COMPAS is a series of year-long conversations on morality, politics, and society organized by the Center for Ethics and Human Values. The theme for the 2016-17 COMPAS program is inequality. It kicks off with a major interdisciplinary conference that aims to engage a general audience by focusing on four intersecting policy issues: mass incarceration, neighborhoods and social inequality, health disparities, and economic inequality and democracy. These issues raise important questions about poverty and opportunity, individual well-being and institutional justice, and the rights and responsibilities of democratic citizenship. They also cause us to reflect on the social and political effects of class, race, gender, and other factors. Richard Wilkinson, author of The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger (Bloomsbury, 2011, with Kate Pickett), will give the keynote address. Read more at go.osu.edu/compasfall

A world-renowned philosopher, cultural theorist and author, Kwame Anthony Appiah has published widely on moral philosophy, political theory, ethics, and African American literature and culture. A leading thinker on race and society, Appiah's current research centers on the roles of idealization and ideals in psychology, ethics and politics, and his talk will focus on ethics in higher education. Appiah holds an appointment at New York University's Department of Philosophy and its School of Law, where he teaches in New York and at the university's global centers. In 2009, Forbes Magazine named Appiah as one of the world's seven most powerful thinkers, and in 2012, he was one of eight scholars presented with the National Humanities Medal by President Obama. Read more

Media and journalism are very important components of all elections, whether in the United States or abroad. However, the role they play and the rules that govern their influence vary widely from country to country. In many countries the media promotes free and democratic elections.  Yet in others the media is a tool of autocrats to maintain their power. This event features a panel of international media and election experts from the Comparative National Elections Project representing Russia, Mexico, Germany, Portugal and South Africa. Panelists include:

The discussion will be moderated by Mershon affiliate Erik Nisbet, associate professor of communication, political science, and environmental policy. Read more and register at go.osu.edu/cnep-media

Thomas Lindemann is professor of political science at Ecole Polytechique (LinX Research Centre) and University of Versailles Saint-Quentin. During Fall 2016, he is a visiting professor at Columbia University. He is the author of six books and numerous articles published in leading international relations journals such as International Political Sociology, International Relations, and International Theory. He has contributed to introduction of the concept of recognition into the international relations discipline, with an emphasis on the antagonist and emotional aspects of the concept. His talk will show the limits of utilitarian models for the comprehension of war and humanitarian intervention and defend the idea that behind the concepts of interest are hidden logics of (non-)recognition between self and other. Read more and register at go.osu.edu/lindemannt

Lt. Col. John F. "Joe" Guilmartin Jr., U.S. Air Force (Ret.), was a prominent member of the History Department at The Ohio State University for nearly three decades. He served two tours in the Vietnam War, logging more than 120 missions over Laos and North Vietnam in 1965-66 as a HH-3E "Jolly Green" helicopter pilot. Guilmartin, simply "Dr. G" to his students, was an authority on military and maritime history, airpower history, military technology, and the Vietnam War. At Ohio State he supervised 26 graduate students to completion of their Ph.D. degrees. He also sat on more than 270 student examination committees, the most of any other faculty member on record. On Friday the conference will include presentations from Guilmartin's fellow scholars and colleagues. The Saturday event is his celebratory Festschrift and will feature papers by his former doctoral students. Read more at go.osu.edu/guilmartin

In March the Middle East Studies Center sponsored a symposium on Jihadi groups with Amr Al-Azm, associate professor of Middle East history and anthropology at Shawnee State University; Alam Payind, director of the Middle East Studies Center; and Richard Herrmann, interim director of the Mershon Center. The symposium ( video here) addressed complex issues related to extremist jihadi groups in the Middle East, as panelists introduced the topic, provided background information on these groups and the area they operate in, and discussed the implications for U.S. foreign policy. In this event, Alam Payind will provide an update on the situation based on his recent fieldwork in Afghanistan.  Read more and register

Growing global challenges -- from Syria to ISIS to Zika -- impact America's economic and security interests every day. Join former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, one of the most respected national security experts, to discuss why America's role in the world matters for this election and beyond. Gates is an American statesman, scholar and university president who served as U.S. Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011. Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, and was director of the CIA under President Bush. He currently serves as chancellor of the College of William and Mary. Co-sponsored by the Columbus Council on World Affairs. Register here

Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, the governments of the United States and the People's Republic of China are a few poor decisions away from starting a war that could escalate rapidly and end in a nuclear exchange. Mismatched perceptions increase both the possibility of war and the likelihood it will result in the use of nuclear weapons. Miscommunication or misunderstanding could spark a conflict that both governments may find difficult to stop. Gregory Kulacki, China Project Manager for Union of Concerned Scientists, is an expert on cross-cultural communication between the United States and China. Since joining UCS in 2002, he has promoted dialogue between experts from both countries on nuclear arms control and space security. Read more

Join us for a panel discussion and book signing of Bill Shkurti's The Ohio State University in the Sixties: The Unraveling of the Old Order (Ohio State University Press, 2016). Panelists include Bill Crandell, one of the leaders of the 1970 student strike; Mabel Freeman, president of the Women's Self Government Association, 1965-66; and Niki Schwartz, president of Students for Liberal Action, 1962-63. Bill Shkurti is a retired employee of Ohio State University and an alumnus. He received both his undergraduate ('68) and masters ('74) degrees from Ohio State. Shkurti served the university for 10 years as a vice president for finance and then another 10 years as senior vice president of business and finance. He currently holds an adjunct faculty appointment in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. For more information about campus during this period, please see the online exhibition  Spring of Dissent: The 1970 Student Demonstrations. 

There has been considerable rhetoric around key issues in the upcoming presidential election, but much less analysis of their potential economic impact. Join the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics (AEDE) for an evening conversation that will dig deeper into some of the election issues through a critical unbiased, non-partisan economic examination from leading economic experts. Among the speakers:

• Mark Partridge, C. William Swank Chair in Rural-Urban Policy, will provide an overview of the economic agendas released by the candidates.
• Ian Sheldon, Andersons Chair of Agricultural Marketing, Trade and Policy, will provide an assessment of the candidates' platforms on jobs and trade.
• Joyce Chen, Development Economist, will discuss the effects of immigration on the domestic economy.
• Jung Kim, Managing Director, Research and Business Intelligence, Columbus 2020, will offer an overview of the candidates' platforms from the lens of the potential impact on our region's economy.

Light refreshments will be served. There is no cost to attend. However, we kindly request that all participants register. Register here

 

Origins has published its new article: "Colombia: On the Brink of Peace with the FARC?" by Steven L. Taylor.

 

This summer marked significant progress in resolving one of the longest running guerrilla insurgencies in Latin America when the Colombian government signed a cease-fire agreement with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, known to the world as the FARC. 

 

While the conflict between the FARC and successive Colombian governments has been going on for decades, this month Steven Taylor describes how the FARC grew out of earlier periods of political violence stretching back in the 19th century and the many reasons why peace has been an elusive goal. Read the entire article at origins.osu.edu.

 

About Origins: Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective is a monthly ad-free magazine that features top scholars on today's most pressing topics. Published by The Ohio State History Department, its authors include National Book Award winners and world-renowned scholars. You can also explore reviews of popular history books on the Origins website as well as the new monthly feature Milestones.