果冻传媒

We are all interconnected and international affairs has significant impact on our daily lives more than some would think. Join 果冻传媒 faculty discuss current events that take place all over the world, the history that drives them, and the global and local implications. Drs. Mauricio Castro, John Harney,  Lori Hartmann, and Sami Sweis will guide participants through understanding events in the US, Latin America, China, Taiwan, and the Middle East. These four seminars will be concluded with a fifth session and panel discussion among our esteemed international experts who will bring together all these events to show how tightly we are all connected. 
 

Tiered Enrollment Pricing:

• Adults (including alumni): $12 per content hour
  • Total package for 5 sessions = $60
• Students (Centre and individuals age <19) = $6 per content hour,
  • Total package for 5 sessions =$30

Maximum number of course participants: 45
Minimum number of course participants: 13

SPEAKERS BIOGRAPHIES
John Harney - Dr. Harney is an Associate Professor of History. His scholarly interests include identity formation and colonial and post-colonial relations in East Asia. Dr. Harney has published on the history of popular participation in sports in the modern era, Catholicism and Catholic communities in 20th-century China.  His book, Empire of Infields: Baseball in Taiwan and Cultural Identity, 1895-1968 was published in 2019 and traces the evolution and identity of Taiwanese baseball.  He has a forthcoming book on the experience of American Catholic missionaries in China.

Mauricio Castro - Dr. Castro is an Assistant professor of History and the Chair of Latin American Studies. His research focuses on the post -World War II American refugee policy and popular culture.  His most recent book, Only A Few Blocks to Cuba: Cold War Refugee Policy, The Cuban Diaspora, and the Transformations of Miami (U Pennsylvania Press, 2024) explores how the US government came to view Cuban migration to Miami as a strategic asset during the Cold War. He received Centre鈥檚 prestigious Kirk Award for teaching in 2023.

Lori Hartmann - Dr. Hartmann is professor of and the Chair of 果冻传媒鈥檚 International Studies and Politics programs. Her scholarly interests and teaching have focused on African politics, women and development in West Africa, political economy of development, and international relations. In 2015-2016, Hartmann spent a year in Ethiopia as a Fulbright Scholar at Wollo University teaching and conducting a comparative study of how select Nigerian, Senegalese, and Ethiopian novels illustrate creative systems of justice in those communities. 

Sami Sweis - Dr. Sweis is an Assistant Professor of International Studies. He is a historian specializing in Middle East including the history of Islamic civilization, the development of the Modern Middle East, and the history of non-Muslim communities in the Islamic world. His research and publications currently focus on the contestation of national identities during and following World War I in the Middle East, particularly in Jordan.

CLASS SESSION DESCRIPTION
Beyond the Border: The United States and Latin America
April 17, 2025
Mauricio Castro
Coverage of the relationship between the United States and Latin America tends to focus almost exclusively on issues of immigration. The U.S., however, has a complicated history with Latin America which helps inform the present of our relationship to each of those countries. In a time of significant change in the United States what is changing about these relationships and what remains the same?

Chips: The US, China, and Taiwan
April 24, 2025
John Harney
Taiwan is home to a thriving democracy that emerged out of Cold War struggles over the fate of China and has recently returned to a more prominent place in American foreign policy. Whereas in the 1970s Taiwan stood as an ally of freedom and bulwark against Chinese communism, today it serves a vitally important role in the development of chips and semiconductors for Western markets. Come and learn more about how the US-Taiwan relationship has evolved over time, and why Taiwan became the most important producer of sophisticated microchip technology on the planet.

Debates about USAID and US Foreign Policy
May 1, 2025
Lori Hartmann
This class will explore recent steps taken by the Trump administration to close USAID (United States Agency for International Development).  We鈥檒l discuss the history of US Foreign Aid and if it has advanced our Foreign Policy goals.  This class will also cover more broadly the topic of development and aid, and how intention does not always match impact.

The Past, Present, and Future of the Gaza Strip
May 8, 2025
Sami Sweis
Since October 2023, the world's attention has been focused on the Gaza Strip where Israel has waged a war against the Palestinian Islamist party, Hamas.  This class will examine the history and development of the Gaza Strip as it relates to the Palestinian political struggle and how it has interacted with geo-political trends within the region.  We'll also explore some fundamental questions about the current conflict and describe possible scenarios for the future of Gaza.

We are all interconnected
May 15, 2025
A panel discussion with the faculty
We are a global society. We are all interconnected and are dependent on one another. Drs. John Harney, Mauricio Castro, Lori Hartmann, and Sami Sweis will come together to synthesize the prior discussions. The lecturers will open a discussion with participants and answer any remaining questions.