We are resending Monday's newsletter to correct a couple of event dates highlighted below in yellow.  The rest of the newsletter is identical to what you received on Monday.  Our apologies for the error.  -- Mershon Center Staff

Mershon Center for International Security Studies
January 12, 2015
In This Issue
In the Media
Joshua Kertzer
Past Mershon affiliated graduate student
 

For winning the 2014 Council of Graduate Schools (CGS)/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award, the nation's highest honor for doctoral dissertations. Kertzer's dissertation, "Resolve in International Politics," was selected from 71 nominees representing 25 disciplines in the social sciences. He was presented the award on December 4 during the CGS annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

In the Media
Hassan Aly
Professor of Economics
 
"WalletHub's 2015 Economic Predictions"
December 16, 2014
Richard Gunther
Professor Emeritus of Political Science
 
"Lawsuit, Boehner delaying Ohio redistricting reforms"
January 11, 2015

"Ohio redistricting plan bears watching"
December 30, 2014

"New Redistricting Plans May Include Voter Approval"
November 18, 2014

"House plan on redistricting draws criticism from Ohio State professors"
November 18, 2014
Brian Joseph
Distinguished University Professor of Linguistics
 
"Google adds Irish to list of Gmail options"
December 11, 2014
Peter Mansoor
Gen. Raymond E. Mason Chair in Military History
 
"Worse than Islamic State? Concerns rise about Iraq's Shiite militias."
December 23, 2014

"Hagel stepping down as defense secretary"
November 25, 2014 
John Mueller
Senior Research Scientist
 
"Atomic Obsession, with John Mueller"
December 13, 2014

"Rand Paul's Declaration of War Against ISIS Divides Civil Libertarians"
November 24, 2014 
Geoffrey Parker
Andreas Dorpalen Professor of History
 
"George Will: Climate change's instructive past"
January 7, 2015
 
December 18, 2014
Peter Shane
Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law
 
December 1, 2014
Marc Spindelman
Isadore and Ida Topper Professor of Law
 
December 1, 2014
Daniel Sui
Social and Behavioral Sciences Distinguished Professor of Geography
 
"Fighting Air Pollution in China with Social Media"
December 2, 2014
 
December 3, 2014
About Mershon Memo
Mershon Memo is a weekly e-mail newsletter distributed by the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, a unit of the Office of International Affairs at The Ohio State University.
Stay Connected

facebook twitter Picasa give
Mershon Events
Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Leonard Smith
"The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and the History of Sovereignty"
3:30 p.m., 120 Mershon Center, 1501 Neil Ave.

Leonard Smith Leonard Smith is Frederick B. Artz Professor of History at Oberlin College and a visiting scholar at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies. His current book project, Sovereignty at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919: The 'Laboratory over a Vast Cemetery,' is under contract to Oxford University Press. This lecture will provide an introduction to Smith's research on the locus and attributes of sovereignty and the peace conference that sought to close down the Great War. Smith begins at the conceptual level, explaining sovereignty as a category of analysis. He then endeavors to show what a focus of sovereignty adds to an understanding of the historically specific international system that created the Paris Peace Conference and was created by it. Read more and register at go.osu.edu/smithl
Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Sara Mitchell
"Cross Border Troubles? Interstate River Conflicts and Intrastate Violence"
3:30 p.m., 120 Mershon Center, 1501 Neil Ave.

Sara Mitchell Sara Mitchell is professor of political science at University of Iowa, where she co-directs the Issue Correlates of War Project and is associate editor of Foreign Policy Analysis and Research & Politics. She is coauthor of Domestic Law Goes Global: Legal Traditions and International Courts (Cambridge University Press, 2011), Guide to the Scientific Study of International Processes (Wiley-Blackwell 2012), The Triumph of Democracy and the Eclipse of the West (Palgrave Macmillan 2013), and Conflict, War, and Peace: An Introduction to Scientific Research (CQ Press/Sage 2013). Her current research examines the relationship between interstate river conflicts and intrastate violence such as riots, strikes, demonstrations, and civil wars in the Western Hemisphere, Western Europe, and the Middle East.  Read more and register at go.osu.edu/mitchells
Monday, January 26, 2015

David Watkins
"The Right to Exclude Immigrants and its Limits"
3:30 p.m., 120 Mershon Center, 1501 Neil Ave.

David Watkins David Watkins is assistant professor of political science at University of Dayton. His research focuses on contemporary democratic theory, with three main strands: the construction of a distinctly neo-republican democratic theory, with non-domination as democracy's motivating and shaping commitment; the role and status of non-majoritarian veto points in democratic systems, with particular attention to judicial review; and the challenge that migration and the movement of people presents for democratic theory and practice. This talk critically examines the normative foundations of the right to exclude prospective immigrants. Watkins will discuss the grounds on which such exclusion can be justified and exceptions that must be made. Theresa Delgadillo (Comparative Studies) will serve as discussant.  Read more and register at go.osu.edu/watkinsd
Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Ian Hurd
"The Politics of the International Rule of Law"
3:30 p.m., 120 Mershon Center, 1501 Neil Ave.

Ian Hurd Ian Hurd is a scholar of international politics and law at Northwestern University. His current work examines the history, politics, and practice of the international rule of law and its contribution to the contemporary international order. A leading theorist of international relations, Hurd is head of the International Organizations section of the International Studies Association. In this project Hurd considers the political implications of the turn to law in global politics. He examines the international rule of law as a political system, one which distributes power, authority, and obligation among actors. It defines the authority that constitutes states; it endows a language of political legitimation in the categories of lawful and unlawful state behavior; and it defines the parameters of responsibility and irresponsibility for the harms that arise from international acts. Read more and register at go.osu.edu/hurdi
Thursday, January 29, 2015

Istv�n Poved�k
"Vernacular Religious Wars: The Battle of S�k�sd"
4 p.m., 120 Mershon Center, 1501 Neil Ave.

Istvan Povedak This workshop will feature Mershon Center visiting scholar Istv�n Poved�k, who will speak on vernacular religious wars. Conflicts between believers and the clergy arose in a small Hunagarian village in 1993 when a woman claimed that Jesus appeared to her and asked her to serve as his messenger. Since then Marika, the visionary of S�k�sd, has induced a remarkable pilgrimage from different parts of the country. Despite prohibition by Hungarian bishops, the chapel - built by Marika and her followers - is filled with pilgrims waiting for the message of Jesus mediated by the visionary. Poved�k will examine the contradictorily interpreted phenomena that generated significant tensions in the vernacular religiosity of Hungarian Roman Catholic believers. Co-sponsored by the Center for Folklore Studies and English Department. Read more and register at go.osu.edu/sukosd
Featured Event
Climate Change and National Security
Ann Fisher (far left), host of WOSU's All Sides, leads a panel discussion on "Climate Change and National Security" at Byrd Polar Research Center.
Mershon, Byrd Polar sponsor climate panel

 

Last month the Mershon Center for International Security Studies and Byrd Polar Research Center co-sponsored a sold-out panel discussion event on "Climate Change and National Security," led by Ann Fisher of WOSU's All Sides. Panelists included (seated above, left to right) Rear Admiral Jonathan White, oceanographer for the U.S. Navy; Mike Breen, executive director of the Truman National Security Project; Ellen Mosley-Thompson, director of the Byrd Polar Research Center; and Mershon affiliate Alex Thompson, associate professor of political science. Several speakers led up to the panel.  Their presentations can be seen on the Byrd Polar Web-Ex recording here.

Other Events
Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Luis Alcalde
"Charting a New Course on Cuba"
5:30 p.m., 130 Page Hall, 1810 College Road
Sponsored by John Glenn School of Public Affairs

Luis AlcaldeFor more than 50 years, the United States pursued a policy of sanctions, isolation and containment against Cuba. On December 17, 2014, President Obama announced a prisoner swap with Cuba and his intent to renew full diplomatic relations. The policy change will create opportunities to improve the lives of the Cuban people, open new business opportunities for the United States, and affect wider geopolitical issues in Latin America and elsewhere. Only Congress can completely undo the long standing "embargo" of Cuba, and factions are already lining up to support the president or to block the president's intent. Born in Havana, Luis Alcalde is counsel at Kegler Brown Hill + Ritter and an Ohio State alumnus (J.D., 1980; Political Science, 1977) who holds both American and Cuban citizenship. His intimate knowledge of the Cuban sociopolitical landscape and his practical business and legal experience in the United States and globally have molded his unique perspective on U.S.-Cuba relations. Read more
Thursday, January 22, 2015

His Excellency Adebowale Ibidapo Adefuye
"Economic Growth, Ebola, Extremism: Nigeria in Contemporary Global Politics"
Noon, WOSU@COSI, 333 W. Broad St.
Sponsored by Center for African Studies and Columbus Council on World Affairs

Adebowale Ibidapo Adefuye Nigeria has captured headlines in the past year as it faced challenges from Ebola and the extremist group Boko Haram, which kidnapped more than 200 school girls. At the same time, Nigeria's economy is now the largest in Africa, overtaking South Africa. However, the Nigerian economy is threatened by falling oil prices. His Excellency Adebowale Ibidapo Adefuye, Nigeria's ambassador to the United States, is a conflict and governance specialist with 24 years of experience in international affairs and development, backed by 12 years previous experience in research and teaching. His expertise and experience in diplomacy and conflict resolution has contributed to fostering bilateral relations between United States and Nigeria, as well as in strengthening the economic ties between both countries. Read more and register
Thursday, January 22, 2015

John Broome
"Climate Change: Life and Death"
Noon, 11th Floor, Thompson Library, 1858 Neil Ave Mall
Sponsored by Center for Ethics and Human Values

John Broome John Broome is the White's Professor of Moral Philosophy, Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford. His highly influential writings range over many topics in moral philosophy, including normative ethics and metaethics, and economics. In addition to numerous articles, he is the author of Climate Matters: Ethics in a Warming World; Weighing Lives; Ethics Out of Economics; Weighing Goods: Equality, Uncertainty, and Time; Counting the Cost of Global Warming; and The Microeconomics of Capitalism. Broome's "The Ethics of Climate Change" appeared in Scientific American in June of 2008. Broome served on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and is one of the lead authors of the IPCC's "Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report." Read more
Mershon News
Mershon Center welcomes visiting scholars

 

This spring several visiting scholars will join the Mershon Center to do research and interact with affiliates.

 

Leonard Smith

Leonard Smith, Frederick B. Artz Professor of History at Oberlin College, arrived in January to work on "Sovereignty at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919: The 'Laboratory over a Vast Cemetery'." In this book, under contract with Oxford University Press, Smith focuses on the locus and attributes of sovereignty to understand the international system that created the peace conference that sought to close down World War I.

 

Smith will present his research at the Mershon Center on January 20, 3:30 p.m.

 

Istvan Povedak

Also visiting the Mershon Center through the Center for Folklore Studies are Istv�n and Kinga Poved�k. Istv�n is a research fellow at MTA-SZTE Research Group for the Study of Religious Culture in Szegad, Hungary.

 

The Poved�ks will give three presentations at the Mershon Center:

  • January 29, 4 p.m.: "Vernacular Religious Wars: The Battle of S�k�sd"
  • February 2, noon: "Transitions in Vernacular Religiosity: The Post-Socialist Case"
  • February 12, 3:30 p.m.: "The Sacralization of Nation: How Neonationalism Affects Vernacular Culture in Post-Socialist Hungary"
Kyengho Son

Finally, Kyengho Son is visiting the Mershon Center to work with Peter Mansoor, Gen. Raymond E. Mason Jr. Chair in Military History on research about U.S. strategies during the Korean War.

 

Son got his Ph.D. in history The Ohio State University in 2008 and now teaches at Korea National Defense University in Seoul, where he is also a lieutenant colonel in the ROK Army.

Outreach and Engagement grants for faculty and staff

 

Applications are being accepted for 2015 Engagement Impact Grants, OSU CARES/OSU Extension Seed Grants and Service-Learning Grants. Faculty and staff are invited to apply. More than $300,000 in overall funding is available. Proposals are due February 16. There will be an information session on January 22 at 11 a.m. (location TBD). For more information, visit outreachgrants.osu.edu.

 

University Outreach and Engagement Recognition Awards accepting applications

 

The Offices of Outreach and Engagement, International Affairs, Service-Learning, Student Life and Undergraduate Education have joined together to recognize faculty, staff, students and community partners with the University Outreach and Engagement Recognition Awards program. Awards will be given in the community engagement, international engagement, service-learning, staff, student, student group and community partner categories. A total of $21,000 will be awarded. Applications are due February 16.

 

To submit an application: http://go.osu.edu/oeawards

Contact: 614-247-7795 or outreach@osu.edu

1501 Neil Avenue     |     Columbus, OH 43201     |     (614) 292-1681     |     Fax: (614) 292-2407

� 2013 Mershon Center for International Security Studies - Office of International Affairs