About the Program

The Global Issues Seminars (GIS) are an outreach program of The Fletcher School. The seminars are held two to three times a year. Lectures by Fletcher professors and more pedagogically-oriented sessions by local high school teachers provide an intellectually stimulating day for some 50-60 Boston area high school history teachers.

Current Program

The current year’s program focus is on “The European Union and International Organizations” 
  • Saturday, November 3, 2012 (8:45 am - 2:45 pm): “The European Union: Political and Economic Changes"
    Michalis Psalidopoulous, "Economic Thought in the European Union:  Effects on the Handling of the Eurozone Crisis"
    Alan Henrikson, "The Diplomacy of the European Union"
  • Saturday, April 27, 2013 (8:45 am - 2:45 pm): “The Changing Nature of International Organizations"
    AF Colonel Leonard Kosinski, "NATO Transformation:  Changing to Meet the Security Needs of the 21st Century"
    Ian Johnstone, "The Evolution of United Nations Peach Operations"
    Liz Daneu, Medford High School:  "Shari'a and the changing in face of the EU population"

 

Previous Programs

 

2011-12: “CHANGe in N. Africa, the middle east, and S.W. Asia

  • Saturday, October 29, 2011: “The Arab Spring and Implications for U.S. Regional Policy”   
    • Saturday, February 4, 2012: “Policy Adjustments in a Post Bin Laden World”

2010-11: “Changing Roles of Emerging GLobal States”

  • Sat., Nov. 6, 2010, “China's Road to Becoming a Major World Power”
  • Sat., March 19, 2011, "Iran: Ahmadinejad, Ayatollahs, and Aspiring Reformers”

 

2009-10: “WHY ARE WE AT WAR?: LESSONS LEARNED, CURRENT POLICY AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ”

  • Nov. 14, 2009, “Afghanistan: Changing Strategic Objectives”
  • Feb. 27, 2010, Iraq: Democracy, Division and Disengagement”

2008-09: "THE POLITICS OF THE ENVIRONMENT"

2007-2008: GLOBALIZATION: ITS IMPACT ON THE U.S. AND THE WORLD

  • October 27, 2007 - Globalization: The U.S. and the World
  • February 5, 2008 - Globalization: Europe and the Americas
  • April 5, 2008 - Globalization: Asia's Interaction with the World

2006-2007: HUMAN RIGHTS AND SECURITY ISSUES

  • November 4, 2006 - The U.S. as a Case Study
  • February 3, 2007 - The Middle East and Africa
  • April 7, 2007 - China and Russia

2005-2006: CONTEMPORARY WORLD LEADERS

  • November 5, 2005 - Focus on Europe
  • February 4, 2006 - Focus on Africa
  • April 1, 2006 - Focus on the Middle East and South Asia

2004-2005: THE POST-COLD WAR ERA: NEW WORLD DISORDERS AND AMERICAN RESPONSES

  • November 6, 2004 - Focus on the Middle East and Central Asia
  • February 5, 2005 - Focus on East Asia
  • April 2, 2005 - Focus on Latin America

2003-2004: COLD WAR PERSONALITIES AND THEIR POLICIES

  • November 1, 2003 - Part I: Kennedy and Khrushchev
  • February 7, 2004 - Part II: Non-Aligned Nations
  • April 3, 2004 - Part III: The Final Years

2002-2003: WORLD WAR II AND ITS AFTERMATH

  • November 2, 2002: Origins and Early Years of the Cold War
  • February 8, 2003: Cold War: The Middle Years
  • April 5, 2003: Cold War: The Final Years

2001-2002: COMPARATIVE CIVIL WARS

  • Fall 2001: The United States as a Case Study
  • Winter 2002: Civil Wars in Europe
  • Spring 2002: Civil Wars in Africa

2000-2001: WORLD WAR I AND ITS AFTERMATH

  • Fall 2000: Guns of August: World War I and Central and Eastern Europe
  • Winter 2001: Old Conflicts with Current Echoes
  • Spring 2001: The Breakup of Empires

1999-2000: COMPARATIVE REVOLUTIONS

  • November 1999: People, Nations, and Cultures in Revolutionary Change
  • February 2000: Revolution from Within: France and Russia
  • April 2000: Revolutions in China, Latin America and Africa

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