SIS Associate Dean Named D.C. Professor of the Year
ALUMNI NEWS
Dana Boyle, SIS/BA
'98, a principal of Boyle
Law Firm, Kenosha,
Wisc., has been named
to the Wisconsin Rising
Stars 2012 list of the top up-and-coming
attorneys in Wisconsin. Each year, no
more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in
the state receive this honor. Read more.
GETTING TO KNOW YOU ROBIN BROAD
Job Title: Professor,
International
Development
Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, associate dean for undergraduate studies at SIS, has been named
Job Duties: I teach
Washington, D.C.'s 2012 undergraduate professor of the year by the Council for Advancement and
Support of Education (CASE). Jackson and other awardees were honored at a reception in D.C. on Nov.
undergrad and grad international
15.
development courses in two main areas:
environment and development, and
"Since I have always defined my vocation as being first and foremost a teacher, it is deeply gratifying to
economic globalization and
be recognized for my work with students over the years," said Jackson. "What we do as academics -
development. The latter focuses on
what is distinctive about what we do, as compared with all the other knowledge-producing professions out
global-local links - for example, the
there - is to provide occasions both inside and outside of the classroom for students to encounter ideas,
impact of investment or of trade on the
concepts and arguments that unsettle their basic assumptions and promote intellectual growth. That's
ground in economic, environmental and
what I have always done in my teaching, and to be nationally recognized for doing so is one of the best
social terms. I am very lucky because
votes of confidence I have ever received."
what I teach is related to my research
and to my policy and advocacy work. I
The U.S. Professors of the Year program, launched in 1981, is sponsored by CASE and the Carnegie
care about these issues passionately, as
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. It is the only national program to recognize excellence in
do my students. Read more.
undergraduate teaching and mentoring.
"Professor Jackson's enthusiasm for teaching and his commitment to the undergraduate experience at
SIS and AU at large make him the ideal choice for the D.C. professor of the year," said Dean James
GETTING INK
Goldgeier.
Jackson became associate dean for undergraduate studies last July 2012. He previously directed the
AU's General Education program, overseeing the implementation of the university's liberal arts
requirement.
Professor Jordan Tama's op-ed "
Sorry, Senators. An independent panel
is the best way to investigate Benghazi."
appeared in the Washington Post, Nov.
MORE HEADLINES - 11/20/2012
16. Read more.
Professor Explores Climate Hardship in Nepal
Scholars Discuss Israel, Iran and the Bomb
Wallander Named Fellow at German Marshall Fund
INTELLECTUAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Jake Sullivan, State Department Policy Planner, Visits SIS
Election Night Photo Series
Professor Dan
Schneider participated
in a panel event, "The
Law of Cyber Warfare:
Professor Explores Climate Hardship in Nepal
Can the Current Legal Regime Hack It?"
at AU's Washington College of Law on
SIS Professor Paul Wapner traveled through Nepal last
Nov. 8. Read more.
September for three weeks as part of an ongoing
climate-change study. While in Nepal, Wapner met with
subsistence farmers, shopkeepers and the country's
minister of the environment and chief secretary of the
EVENTS
government.
Ambassador Dennis
Ross and Dean James
"In climate change, we talk about mitigation - reducing
Goldgeier will discuss
carbon and transforming our energy systems - and
"U.S. Policy in the
adaptation, adjusting to a warmer world," said Wapner.
Middle East in the Next
"There's a third response. Inevitably there's going to be
Administration"
a lot of suffering. My project tries to understand also
Monday, Nov. 26, at 2
what that's about, and how climate suffering feeds into
our mitigation and adaptation policies."
As he traveled throughout Nepal, which he calls the "ground zero of climate change," Wapner studied the
p.m. in the SIS
Abramson Family Founders Room. The
event is open to the public. Read more.
environment and how the Nepalese responded to climate shifts.
"One of the things I'm learning is how people are actually experiencing climate hardship - like extreme
CONNECT WITH SIS
drought, floods and landslides," he said. "The second thing I'm learning is people's understanding of
change itself." He explained that the poor accept change more readily than those in the middle class
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because poor people are more vulnerable to events beyond their control.
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Wapner's sabbatical plans include more research in Indonesia and a visit to Corsica to study how island
nations cope with climate hardships. He will also examine the effects of climate change closer to home in New Jersey and New York, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
"What we're seeing there is climate suffering," Wapner said. "It's irresponsible to point a causal finger at
one event and say that it's climate change, but what happened in New York and New Jersey is what the
models predicted. They're exactly like the scenarios we saw in Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth,"
and what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has forecasted."
However, the news isn't all doom and gloom, he said.
"The bright spot of this is that there are different ways to experience and respond to climate suffering. My
research finds that many people are expressing compassion, preserving a sense of justice and building
stronger bonds of community in the face of severe hardship. Climate suffering is not necessarily about
descending into a dog-eat-dog world."
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Scholars Discuss Israel, Iran and the Bomb
Twitter
Panelist Trita Parsi speaks at the "Israel, Iran and the Bomb" discussion as moderator Dean James Goldgeier looks on.
SIS's International Politics program and the AU Center for Israel Studies co-sponsored the forum
discussion "Israel, Iran and the Bomb" on Nov. 12.
The panel was moderated by Dean James Goldgeier. Participating experts included Trita Parsi, president
of the National Iranian American Council; Natan Sachs, foreign policy fellow at The Brookings Institution's
Saban Center for Middle East Policy; Michael Singh, managing director of the Washington Institute for
Near East Policy; and SIS Professor Sharon Weiner.
Most experts agree that Iran is in the beginning phases of nuclear capability. "U.S. intelligence officials
are confident that Iran has no nuclear weapons program," said Parsi. "The regime has failed people - it
could be more advanced and free than it currently is. Political repression has held them back."
In response to Goldgeier's inquiry about how worried everyone should be about Iran, Weiner explained
that nuclear energy and weapons programs are very similar in the first stages. "It all comes down to
intent," she said.
While countries can only speculate as to the state of Iran's nuclear capabilities, Sachs said, "there's no
doubt that a nuclear Iran would be terrible for the world and for Israel."
Parsi said that a nuclear Iran would, ironically, weaken the country's advantage. "If Iran builds a weapon,
there is a risk of regional proliferation. Then Iran would lose its strategic advantage and strategic parity
would occur."
Still, Singh said, Iran is a long way from having a functional nuclear weapon, which reduces the chance
that President Barack Obama will decide to strike the country.
"Iran must weaponize the fuel and have a missile - a way to deliver it," Singh said. "Iran's challenge is how do they get from where they are now to a weapon without provoking a strike? We don't want to take
a position unless we absolutely have to. The U.S. and Israel want to avoid strikes if possible."
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Professor Bram Groen's Cross-Cultural Communications class visited the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nov. 1.
The students ate a traditional Kazakh dinner and spoke with the Embassy's Political Officer Nurgali Arystanov.
Wallander Named Fellow at German Marshall Fund
Last week, Professor and International Politics Program Director
Celeste Wallander was named a non-resident transatlantic fellow of The
German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF).
Wallander served as the former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of
defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia from May 2009 to July 2012.
She was the principal advisor on the region to the secretary of defense.
"Professor Wallander's appointment will help foster stronger ties between SIS and the German Marshall
Fund, and we are pleased that the GMF has recognized her outstanding expertise in Russia and
Eurasia," said Dean James Goldgeier.
As part of the GMF's Foreign Policy Program, Wallander will concentrate on Russia, the South Caucasus,
Ukraine and Belarus. The GMF also monitors Russia's relationship with Asia and Eastern European
energy issues.
"Celeste's entire career has been devoted to better understanding Russia, a critical actor in the world and
in transatlantic relations," said GMF President Craig Kennedy. "Drawing on her experience in both
academia and government, she will add a new dimension to GMF's work on Russia and its region."
GMF was founded in 1972 to strengthen transatlantic cooperation in the spirit of the Marshall Plan.
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Jake Sullivan, State Department Policy Planner, Visits SIS
The world is changing. Power shifts, new technologies and a host of other factors are transforming the
international arena. And, according to Jake Sullivan, director of policy planning at the U.S. Department of
State, the United States needs to keep up with those changes while still maintaining its leadership role.
During a talk organized by the Transnational Challenges and Emerging Nations Dialogue
(www.transcend-global.org) at the School of International Service on Nov. 8, Sullivan discussed the
foreign policy model implemented by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama. For
the past four years, Sullivan has traveled to 112 countries with Clinton and seen the role of the U.S. in the
world "up close and personal."
The Obama model is based on three premises: that the U.S. still has great convening power, that other
countries still look to it for leadership and that the world is changing. Sullivan highlighted the importance
of U.S. involvement in world issues. "While it is true that no global challenge can be solved by any one
country, no global challenge can be solved without us." The U.S. can't rely on old tactics in its leadership
role, though. "The key point is that effective leadership has to look different than it did 20 years ago
because the world looks different," said Sullivan.
He described four core values that will fulfill the task. The first is "leadership with purpose." Sullivan said
the U.S. needs to look beyond its own self-interest, adding that the country should be driven by the desire
to be on the right side of history. This is especially important after recent wars left some people with the
impression that the U.S. was not their friend, he said.
The second value is "leadership through burden sharing,"or striving for mutual responsibility, respect and
dialogue. A good example of burden sharing, Sullivan said, was having multiple countries put sanctions
on Iran instead of the U.S. imposing sanctions solo.
The third value is "leadership through enforcement of the rules," Sullivan said. The U.S. must keep the
international order. Professor Amitav Acharya, UNESCO Chair in Transnational Challenges and
Governance and director of TRANSCEND at SIS, added that the biggest challenge for U.S. foreign
policymakers in the coming decades will be how to deal with rising powers who want changes in
international decision-making structures and rules.
"Leadership by example" is the final value. "This means we need to put the house in order," said Sullivan,
referring to building a strong economy and political consensus.
Sullivan is optimistic that by using these guidelines, the United States can still do a lot for the rest of the
world. "I have become jaded about many things in my job, but one thing I haven't become jaded about is
getting off that plane and thinking of what we can deliver to that country," he said.
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Election Night Photo Series
About 800 students, staff, faculty, alumni and AU neighbors attended the election night watch party in the
SIS atrium Nov. 6. Washington, D.C.'s NBC4 and media outlets from Germany, Slovakia, Morocco, Saudi
Arabia, France, Bangladesh and Sweden covered the event, which featured raffles, a trivia contest and a
balloon drop.
AU students and alumni watching the returns.
Professor Asiya Daud being interviewed by Moroccan television.
Dean James Goldgeier (l) and Provost Scott Bass (r).
A snapshot of the balloon drop after the winner was announced.
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ALUMNI NEWS
Members of the Class of 1962 visited SIS during All-American Weekend in November.
Class Notes
We invite readers to send comments to SISComm@american.edu. Please include your graduation year
and degree.
Dana Boyle, SIS/BA '98, a principal of Boyle Law Firm, Kenosha,
Wisc., has been named to the Wisconsin Rising Stars 2012 list of the
top up-and-coming attorneys in Wisconsin. Each year, no more than
2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state receive this honor.
Grace Chung, SIS/BA '07, is working for IBM. Sun Shin, SIS/BA '07,
is pursuing her master's degree at Harvard University.
On Oct. 16, 2010, Boyle married
David C. LaPointe in Sycamore, Ill.
Amanda Lotz, SIS/BA '11, now works for Accion International.
Chelsea Crandall, SIS/BA '12, holds the position of junior professional associate for the World Bank.
Alexandra Golomb, SIS/BA '12, is a marketing coordinator for Discovery Communications. Sarah
McHaney, SIS/BA '12, works for PBS. Christopher Regacho, SIS/BA '12, works for Credit Builders
Alliance.
"As a returned Peace Corps Director (Cameroon 1979-81) and AU Alumna, I was fascinated with the
article by Stephen W. Angelsmith ["The Peace Corps and SIS - The Partnership Grows," Nov. 6]," wrote
Constance Freeman, SIS/BA '68.
"This is an excellent communication - informative and concise. Thank you," wrote Ian Davies, SIS/BA
'93.
AU Update hit inboxes on Monday, Nov. 19. Did you receive your copy? If not, be sure to update your
contact information with AU Alumni Relations at www.american.edu/alumni. Both Allison Silberberg,
SIS/BA '84, and Kirk Acevedo, SIS/BA '11, are featured.
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Getting to Know You - Robin Broad
Job Title: Professor, International Development
Job Duties: I teach undergrad and grad international development
courses in two main areas: environment and development, and
economic globalization and development. The latter focuses on globallocal links - for example, the impact of investment or of trade on the
ground in economic, environmental and social terms. I am very lucky
because what I teach is related to my research and to my policy and
advocacy work. I care about these issues passionately, as do my
students.
How long have you worked at SIS: Since 1990.
What would your colleagues be surprised to know about you: I won my high school's Betty Crocker
Homemaker of the Year Award!
The best part of working at SIS: Classrooms filled with highly motivated students from all over the world
who want to do their part to make the world a better place. Students who care not just about international
studies, but about international service.
My first job: I was a bank teller in high school. But my first job after getting my Ph.D. was as an
international economist in the U.S. Treasury Department. Ronald Reagan was president, and my first
boss was Donald Regan, followed by James Baker. I left the Treasury Department for Capitol Hill, where I
worked on international economic issues for Chuck Schumer.
Where I grew up: Manchester, New Hampshire - once the site of the largest cotton mill in the world.
Family: My husband John Cavanagh and I met in graduate school; we were both research assistants for
Richard Falk. John and I have a 15-year-old son, Jesse Broad-Cavanagh, who is an avid Ultimate
Frisbee player.
What I enjoy doing on the weekends: I love to walk along Sligo Creek in Takoma Park.
What I'm reading these days: David Corbett's Blood of Paradise - I tend to read books related to where
I'm doing fieldwork.
Favorite book: I am a huge fan of narrative non-fiction. My favorite authors have long included Barbara
Ehrenreich and Adam Hochschild (King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in
Colonial Africa, for example), and more recently, Katherine Boo (Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life,
Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity).
Favorite D.C. hangout: My office, of course. Beyond my office, Malaysia Kopitiam for its baby-oyster
omelets and shaved ice dessert and Las Canteras for its ceviche.
Favorite food: Very hard to choose between Salvadoran pupusas and Philippine sinigang na hipon (sour
shrimp soup).
Last vacation: I love to spend my vacation time in places off the beaten track, in ordinary farming and
fishing villages in countries where I am doing research. So my last vacation was at a little fishing village in
southern El Salvador.
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Getting Ink
Professor Jordan Tama's op-ed " Sorry, Senators. An independent panel is the best way to investigate
Benghazi." appeared in the Washington Post, Nov. 16.
Professor Amitav Acharya's opinion piece, "What Obama's Second Term Means for Asia," appeared in
East Asia Forum, Nov. 11.
Professor David Mislan: Interviewed regarding General Petraeus's resignation, WNEW 99.1, Nov. 9.
Professor Gordon Adams' opinion piece, "How'd That Defense Jobs Circus Work Out for You?,"
appeared in Foreign Policy, Nov. 8.
Professor Loubna Skalli-Hanna: Interviewed in "Info Soir: Mardi 06 novembre," 2M (Morocco; 5:02),
Nov. 6.
Professor Gordon Adams' opinion piece, "Fiscal Cliff Notes," appeared in Foreign Policy, Nov. 6.
Professor Quansheng Zhao: Interviewed in "U.S.-China Diplomacy," NHK World (Japan), Nov. 6.
Professor Robert Pastor's opinion piece, "Carter's Legacy Instructive to Candidates," appeared in
Guam Pacific Daily News, Nov. 5.
Professor Gary Weaver's opinion piece, "Obama the Realist vs. Romney the Idealist," (with Theodore
Couloumbis and Bill Ahlstrom) appeared in Real Clear World, Nov. 3.
Professor Robert Pastor's opinion piece, "Is Obama Like Carter as Romney Says?" appeared in USA
Today, Nov. 1.
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Intellectual Contributions
Professor Dan Schneider participated in a panel event, "The Law of
Cyber Warfare: Can the Current Legal Regime Hack It?" at AU's
Washington College of Law on Nov. 8.
Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies Ambassador Akbar Ahmed delivered a lecture, "Islam in
America: Challenges and Opportunities," at the Woolf Institute's Centre for the Study of Muslim-Jewish
Relations at the University of Cambridge (England) on Nov. 8.
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Events
Ambassador Dennis Ross and Dean James Goldgeier will discuss
"U.S. Policy in the Middle East in the Next Administration" Monday, Nov.
26, at 2 p.m. in the SIS Abramson Family Founders Room. The event is
open to the public.
Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation
Thomas M. Countryman will speak on "Next Generation Proliferation
Challenges: Looking Ahead" Monday, Nov. 26, in SIS Room 300 from
3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Professor Celeste Wallander will discuss "Women in Defense and
Security Policy" Monday, Nov. 26, from 6:30 - 8 p.m. in the SIS Abramson
Family Founders Room. During the 2008 Obama campaign, Wallander
served as a member of the small team of advisors who wrote the
administration's strategy for U.S. relations with Russia and Eurasia. When she joined the Pentagon in
May 2009, she became part of the team that developed and implemented the policy. The event is free
and open to the public.
The Social Enterprise program will sponsor a workshop on design thinking Saturday, Dec. 1. The
workshop is open to the public; fees are $15 for students and $25 for professionals. Visit the workshop's
Facebook page (www.facebook.com/DesignThinkingWorkshop) for information on locations and
registration.
SIS will host a Graduate Practica Symposium Saturday, Dec. 1, from 1 p.m - 4 p.m. in the SIS Abramson
Family Founders Room. The symposium will feature SIS graduate student teams who have worked with
partners in the federal government, nonprofit and business world to provide program and policy analysis.
This fall's symposium features projects prepared for partners at the U.S. Department of State, the
Defense Intelligence Agency, Abt Associates and the National Security Council. The event is free and
open to the public.
National Director of Financial Services Communication Stan Collender; Program Examiner for the Office
of Management and Budget's National Security Division David Glaudemans; and Majority Professional
Staff Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Defense Katie Kaufer will join
moderator SIS Professor Gordon Adams on Wednesday, Dec. 5 from 3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. in SIS Room
300 for the panel discussion "Defense and the Federal Budget Follies: Over the Cliff, Grand Bargain or
Kick the Can?" The event is free and open to the public.
Alexander Downes, associate professor of political science and international affairs at The George
Washington University in D.C., will speak on "Foreign-Imposed Regime Change and the Onset of Civil
War" Monday, Dec. 10, in SIS 300 from 11:45 a.m. - 1:15 p.m. The free event, part of the fall
International Relations Workshop, is open to SIS faculty.
Skills institutes will be occurring on select dates this fall and 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.
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Located in Washington, DC, American University's School of International Service is ranked consistently among the top ten schools of international relations. More than 3,000
students, from undergraduates to PhD candidates, representing 150 countries, are taught by over 100 full-time faculty. SIS's policy-practitioner relationships and global university
partnerships help to place 80 percent of its students in internships, and enable 40 percent of graduate students, and 80 percent of undergraduates, to study abroad. The School's
faculty, practicing adjuncts and interdisciplinary curriculum prepare graduates for global service in government, non-profits and business.
For information regarding the accreditation and state licensing of American University, please visit www.american.edu/academics
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