Samantha Power, former U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, will headline this year’s America’s Role in the World conference, according to a March 19 press release.
In its third year, the two-day conference focusing on foreign policy challenges the U.S. faces will be March 28 and 29 at the Global and International Studies Building auditorium. The event is free, but registration prior to the event is encouraged.
Power, a Pulitzer Prize winner and current Harvard professor of practice, will deliver the keynote address at noon March 29 about the current state of global affairs. She will use her experiences as a scholar, practitioner and journalist in her discussion, according to the release.
Power served as the U.S. representative to the United Nations from 2013 to 2017 and on the National Security Council from 2009 to 2013, where she focused on atrocity prevention and human rights, according to the release.
The year’s theme is “Foreign Policy Begins at Home.” As part of the conference, students, faculty and staff can listen to a series of discussions led by policymakers, scholars, activists, researchers and journalists.
"I can't think of a more important time to bring the foreign policy conversation to the Midwest and campus," said Lee Feinstein, dean of the School of Global and International Studies, in the release.
The conference will have seven sessions open to the public, as well as small lunch sessions to give students a chance to have conversations with panelists, according to the release.
Topics of the panels will range from the current state of democracy around the world to how Indiana participates in the global economy. Panelists include political theorist Yascha Mounk, Washington Post correspondent Dan Balz, Gary, Ind. Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, as well as numerous panelists from the IU Department of Political Science and the School of Global and International Studies.
Feinstein said in the release responses to global challenges are met in communities at the state and local levels.
"At a time when global distrust in institutions is low, this year's theme — foreign policy begins at home — is apt,” he said.
Laurel Demkovich
