic interventions to mitigate these health effects if implemented as soon as possible.

Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban will offer brief comments attempting to elucidate the differences among mass killing, civil war, and genocide, using the example of Darfur, based on her expertise on the two Sudans, North and South Sudan.
Benjamin Ndayishimiye, is a Rwandan graduate student at URI who will also offer his comments.

Register here: https://worldaffairscouncilofrhodeisland.wildapricot.org/event-4483707

09/29/2021

Our First Speaker Event for the New Program Year
Thursday, September 30, 2021; 7:00-8:30PM

AFGHANISTAN: "Behind the Headlines–Cultural and Historical Insights from an Anthropologist" - A Zoom Presentation with: Dr. Thomas Barfield of Boston University

We've all seen dramatic news reporting on the final days of the U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan.

What does the decision look like to Afghans? What sort of government is the Taliban likely to create? What features of Afghan cultural history produced this moment?

These are the sorts of questions that anthropologist Thomas Barfield will address for us. With nearly 50 years of professional engagement with Afghanistan -- from spending months riding with nomads, to directing an Afghan Studies institute in Kabul -- WACRI can't think of anyone better positioned to explain the complicated realities behind the simple headlines than Prof. Barfield.

Please follow the link to register:
https://worldaffairscouncilofrhodeisland.wildapricot.org

07/13/2021