January 28, 2009 – 7:00 p.m. – “A Stable and Progressive Middle East: More than a Dream?” Haviland Smith, retired C.I.A. station chief, who served in the Middle East and as chief of the counter-terrorism staff. Co-sponsored with History, Government, & Economics Departments of Dutchess Community College. Dutchess Theater, Dutchess Community College.
February 18, 2009 – 7:00 p.m. – “Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: the New Geopolitics of Energy,” Michael Klare, Professor of Peace and World Security Studies, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA. Co-sponsored with academic departments at Marist College. Marist College Performing Arts Rm.
March 25, 2009 – 5:30 p.m. – “Helping the Obama Administration Achieve Its Global Agenda and Meet Its Commitment to Girls’s and Women’s Health and Human Rights” Adrienne Germain, President of the International Women’s Health Coalition.” Co-sponsored with Vassar College Women’s Studies Program, Vassar College Economics Department, Health Service, Health Education Office, International Studies and Women’s Studies Programs, Vassar College Amnesty International, Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, Operation Donation, P.E.A.C.E., UNICEF, and the Vassar Uganda Project. Co-sponsors from the Hudson Valley community include the American Association of University Women, Poughkeepsie Branch; Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill; Hudson River HealthCare; League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region; and Planned Parenthood of the Mid-Hudson Valley. Vassar College, Villard Room.
April 21, 2009 at 6:00 p.m – “Afghanistan on the Brink: Political Turmoil, Rising Insecurity and Shrinking Humanitarian Space,” Alex Mundt, Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow. Members-only event. St. Andrews Café, Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park.
May 9, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. – “Contemporary Developments in Turkey,” Zehra F. Kabasakal Arat, Juanita and Joseph Leff Professor of Political Science at SUNY Purchase, where she has taught since 1989 and also served as Chair of the Women’s Studies Program. Her research focuses on democracy and human rights, with an emphasis on women’s rights. She is the author of Deconstructing Images of “The Turkish Woman,” (1998) and Human Rights in Turkey (2007), among other books. The talk was part of the orientation for six area high school teachers departing for Turkey in summer on a World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley and Turkish Cultural Foundation sponsored study tour. Vassar College.
Sept. 21, 2009 – 7 p.m., “Dealing with a Troubled Pakistan”, Shahid Javed Burki, professional economist and Rhodes Scholar who served as Finance Minister of Pakistan, currently a visiting fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C. Author of Changing Perceptions, Altered Reality: Pakistan’s Economy under Musharraf, 1999-2006 James & Betty Hall Theatre, Dutchess Community College.
Oct. 27, 2009 – 7 p.m., Panel Discussion: “Is Today’s U.N. Prepared to Handle the
New Dynamics of Multilateral Diplomacy?”. Presenter: James P. Muldoon, Jr., senior Fellow of the Division of Global Affairs of Rutgers University (formerly known as the Center for Global Change and Governance). Respondents: Glen Johnson, Shirley Ecker Boskey Professor of Political Science, Vassar College; Stephen Rock, Professor of Political Science, Vassar College; David Woolner, Sr. Vice President of the Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and Associate Professor of History at Marist College. WAC member Richard Reitano served as moderator. Henry A. Wallace Visitor & Information Center, FDR Library.
Nov. 12, 2009 – 6 p.m. Annual Meeting and presentation: “Healthcare Lessons from Overseas and Canada: Is There Something We Can Learn?”, Dr. Stephen C. Schoenbaum, Executive Vice President for Programs at the Commonwealth Fund and Executive Director of its Commission on a High Performance Health System. Dinner at Escoffier Restaurant, Culinary Institute of America. Annual meeting and presentation and annual meeting followed at Ecolab Theatre.
Dec 1, 2009 – 7:15 p.m. “Turkey – A Mosaic” – Our Turkish Program participants in last summer’s trip to Turkey (Patrick Healy, Maryann Williams, Karen Nichols, James Daley and Danielle DuBois ) talked about their experiences. SUNY New Paltz.
Dec. 6, 2009 – 2:00 p.m. [snow date Sun. Dec. 13 – 2:00 p.m] “Academic WorldQuest” [an area high school team competition] Joseph Lombardi, coordinator. Henry A. Wallace Visitor & Information Center, FDR Library.
