Institute Insider

The Humphrey Institute commencement ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 18, at Ted Mann Concert Hall. Journalist Fred de Sam Lazaro will deliver the commencement address. A reception will follow.

Front Runners will hold its next monthly series of networking, inspiration, strategizing, skill building, and peer support workshops for women interested in changing the world through electoral politics. Women candidates and elected officials will talk about their campaign experiences from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14, in Freeman Commons (205 Humphrey Center). All are welcome. There is no charge to attend.

The Center for the Study of Politics and Governance will co-host a conference on “The True Workings of Single Payer Health Systems: Lessons or Warnings for U.S. Reform,” May 9 and 10 at the Humphrey Institute. A host of policy makers will be joined by preeminent national experts including Bob Berenson, Lynn Blewett, Lawrence Brown, Jon Christianson, Roger Feldman, Sherry Glied, Scott Greer, Michael Gusmano, Lawrence Jacobs, Theodore Marmor, James Morone, Mark Peterson, Adam Oliver, Michael Scandrett, Michael Sparer, Deborah Stone, Kip Sullivan, Carolyn Tuohy, and Joe White. The conference is sponsored by the University of Minnesota's Academic Health Center and the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance in partnership with the Journal of Health Policy, Politics, and Law. For a detailed conference agenda, visit www.hhh.umn.edu/centers/cspg.

The deadline for registration is Tuesday, May 6, 2008. The fee for the conference is $89.00 ($29.00 for students with valid id) payable by credit card or check. Fee is inclusive of meals during the conference and all materials. For more information, contact Lea Chittenden at (612) 625-2530.

The Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA) will host a graduate admissions fair for prospective students from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 8, in the Humphrey Center atrium. Admissions officers from 20 of APSIA’s member schools—including the Humphrey Institute—will be available to answer questions about master’s and doctoral degree programs in international affairs. All are welcome. There is no charge to attend. The APSIA graduate fair is presented in partnership with the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs’ admissions office. For more information, contact the Humphrey Institute at hhhadmit@umn.edu or (612) 624-2909.

The following schools will be represented:

American University
Columbia University
Duke University
Georgetown University
George Washington University
Harvard University
Johns Hopkins University
Princeton University
Saint Petersburg State University
Syracuse University
Tufts University
UC-San Diego
University of Denver
University of Maryland
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
University of Pittsburgh
University of Southern California
University of Washington
Yale University

What is civic agency? How do you tell stories about community-based activism? Senior Fellow Harry Boyte, co-director of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship, will talk about "Civic Agency and the Reporter's Role" from 12:45 to 2 p.m. on Monday, April 28, in Freeman Commons (205 HHH). He will address why it is important that journalists write about civic agency. He also will talk about how civic activists can successfully share their stories as agents of change. All are welcome to attend.

Charles M. Denny, Jr., the 2007–08 Louis W. Hill, Jr., Fellow in Philanthropy, will conclude his one-year fellowship with a public presentation of his research on corporate philanthropy and citizenship. All are welcome to the Hill Symposium from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on April 29 in Cowles Auditorium. Please RSVP to hhhdeans@umn.edu.

Political scholar Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, will talk about his new book, The Spirit of Democracy, from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 29, in Cowles Auditorium. One of America’s preeminent experts on democracy, Diamond will give his analysis on future prospects for freedom around the world. A panel discussion among Diamond, Humphrey Institute Dean J. Brian Atwood, and University of Minnesota political scientists Lisa Hilbink and August Nimitz will follow. The program is co-sponsored by the Humphrey Institute and the University’s Department of Political Science’s Pro-Seminar in Comparative Politics. Registration is requested at (612) 625-5002.

The Freeman Center for International Economic Policy will sponsor a global policy workshop with visiting history professor Taner Akcam from 12:45 to 2 p.m. on April 22 in the Stassen Room (170 HHH). Akcam will talk about "Contemporary Politics of Turkey and the Armenians." All are welcome. Refreshments will be served.

The Humphrey Institute will co-host a panel discussion on diplomacy and democracy building around the world at 6 p.m. on April 28 in Cowles Auditorium. The program - presented in partnership with the National Democratic Institute, International Republican Institute, and the American Academy of Diplomacy - will reveal what it takes to promote and sustain democracy abroad. Ambassadors and on-the-ground personnel from such regions as the Middle East, Latin America, and Yemen will give first-person accounts of their work and its challenges. The program is free and presented in partnership with the Minnesota International Center. Registration is requested at (612) 625-5002.

Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne will talk about his new book, Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics after the Religious Right, from noon to 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22, in the Humphrey Forum. All are welcome. The program is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance.

The Center for Integrative Leadership (CIL) will hold its second annual research symposium, "Integrative Leadership: Crossing Boundaries for the Common Good," Sunday, October 5, through Tuesday, October 7, 2008. Invited speakers Mark Gerzon, Nan Keohane, and Bruce Avolio will join participants in exploring integrative leadership theory and practice. Research “incubator conversations” will flesh out research questions for which 10 $2,500 grants will be awarded. Contact Angela Stehr at stehr002@umn.edu or (612) 625-5209 with any questions.

All are invited to the next Dean’s International Forum from 9 to 10 a.m. on Friday, April 11, in Freeman Commons. Dean Brian Atwood will join Andrew Natsios in conversation about the future of American foreign assistance programs. Natsios and Dean Atwood previously served as Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). They will talk about their time with USAID and comment on the future of such programs designed to reduce poverty. Refreshments will be provided.

Senior Fellow Tim Penny and futurist Joel Barker will headline the 2008 Center for Integrative Leadership conference, “Making Communities Work: Leadership across Public, Private, Nonprofit, and Geographic Boundaries,” April 21–22 in Cowles Auditorium. Presented in partnership with University of Minnesota Extension, the conference will provide community leaders, scholars, and community development professionals with an opportunity to examine how communities can come together to address some of the most pressing and complex societal problems: coping after a factory leaves town; tapping technology for economic growth; and putting a rural community on the map, for example. The conference also will provide a platform for analyzing how theories of leadership and community development inform the concept of integrative leadership. Registration for the two-day event is $80 per person. Find out more and register online at www.extension.umn.edu/MakingCommunitiesWork.

The Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center, in collaboration with the Association of Minnesota Counties, the League of Minnesota Cities, and the Minnesota School Boards Association, will host the second annual Local Government Innovation Awards from 2 to 5 p.m. on Monday, April 21, in Cowles Auditorium. The awards program recognizes outstanding cities, counties, and public schools that have used inventive practices to improve local services. The awards ceremony is free and open to the public, but registration is requested. To attend, please RSVP to pnlc@umn.edu.

The Sawyer Seminar series concludes with a lecture from Hany El-Banna at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 17, in Cowles Auditorium. El-Banna is the co-founder and president of Islamic Relief, the largest Western-based international Muslim relief and development NGO. Islamic Relief aims to provide rapid relief in the event of human and natural disasters and to establish local development projects to eradicate poverty, illiteracy and disease. El-Banna will talk about “The Global Role of Muslims in Humanitarian Aid.”

The Sawyer Seminar continues with a presentation by Andrew S. Natsios, the Distinguished Professor in Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, at 4 p.m. on April 10 in Cowles Auditorium. Natsios managed the U.S. Agency for International Development’s reconstruction programs in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Sudan from 2001 to 2006. President George W. Bush also appointed him Special Coordinator for International Disaster Assistance and Special Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sudan. He will give a first-hand account of “The Crisis in Sudan and the Humanitarian Response.”

The Sawyer Seminar will feature a lecture by Mark Juergensmeyer, director of the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies and professor of sociology and religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, at 4 p.m. on April 9 in the Wilkins Room (215 HHH). Juergensmeyer is an expert on religious violence, conflict resolution, and South Asian religion and politics. His widely read book, Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, is based on interviews with violent religious activists around the world—including individuals convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, leaders of Hamas, and abortion clinic bombers in the United States.

Water quality impacts everything—from our food and our health to the environment and the economy. The 2008 Freeman Lecture will focus on the implications and complexities of policy decisions we make about water resources from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8, at the Humphrey Institute. Rep. James Oberstar, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, will deliver the morning keynote address from 9 to 11 a.m. Steve Morse, executive director of the Minnesota Environmental Partnership, will follow Oberstar’s remarks with a luncheon address. The program will conclude with afternoon panel discussions about water policy issues in Minnesota, such as the Great Lakes Compact, regional water access, and the quality of water resources throughout the state. The Freeman Lecture is free and open to the public, with a nominal charge for lunch ($20 for the general public; no charge for high school and college students). Seating is limited, so pre-registration for the program and lunch is required. Please register online at www.freemanforum.org. Questions can be directed to (651) 645-9403.

The Freeman Center for International Economic Policy will sponsor a global policy workshop with visiting scholar Kaye Husbands Fealing from 12:45 to 2 p.m. on April 8 in the Stassen Room (170 HHH). Husbands Fealing will talk about "Technological Change and Regional Prosperity in a Globalized Economy." All are welcome. Refreshments will be served.

The Hubert H. Humphrey Public Leadership Awards will be held on Tuesday, June 3, at the McNamara Alumni Center. Ward B. Chamberlin, Jr., public broadcasting pioneer and co-founder of AFS Intercultural Programs, will receive the dean’s award. Chamberlin will be honored along side local leaders to be selected this spring through a nomination process. Individual tickets to the dinner and program are $125. Please contact Julie C. Lund at (612) 624-1190 or julie@umn.edu for more information.