David Kang is professor of international relations and business at the University of Southern California, with appointments in both the School of International Relations and Marshall School of Business. He is also director of USC Korean Studies Institute and director of the USC Center for International Studies. Kang's latest book is East Asia Before the West: Five Centuries of Trade and Tribute (Columbia, 2010). He is also author of China Rising: Peace, Power, and Order in East Asia (Columbia, 2007), Crony Capitalism: Corruption and Development in South Korea and the Philippines (Cambridge, 2002), and Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies, with Victor Cha (Columbia, 2003). In this event, Kang will explain why East Asia actually more peaceful than the conventional wisdom might suggest. Read more and register at go.osu.edu/kangd

Stephanie Rickard is associate professor at London School of Economics. She studies international trade. Currently, she is researching non-tariff barriers to foreign trade, including state subsidies and discriminatory public procurement practices. She is a member of the steering committee of the International Political Economy Society and the editorial board of the journal International Organization. She has appeared on BBC Radio 4's Today programme to discuss various events in the global economy, including the leadership contest at the World Trade Organization. In this event, Rickard will discuss why politicians redistribute more in some democracies than others in the context of particularistic economic policies, which selectively assist small groups of citizens at the expense of many. Read more and register at go.osu.edu/rickards

Please join a panel of Mershon Center affiliated faculty and the Undergraduate Research Office for an interdisciplinary discussion on the basic ingredients of a good undergraduate research project. Panel members will cite examples of good undergraduate research projects and address such questions as:

Read more and register at go.osu.edu/URF2016

You've heard of the Jurassic, Cambrian, Pleistocene, Holocene. Now a group of world-renowned scholars is debating whether to declare a new geological epoch - the Anthropocene. Mankind has so changed Earth, they state, that we've created our own geological layer. In our film, key members of the group, for the first time on camera, tell the story of the Anthropocene - from the Time of Fire to today's Great Acceleration and beyond. And ask ... how will our story end? And should it make us laugh or cry? Stay after the screening for a live Q and A with director Stephen Bradshaw.   Read more

Why did Showa Japan march to the Pacific War? What were the keys to Japan's policy failures? To shed light on these questions 70 years after the war, five panelists will offer the most up-to-date research findings using the recent historiography featured in Fifteen Lectures on Showa Japan. The panelists will cover Japan's foreign policy, party politics, and public opinion in the early Showa period and place them in the broader context of modern history. The Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture/Japan Library has organized the U.S. tour of this panel discussion, and will have Fifteen Lectures on Showa Japan available during the reception. This event at Ohio State is hosted by the Institute for Japanese Studies and East Asian Studies Center. Read more

David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., is the second person in history to simultaneously hold the positions of U.S. Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary for Health. In these dual roles, he encouraged public debate about the importance of a balanced healthcare system and a wide range of related topics, including mental health, suicide, cloning, sex education and AIDS. Serving under both President Bill Clinton and President George H.W. Bush, he led efforts to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health. Dr. Satcher earned a B.S. degree from Morehouse College and an M.D. and Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University. Read more and register

Uri Bar-Joseph (Ph.D. in Political Science, Stanford, 1990) is a professor of international relations at Haifa University in Israel. A leading scholar on intelligence history and foreign policy decision making in the world, he is the author of six books, including The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel (HarperCollins 2016, now being turned into a Hollywood movie); and Intelligence Failure and Success: A Comparative Study (Oxford 2017, forthcoming). In addition, he has published more than 80 book chapters and refereed journal articles in leading academic and policy journals such as Foreign Affairs, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Security Studies, Political Psychology, Journal of Strategic Studies, Political Science Quarterly, and Armed Forces and Society. Co-sponsored by Wittenberg University Political Science, International Studies, Russian and Central Eurasian Studies, East Asian Studies, American International Association, and Faculty Endowment Fund Board.

The Alexander Hamilton Society will be hosting Robert Lieber (left), professor of government and international affairs at Georgetown University and author of Retreat and its Consequences: American Foreign Policy and the Problem of World Order (Cambridge, 2016), and Wright State University Professor Liam Anderson for a debate over the future and necessity of the EU and its member states. AHS faculty advisor and military history professor Peter Mansoor will serve as the moderator for the debate. As usual, free wings and Coke products will be provided! Read more