Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs
First Annual International Conference
March 14-16, 2013
“The Politics of Freshwater: Access and Identity in a Changing Environment”
Pre-conference events
Thursday, March 7, 7pm, Dana Auditorium: “Rivers of Ice: Vanishing Glaciers of the Greater
Himalaya” with David Breashears, Glacier Works, and Orville Schell, Asia Society
Friday, March 8, 12:30pm, Axinn 219: “From Rocket Science to Rural Africa: My Journey to
Ghana” by Kate Clopeck, Community Water Solutions
Tuesday, March 12, 4:30pm, Hillcrest 103: “Working on Water: Student and Faculty
Perspectives on Researching Water Issues” Interested in water issues? Wondering what it's like
to do research as a student and faculty member? The Rohatyn Center Student Steering
Committee is hosting a panel preview to Rohatyn Center's Water Symposium – come hear
about the current research and experiences of students and faculty who study a wide variety of
water issues.
Wednesday, March 13, 4:30, Robert A. Jones ’59 House conference room: "Tierra de Agua:
Filming Water Issues in Nicaragua.” "How do you turn an environmental research project into a
documentary? Fellow Monterey students are coming to share with you and the Rohatyn Center
Student Steering Committee their experience filming water issues in Nicaragua for Tierra de
Agua. Clips of the documentary and a short presentation by the movie-makers will open the
floor to your questions!
Wednesday, March 13, 7pm, Robert A. Jones ’59 House conference room: “Water, Trees, Life: A
Global Perspective on Healing Our Hurting Planet” by Roger Hoesterey, The Eden Projects
Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs
First Annual International Conference
“The Politics of Freshwater: Access and Identity in a Changing Environment”
Conference Program
Thursday, March 14
4:30 pm: Co-Programming Event with Mahaney Center for the Arts; Dana Auditorium
Edward Burtynsky, Artist, speaking about Nature Transformed, currently featured at the
Mahaney Center for the Arts.
6:30-8:00 pm: Opening Session; Robert A. Jones ’59 House
Faculty Moderator: Michael Sheridan, Sociology and Anthropology
Student Chair: Gillian Lui ’13
Presenters:
Tamar Mayer, Middlebury College
Opening remarks
William J. Cosgrove, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
An Equitable and Sustainable Water Future
Frank Magilligan, Dartmouth College
The Era of Big Dam Building: It ain’t over till it’s over
Friday, March 15
12:15-2:30 pm: Water Divided, Robert A. Jones ’59 House
Faculty Moderator: Robert Greeley, Arabic
Student Chair: Jaehyuk (Jeff) Lee ’13
Presenters:
Pushpa Iyer, Monterey Institute of International Studies
The Politics of Muddled Waters in Gujarat, India: Environmental, economic, social, and cultural
influences
T. S. McMillin, Oberlin College
When Is A River Not A River? Strange waters in the Los Angeles Basin
Chris Sneddon and Coleen Fox, Dartmouth College
The New Politics of Mekong Hydro-Development
Maria Alessandra Woolson, Middlebury College
Rapa Nui and Canary Islands: A political ecology approach to understanding water governance
2:45-4:15 pm: Changing Water and Land Use; Robert A. Jones ’59 House
Faculty Moderator: Ilaria Brancoli Busdraghi, Italian
Student Chair: Adrian Leong ’16
Presenters:
Jessica K. Graybill, Colgate University
Resource Mobility and Flow in, through, and out of the Russian Far East: Understanding
socionatural systems in multi-harvest resource spaces
Pinar Keskin, Wellesley College, and Richard Hornbeck, Harvard University
The Historically Evolving Impact of the Ogallala Aquifer: Agricultural adaptation to groundwater
and drought
Michael Vincent McGinnis, Monterey Institute of International Studies
Creating Ecological Scarcity: The struggle to sustain New Zealand’s water, watersheds and
pastoral heritage
4:30-6:00 pm: Water Territories; Robert A. Jones ’59 House
Faculty Moderator: Dan Brayton, English and American Literatures
Student Chair: Olivia Noble ’13
Presenters:
Samer Alatout, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Water, Occupation, and the Viability of the Two State Option in Historic Palestine
Catherine M. Ashcraft, Middlebury College
Managing Conflict in International River Basins: The Danube and the Nile Rivers
Eve Vogel, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
The Long-Term Consequences of Trans-Jurisdictional River Basin Governance: Anti-democratic
unity, fragmentation and failure, or parceling out the watershed
Saturday, March 16
9:00-10:30 am: Sustaining Multiple Uses of Water; Robert A. Jones ’59 House
(over continental breakfast)
Faculty Moderator: Robert Prasch, Economics
Student Chair: Nate Goldstone ’13
Presenters:
Francisco Páez de la Cadena, Universidad de La Rioja, Spain
Can Gardens Teach Us How to Better Use Water?
Lina Abu-Ghunmi, Diana Abu-Ghunmi and Mariska Ronteltap, University of Jordan, Amman,
Jordan
Grey Water Concept Toward Mitigating Water Shortage
10:45 am – 12:15 pm: Access to Water and Resistance; Robert A. Jones ’59 House
Faculty Moderator: Kacy McKinney, Geography
Student Chair: Morris Swaby Ebanks ’13
Presenters:
Cynthia Bannon, Indiana University, Bloomington
Ancient Roman Water Rights and Commons Theory
Marcos F. Lopez, Middlebury College
The Power of Water: Industrial agriculture, resource inequities and indigenous farm worker
resistance
Daniel Ryan and Andres Napoli, Fundacion Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, Argentina
Legal Mobilization and the Politics of Water Pollution: The case of the Matanza – Riachuelo
basin in Argentina
12:30-2:00 pm: Summary and Discussion; Robert A. Jones ’59 House
Co-sponsors: Christian A. Johnson Economics Fund, C. V. Starr Middlebury Schools Abroad, Program in
Environmental Studies, Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest,
Departments of English and American Literatures, Classics, Geography and Political Science, and the
Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs.
For information contact Tamar Mayer 802.443.5568 or Cat Ashcraft 802.443.5519
go/waterconference