International Affairs Symposium Explores Complex Global Challenges

The fourth and final student-led symposium of the academic year is also Lewis & Clark’s longest running and best known: the 54th annual International Affairs Symposium starts Monday, April 4, and runs through Wednesday, April 6. Supported by the college’s nationally renowned Department of International Affairs and free and open to the public, the symposium is one of the most prestigious events within the Oregon academic and civic communities.  

The International Affairs Symposium brings together local and national scholars and students to probe the complexities of modern international politics, with experts presenting diverse and often opposing views. And this year’s schedule offers an abundance of opportunities for debate and discussion, with topics ranging from combating ISIS to managing historic levels of human migration to understanding the impact of a much more internet-connected world.

The gathering’s keynote event Monday evening is a moderated discussion between two world-renowned national security scholars: Max Boot, Jeanne Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations; and David Ignatius, associate editor and weekly columnist at the Washington Post. Boot and Ignatius will be discussing how the world moves forward in its confrontation with ISIS/ISIL.

“This year’s theme will present prevailing viewpoints we take for granted, and challenge them in very critical and reasonable ways,” stated Matthew Wong ’16, one of the event’s student cochairs.

Entirely student-run, this year’s symposium, Global Divergence: Challenging Dominant Perspectives of an Interconnected World, promises to provide insight into some of the most talked-about issues in world news. It also aims to shine a light on less prominent developments, examining topics like global citizenship in the face of mass migration and the equalizing potential of the web.

Event cochair Masha Egorenko ’16 looks forward to seeing how the symposium will help answer the question, “What is the next step forward in integrating migrants into a culture?” She hopes the discussion will propose, not prescribe, possible policy solutions to integrating migrants into a society.

Visit the International Affairs Symposium site for event details and a full schedule of events.

Lewis & Clark International Affairs Symposium through the years

International Affairs Department