Carol Graham is the Leo Pasvolsky Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, College Park Professor at University of Maryland, and senior scientist at Gallup. Her most recent books include Happiness for All? Unequal Lives and Hopes in Pursuit of the American Dream (Princeton, 2017), The Pursuit of Happiness: An Economy of Well-Being (Brookings, 2011), and Happiness around the World: The Paradox of Happy Peasants and Miserable Millionaires (Oxford, 2009). At this event, Graham will discuss how well-being metrics can be used to identify and monitor trends in life satisfaction and hope, and in desperation and misery. Read more and register at go.osu.edu/grahamc

Daniel P. Ahn is a professorial lecturer at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where he teaches graduate courses on energy economics and conflict; senior adviser at the Rapidan Group; and adviser for the U.S. government. He was previously the chief economist at the U.S. Department of State, where he advised the secretary and senior principals on a wide range of international economic and security topics relevant to U.S. foreign policy, including global macroeconomic growth, financial stability, economic sanctions, counter-terrorist financing, international trade, and energy security. Read more and register at go.osu.edu/ahnd

Peter Turchin is a scientist and an author who wants to understand how human societies evolve, and why we see such a staggering degree of inequality in economic performance and effectiveness of governance among nations. Turchin is the founder of a new transdisciplinary field of cliodynamics, which uses the tools of complexity science and cultural evolution to study the dynamics of historical empires and modern nation-states. His most recent books are Ultrasociety: How 10,000 Years of War Made Humans the Greatest Cooperators on Earth (Beresta Books, 2015), and Ages of Discord: A Structural-Demographic Analysis of American History (Beresta Books, 2016). Read more and register at go.osu.edu/turchinp

Laura Madokoro, assistant professor of history and classical studies at McGill University, will speak about "On Refuge: The Politics of Race and Humanitarianism" at 3:30 p.m. Thursday (11/8) at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave. Madokoro is author of Elusive Refuge: Chinese Migrants in the Cold War (Harvard, 2016), winner of the 2016 Mershon Center's Edgar S. Furniss Book Award. The book documents the experience of Chinese migrants during the Cold War and the politics of exclusion and humanitarianism among the white settler societies of the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. This talk will explore American responses to refugees in Asia during the Cold War. Read more and register at go.osu.edu/madokorol

Populism seems to have swept the globe, with the election of Donald Trump to the presidency among the most prominent examples. This conference will consider the ways political identities have been at the forefront of these populist narratives that have shaped contemporary democracy, with profound implications for national security. Populists tend to address a "people" that has supposedly been taken advantage of by elites and foreign actors, is threatened by particular groups, and whose efforts are not recognized by "ungrateful" groups. These claims rebrand social and political problems in terms of security threats and, in doing so, create a particular vision of "real Americans" who are entitled to democratic voice. This phenomenon touches upon important research in political science, sociology, and history on populism, immigration, and race that have not been put into conversation. This interdisciplinary conference brings together scholars whose research concerns populism, state violence against African-Americans, and the political theory of migration to answer this question. Together, the workshop will critically assess the relations among populism, racial exclusion, and conceptions of security as well as explore the potential of more democratic forms of populism. Read more and register at go.osu.edu/populismrace

When economists and philosophers talk about human well-being, are they talking about the same thing? Can we make progress on challenges like environmental sustainability and other important policy questions without a shared understanding of what human well-being consists in? This conference aims to foster interdisciplinary understanding and collaboration between philosophers and economists who are interested in well-being. It should be of interest not only to philosophers and economists, but to anyone interested in human well-being. Main speakers include Daniel Hausman (Philosophy - Wisconsin) and John Weymark (Economics - Vanderbilt)  Read more and register

The Alexander Hamilton Society at Ohio State is pleased to announce our second event of the semester, Civil War: American Policy in Yemen, which will focus on American policy in Yemen and America's relationship with the Saudi led coalition. The event will feature Michael Doran (left), senior fellow at the Hudson Institute specializing in Middle East security issues;  Austin Knuppe from the Department of Political Science, and Christopher Gelpi, director of the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, as moderator. As always, free pizza and Coke products will be served. Read more and register

Training Researchers to Inform Policy (TRIP) is a one-day workshop facilitated by experts at the national office of the Scholars Strategy Network. The goal of the workshop is to give you hands-on introduction to effective principles of policy engagement. Designed for accomplished senior professors and advanced graduate students alike, scholars leave TRIP workshops with tools to engage effectively in policy and build relationships with policymakers, civic leaders, and journalists. Note that the training will be a few days after the mid-term elections, so we will have an understanding of the coming political/policy landscape in Ohio. Registration is free (facilitation and lunch will be paid by SSN Ohio Central Chapter). Read more and register