International relations giants come to Swarthmore
Starting later today, Swarthmore begins a extensive symposium on "Anti-Americanism, Failing States and American Foreign Policy: Challenges in Contemporary International Politics."
The symposium, held in honor of retiring Political Science Professor Raymond Hopkins, brings a number of old, prestigious, faces back to Swarthmore. Robert Keohane, a former Swarthmore professor, was ranked as the single most influential scholar of international relations by Foreign Policy magazine in 2005. Swarthmore graduate Peter Katzenstein '67 joined Keohane on the list as the 11ths most influential scholar of international relations. Charles Beitz, another former professor, returns to Swarthmore from Princeton University. This is a "staggering A-list of academic stars," explained Professor Dominic Tierney, who is responsible for chairing today's 1:30-3:30 panel on Anti-Americanism.
Each panel will run with roughly the same format. The panelists will speak for 15 minutes each on their given topics. In the Anti-Americanism lecture, for example, Keohane and Katzenstein '67 will each speak about different aspects of anti-Americanism, while Kenneh Oye '71 will close their talks by discussing the American response to anti-americanism. "They'll try to unravel the different strands of anti-Americanism," explained Tierney. "There is a big difference between a french intellectual criticizing the United States and an Iraqi insurgent criticizing the US." Following the opening talks, the audience will have moore than 45 minutes remaining for an extensive question and answer session.
The symposium consists of three lectures. All will take place in the Scheuer Room. The first will be held from 1:30-3:30pm today on anti-Americansim. The second, running from 4-6pm, will addess failed states. Finally, on Saturday, Swarthmore's Professor James Kurth will join a panel from 10-12am to discuss how America could respond to these changes.
"This is an absolutely fantastic opportunity," argued Tierney. "These are the people we read! I really look forward to seeing how they help us strongly push forward in class."
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