The European Union in the world: The value of soft power
Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, spoke about EU foreign policy at the UCLA Faculty Center on May 6. The meeting was organized by the Center for European and Eurasian Studies and moderated by Terry McCarthy, president and CEO of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.
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Ending the Korean War
A recent Center for Korean Studies conference brought together a wide range of speakers to reconsider how to end a war that never technically ended.
Sending UCLA students into the world
A recent luncheon brought together UCLA alumnus and donor Terry Kramer with UCLA students who have received a Kramer scholarship in the past calendar year to travel and study abroad for the first time.
The China-Taiwan cross-strait relationship: Stable, but fragile
In the past five years, China and Taiwan have succeeded in stabilizing their relationship to the benefit of both. Most progress has been in the economic and cultural spheres, with political issues left aside for the moment. A recent Center for Chinese Studies conference examined how China, Taiwan and the United States view the increasingly complex trilateral relationship.
Cultivating global citizens
Cindy Fan, interim vice provost for international studies and professor of geography, shares her experiences cultivating global citizens in the summer Travel Study program in China. Studying and living abroad offers students incomparable learning opportunities. . .
U.S. drone signature strikes: An often illegal “killing machine”
Legal scholar Kevin Jon Heller examines the legal and evidentiary justifications for U.S. "signature" strikes—drone attacks that target unknown individuals based on a behavioral pattern—and finds that both frequently fail to meet the requirements of international humanitarian law.
A Global Student Forum
Global Insights
Perspectives on World Affairs at UCLA
Africa
- Scholar to bring to life migrants’ perilous crossings
This profile of African Studies Center Director Françoise Lionnet looks at her upcoming presentation on historical and present-day migration and draws attention to the current phenomenon of African "boat people" — individuals from northern and western Africa in search of a better life who try to make the dangerous trip between the two continents in small boats. Lionnet delivers UCLA’s 114th Faculty Research Lecture in Schoenberg Hall on April 15, 2013, at 3 pm.
Posted: 4/15/2013 - Empowering girls to achieve in Rwanda
A $1 million grant has been awarded to the UCLA African Studies Center (ASC) for a capacity-building partnership with the Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) of Rwanda.
Posted: 3/25/2013 - Cancelled - Rwandan President Paul Kagame to speak at UCLA
Due to unexpected last minute changes on the United Nations General Assembly program, President Paul Kagame regrets that he is unable to visit UCLA on September 28, 2012, and deliver his planned lecture. His visit to UCLA may take place at a future date, though no further details are available at this point.
Posted: 8/30/2012 - ASC director releases two new books, raises profile of life and literature in Mauritius
With a land mass only about 1.5 times that of Los Angeles, this island nation packs a real punch when it comes to the creation of art, literature, music and culture, says Professor Françoise Lionnet
Posted: 8/24/2012 - 2012 Charles E. Young Humanitarian Awards go to three outstanding UCLA students
International development student among recipients
Posted: 5/3/2012
Asia
- The China-Taiwan cross-strait relationship: Stable, but fragile
In the past five years, China and Taiwan have succeeded in stabilizing their relationship to the benefit of both. Most progress has been in the economic and cultural spheres, with political issues left aside for the moment. A recent Center for Chinese Studies conference examined how China, Taiwan and the United States view the increasingly complex trilateral relationship.
Posted: 5/7/2013 - The post-Fukushima world: Interconnected and fragile
Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, former Chairman of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (2011–2012), and Professor Hitoshi Abe, Director of the UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, addressed different aspects of the post-Fukushima world in a symposium on March 22, 2013.
Posted: 3/27/2013 - East meets west in a portrait: A conversation with Korean art scholar Burglind Jungmann
UCLA Professor Burglind Jungmann, a member of the core faculty of the Center for Korean Studies, speaks about her work and Rubens's drawing, "Man in Korean Costume," on exhibit at the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Posted: 3/25/2013 - Moving Forward: Life after the Great East Japan Earthquake - Global Agenda in Post Fukushima & Reconstruction Efforts of Japanese Architects
"Fukushima Nuclear Accident awakened us." -- Come listen to Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa on March 22 as he gives his thought and experiences while acting as the Chair of the Independent Investigation Commission by the National Diet of Japan. Immediately following is a colloquium about the numerous reconstruction efforts of Japanese architects during the past two years.
Posted: 2/14/2013 - METAMORPHOSIS - Film by Jun Hori (Feb. 28 from 2pm)
Documentary about the nuclear situation in the U.S. and Japan
Posted: 2/13/2013
Europe and Eurasia
- Professors Lynn Hunt and Anna Kudyma Receive Distinguished Teaching Awards
CEES congratulates Professors Hunt and Kudyma on receiving Distinguished Teaching Awards!
Posted: 5/21/2013 - In Memoriam: Andrzej Korbonski (1927-2013)
Professor Emeritus of the UCLA Department of Political Science, Andrzej Korbonski was a distinguished Polish-American scholar whose contributions to communist and post-communist studies were internationally recognized.
Posted: 5/15/2013 - The European Union in the world: The value of soft power
Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, spoke about EU foreign policy at the UCLA Faculty Center on May 6. The meeting was organized by the Center for European and Eurasian Studies and moderated by Terry McCarthy, president and CEO of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.
Posted: 5/7/2013 - Russia: A country too modern for its politics — A conversation with Daniel Treisman
Interviewed about contemporary Russian politics, UCLA Professor of Political Science Daniel Treisman says that economic modernization has already created classes of people impatient with Putin's paternalistic regime. These groups are not just in the big cities; discontent with the state's failure to deliver basic services is also palpable in the provinces.
Posted: 4/23/2013 - Stalin: Meticulous with His Word, Shaper of Faulty Information Systems
Historians Sarah Davies and James Harris spoke about their recent research in Stalin’s personal archive, discussing how the Soviet dictator used words and the way in which he processed incoming information, respectively.
Posted: 4/10/2013
Latin America
- Key policy makers and scholars discuss causes and consequences of drug-related violence in Latin America
WATCH: Video footage from two-day conference on organized crime, corruption and drug trafficking in Latin America.
Posted: 4/8/2013 - Cinema According to Nelson Pereira dos Santos
A series of films directed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos
Posted: 3/26/2013 - Reveal the truth, but don’t hit people over the head with it!
Author and Los Angeles Times journalist Hector Tobar discusses immigration and the Latin American experience in his works.
Posted: 3/21/2013 - Culture matters, especially in medicine
A Latin America Institute symposium finds that culture greatly influences how indigenous communities in Mexico, Central and South America experience Western medicine.
Posted: 3/14/2013 - K-12 Teacher Workshop on Mexican Corridos
"Ballads Without Borders: The Mexican Corrido Past & Present" will examine the history, development and significance of one of Mexico's most popular and enduring oral traditions.
Posted: 2/26/2013
Middle East
- The “Gaza Doctor” Abuelaish: Feminism Will Deliver Peace to the Middle East
On April 18, 2013, the Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies hosted Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, acclaimed physician, author and humanitarian, in a public talk entitled “Perspectives on Peace, Health & Hope: A Gaza Doctor's Journey from Personal Tragedy to a Search for Peace and Human Dignity”.
Posted: 5/2/2013 - People need a platform of rights that cannot be taken away
Journalist, businesswoman and humanitarian Princess Basmah bint Saud spoke about her proposed "Fourth Way" at lecture sponsored by the UCLA Center for Middle East Development.
Posted: 4/23/2013 - Introducing young students to Arabic, Persian and Turkish
The UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies is launching the “Listen to Learn” website to introduce American students to critical Middle Eastern languages.
Posted: 4/19/2013 - A Deal with Iran is Possible, Peace is Not
The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is not irrational—the current regime needs conflict with the United States to perpetuate itself in power, said Professor Mansour Farhang. He advised the United States to reach an implicit understanding with the regime that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons.
Posted: 4/9/2013 - How do you teach the Arab Spring?
A recent course on the Arab Spring taught by CMED Director Steven Spiegel invited specialists from around the country and UCLA to lecture on individual countries—some in person and some via a videoconferencing link.
Posted: 4/1/2013
Global Issues
- The “Gaza Doctor” Abuelaish: Feminism Will Deliver Peace to the Middle East
On April 18, 2013, the Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies hosted Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, acclaimed physician, author and humanitarian, in a public talk entitled “Perspectives on Peace, Health & Hope: A Gaza Doctor's Journey from Personal Tragedy to a Search for Peace and Human Dignity”.
Posted: 5/2/2013 - Introducing young students to Arabic, Persian and Turkish
The UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies is launching the “Listen to Learn” website to introduce American students to critical Middle Eastern languages.
Posted: 4/19/2013 - U.S. drone signature strikes: An often illegal “killing machine”
Legal scholar Kevin Jon Heller examines the legal and evidentiary justifications for U.S. "signature" strikes—drone attacks that target unknown individuals based on a behavioral pattern—and finds that both frequently fail to meet the requirements of international humanitarian law.
Posted: 4/11/2013 - The post-Fukushima world: Interconnected and fragile
Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, former Chairman of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (2011–2012), and Professor Hitoshi Abe, Director of the UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, addressed different aspects of the post-Fukushima world in a symposium on March 22, 2013.
Posted: 3/27/2013 - UCLA's popularity continues to grow among international students
UCLA's reputation as a top university for international students has been recognized once again with the release of Open Doors, an annual round-up published by the Institute of International Education, the leading not-for-profit educational and cultural exchange organization in the United States.
Posted: 11/16/2012
Arts & Culture
- Community language schools: A rich and diverse resource flying under the radar
The conference brought together teachers and administrators of community language schools with local faculty and graduate student researchers. Some 10,000 community schools exist in the U.S.
Posted: 4/22/2013 - East meets west in a portrait: A conversation with Korean art scholar Burglind Jungmann
UCLA Professor Burglind Jungmann, a member of the core faculty of the Center for Korean Studies, speaks about her work and Rubens's drawing, "Man in Korean Costume," on exhibit at the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Posted: 3/25/2013 - Reveal the truth, but don’t hit people over the head with it!
Author and Los Angeles Times journalist Hector Tobar discusses immigration and the Latin American experience in his works.
Posted: 3/21/2013 - Culture matters, especially in medicine
A Latin America Institute symposium finds that culture greatly influences how indigenous communities in Mexico, Central and South America experience Western medicine.
Posted: 3/14/2013 - Stanley Kramer’s political critique of the Nuremberg Trials
Author and scholar Elisabeth Bronfen discusses a chapter from her book Specters of War: Hollywood's Engagement with Military Conflict, explaining how Stanley Kramer uses film to critique the Nuremberg trials.
Posted: 3/14/2013
Economy & Trade
- The European Union in the world: The value of soft power
Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, spoke about EU foreign policy at the UCLA Faculty Center on May 6. The meeting was organized by the Center for European and Eurasian Studies and moderated by Terry McCarthy, president and CEO of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.
Posted: 5/7/2013 - Key policy makers and scholars discuss causes and consequences of drug-related violence in Latin America
WATCH: Video footage from two-day conference on organized crime, corruption and drug trafficking in Latin America.
Posted: 4/8/2013 - "A Raft of Asian Issues" op-ed by Senior Fellow Kantathi Suphamongkhon
Senior Fellow Kantathi Suphamongkhon discusses a series of Asian issues in light of President Obama's trip to Southeast Asia following his re-election.
Posted: 11/19/2012 - Tokyo's Mad Men: New UCLA book explores antics of Japanese avant-garde in 1960s
They threw random possessions off rooftops, made printed copies of Japanese currency and perpetrated odd "happenings" in commuter trains that left Tokyo residents scratching their heads.
Posted: 11/16/2012 - James Gelvin to Participate in Istanbul World Forum
Professor James Gelvin has been invited to the First Istanbul World Forum.
Posted: 10/10/2012
Education & Outreach
- Sending UCLA students into the world
A recent luncheon brought together UCLA alumnus and donor Terry Kramer with UCLA students who have received a Kramer scholarship in the past calendar year to travel and study abroad for the first time.
Posted: 5/16/2013 - The “Gaza Doctor” Abuelaish: Feminism Will Deliver Peace to the Middle East
On April 18, 2013, the Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies hosted Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, acclaimed physician, author and humanitarian, in a public talk entitled “Perspectives on Peace, Health & Hope: A Gaza Doctor's Journey from Personal Tragedy to a Search for Peace and Human Dignity”.
Posted: 5/2/2013 - Community language schools: A rich and diverse resource flying under the radar
The conference brought together teachers and administrators of community language schools with local faculty and graduate student researchers. Some 10,000 community schools exist in the U.S.
Posted: 4/22/2013 - Introducing young students to Arabic, Persian and Turkish
The UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies is launching the “Listen to Learn” website to introduce American students to critical Middle Eastern languages.
Posted: 4/19/2013 - Empowering girls to achieve in Rwanda
A $1 million grant has been awarded to the UCLA African Studies Center (ASC) for a capacity-building partnership with the Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) of Rwanda.
Posted: 3/25/2013
Environment
- The post-Fukushima world: Interconnected and fragile
Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, former Chairman of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (2011–2012), and Professor Hitoshi Abe, Director of the UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, addressed different aspects of the post-Fukushima world in a symposium on March 22, 2013.
Posted: 3/27/2013 - Moving Forward: Life after the Great East Japan Earthquake - Global Agenda in Post Fukushima & Reconstruction Efforts of Japanese Architects
"Fukushima Nuclear Accident awakened us." -- Come listen to Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa on March 22 as he gives his thought and experiences while acting as the Chair of the Independent Investigation Commission by the National Diet of Japan. Immediately following is a colloquium about the numerous reconstruction efforts of Japanese architects during the past two years.
Posted: 2/14/2013 - James Gelvin to Participate in Istanbul World Forum
Professor James Gelvin has been invited to the First Istanbul World Forum.
Posted: 10/10/2012 - Marine biology researchers adapt Billy Joel hit to explain their work
In Billy Joel’s “For the Longest Time,” a once-burned narrator sings about the woman who taught him how to love again. Somehow, a group of UCLA student researchers skillfully managed to turn these “love” lyrics inside out to reflect their own passion — for evolutionary biology and marine biodiversity.
Posted: 9/5/2012 - CERC-LA awarded EcoPartnership by U.S. Department of State
UCLA's Clean Energy Research Center - Los Angeles (CERC-LA) is awarded a U.S.-China EcoPartnership by U.S. Department of State. May 3, 2012
Posted: 5/29/2012
Globalization
- People need a platform of rights that cannot be taken away
Journalist, businesswoman and humanitarian Princess Basmah bint Saud spoke about her proposed "Fourth Way" at lecture sponsored by the UCLA Center for Middle East Development.
Posted: 4/23/2013 - The post-Fukushima world: Interconnected and fragile
Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, former Chairman of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (2011–2012), and Professor Hitoshi Abe, Director of the UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, addressed different aspects of the post-Fukushima world in a symposium on March 22, 2013.
Posted: 3/27/2013 - Moving Forward: Life after the Great East Japan Earthquake - Global Agenda in Post Fukushima & Reconstruction Efforts of Japanese Architects
"Fukushima Nuclear Accident awakened us." -- Come listen to Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa on March 22 as he gives his thought and experiences while acting as the Chair of the Independent Investigation Commission by the National Diet of Japan. Immediately following is a colloquium about the numerous reconstruction efforts of Japanese architects during the past two years.
Posted: 2/14/2013 - Migrant Workers in the Middle East: Calling Awareness to Legalized Abuses of Human Rights
Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, speaks on migrant worker abuse in the Middle East.
Posted: 10/24/2012 - James Gelvin to Participate in Istanbul World Forum
Professor James Gelvin has been invited to the First Istanbul World Forum.
Posted: 10/10/2012
Health
- The “Gaza Doctor” Abuelaish: Feminism Will Deliver Peace to the Middle East
On April 18, 2013, the Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies hosted Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, acclaimed physician, author and humanitarian, in a public talk entitled “Perspectives on Peace, Health & Hope: A Gaza Doctor's Journey from Personal Tragedy to a Search for Peace and Human Dignity”.
Posted: 5/2/2013 - Culture matters, especially in medicine
A Latin America Institute symposium finds that culture greatly influences how indigenous communities in Mexico, Central and South America experience Western medicine.
Posted: 3/14/2013 - Pioneer in HIV/AIDS research works on a global scale
When he was an undergraduate student at Harvard University in 1958, Roger Detels spent three months as an exchange student in Kanazawa, Japan. As one of the first few Americans in Kanazawa after the war, Detels — today a UCLA distinguished professor of epidemiology and infectious diseases — still recalls with amusement many of his experiences with his Japanese host family.
Posted: 11/8/2012 - James Gelvin to Participate in Istanbul World Forum
Professor James Gelvin has been invited to the First Istanbul World Forum.
Posted: 10/10/2012 - Curbing tobacco use by growing less
UCLA researcher initiates successful crop substitution project in tobacco-rich China
Posted: 8/13/2012
History & Society
- In Memoriam: Andrzej Korbonski (1927-2013)
Professor Emeritus of the UCLA Department of Political Science, Andrzej Korbonski was a distinguished Polish-American scholar whose contributions to communist and post-communist studies were internationally recognized.
Posted: 5/15/2013 - Two UCLA faculty awarded Guggenheim Fellowships
Posted: 4/24/2013 - Nile Green, director of the Program on Central Asia, wins second book prize
Posted: 4/22/2013 - Scholar to bring to life migrants’ perilous crossings
This profile of African Studies Center Director Françoise Lionnet looks at her upcoming presentation on historical and present-day migration and draws attention to the current phenomenon of African "boat people" — individuals from northern and western Africa in search of a better life who try to make the dangerous trip between the two continents in small boats. Lionnet delivers UCLA’s 114th Faculty Research Lecture in Schoenberg Hall on April 15, 2013, at 3 pm.
Posted: 4/15/2013 - The Complicated Lives of Gay Men in South Korea
According to anthropologist John Cho, single gay men in South Korea retreated from gay life in the wake of the 1997 Asian banking crisis and began to concentrate on making money, while married gay men became much more active in the gay community.
Posted: 4/10/2013
Politics & International Relations
- In Memoriam: Andrzej Korbonski (1927-2013)
Professor Emeritus of the UCLA Department of Political Science, Andrzej Korbonski was a distinguished Polish-American scholar whose contributions to communist and post-communist studies were internationally recognized.
Posted: 5/15/2013 - The China-Taiwan cross-strait relationship: Stable, but fragile
In the past five years, China and Taiwan have succeeded in stabilizing their relationship to the benefit of both. Most progress has been in the economic and cultural spheres, with political issues left aside for the moment. A recent Center for Chinese Studies conference examined how China, Taiwan and the United States view the increasingly complex trilateral relationship.
Posted: 5/7/2013 - The European Union in the world: The value of soft power
Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, spoke about EU foreign policy at the UCLA Faculty Center on May 6. The meeting was organized by the Center for European and Eurasian Studies and moderated by Terry McCarthy, president and CEO of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.
Posted: 5/7/2013 - Los Angeles Times highlights Korean documentary
The directors of the documentary film "Memory of Forgotten War" were interviewed in the Los Angeles Times prior to the screening of their film at the UCLA James Bridges Theater on May 8. The film was one of two documentaries that opened the "Ending the Korean War" conference organized by the UCLA Center for Korean Studies, May 8–10.
Posted: 5/6/2013 - The “Gaza Doctor” Abuelaish: Feminism Will Deliver Peace to the Middle East
On April 18, 2013, the Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies hosted Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, acclaimed physician, author and humanitarian, in a public talk entitled “Perspectives on Peace, Health & Hope: A Gaza Doctor's Journey from Personal Tragedy to a Search for Peace and Human Dignity”.
Posted: 5/2/2013
Security
- Los Angeles Times highlights Korean documentary
The directors of the documentary film "Memory of Forgotten War" were interviewed in the Los Angeles Times prior to the screening of their film at the UCLA James Bridges Theater on May 8. The film was one of two documentaries that opened the "Ending the Korean War" conference organized by the UCLA Center for Korean Studies, May 8–10.
Posted: 5/6/2013 - U.S. drone signature strikes: An often illegal “killing machine”
Legal scholar Kevin Jon Heller examines the legal and evidentiary justifications for U.S. "signature" strikes—drone attacks that target unknown individuals based on a behavioral pattern—and finds that both frequently fail to meet the requirements of international humanitarian law.
Posted: 4/11/2013 - A Deal with Iran is Possible, Peace is Not
The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is not irrational—the current regime needs conflict with the United States to perpetuate itself in power, said Professor Mansour Farhang. He advised the United States to reach an implicit understanding with the regime that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons.
Posted: 4/9/2013 - Key policy makers and scholars discuss causes and consequences of drug-related violence in Latin America
WATCH: Video footage from two-day conference on organized crime, corruption and drug trafficking in Latin America.
Posted: 4/8/2013 - Burkle Center Fellow Tony Camerino lends expertise to NPR's Article "Report On CIA Interrogation Tactics Revives Torture Debate"
Burkle Center Fellow Tony Camerino comments on use and utility of coercive interrogation.
Posted: 12/18/2012
