Global Issues Colloquium Kicks Off Fall Semester

This fall the Global Issues Colloquium will feature four main events to help raise world awareness on campus.

The first event in the series, “The Financial Crisis in Greece,” will take place at 7 p.m. Sept. 10 in Violette Hall 1010 and includes speakers: Jason Lin, professor of business administration; Steve Reschly, historian; Justin Jarvis, economist; and Amanda Myers, international studies student ambassador, will share professional expertise and personal experience to explain the current economic crisis in Greece.

The colloquiums first developed over a dozen years ago as a relatively informal attempt to broaden conversations about such matters. More recently, it has found a niche within the structure of the International Studies Program. Charged with “sustaining and enhancing an atmosphere in which global thinking becomes habitual,” the colloquiums aim to help the broader community understand the “strengths, beauties and core humanity of other cultures.”

Upcoming Colloquium Events

“Where in the World Are We Going with Disability Rights?”
7 p.m.
Oct. 6
Violette Hall 1010
Colleen Starkloff, co-founder of the Starkloff Institute, helped secure passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and served two terms as the U.S. organizer of the Japan/USA conference on disabilities. Her colloquium on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is co-sponsored by Truman’s Disability Studies Program, whose DisABILITY Conference she is keynoting earlier in that day.

"Escaping the Agrochemical Treadmill: Structural & Social Challenges to Sustainable Agriculture in Guatemala”
7 p.m.
Oct. 29
Magruder Hall 2001
Co-sponsored by the School of Science and Math, anthropologist Courtney Dowdall and data scientist Ryan Klotz, authors of “Pesticides and Global Health,” will present on epidemiology, policy analysis and social science research, outlining pressures shaping the relationship between agricultural chemicals and public health. They will highlight case studies from highland Guatemala that demonstrate ways agrochemical dependence threatens human health.  

“Beyond the Medicine: Caring for the People and the Earth”
7 p.m.
Nov. 20
Magruder Hall 2001
Carol Bennett, assistant dean of multicultural affairs, will present on environmental and related health issues impacting West Africa. Her discussion will detail how simple acts, such as providing medicine bottles, can impact the people of Malawi.

Sponsored by The Global Issues Committee, the series is presented for educational or civic purposes and does not reflect the opinions of Truman State University. For more information, visit globalissues.truman.edu.