Conference on Global Affairs

Nelson Institute for Diplomacy & International Affairs - Undergraduate Conference on Global Affairs

The purpose of the conference is to recognize and share high-quality undergraduate research related to international and global topics.

2016 Conference Highlights:

The 2016 Conference on Global Affairs took place on April 8-9, 2016.

Activities included:

a crisis simulation supervised by former U.S. Ambassador Ken Yalowitz and former White House Director of Global Engagement Brett Bruen,
a dinner social featuring international appetizers,
a keynote "National Security and Women's Insecurity" by Valerie Hudson, University of Texas A&M,
panels featuring presentations of student research on global affairs (see below),
a closing luncheon address by visiting Global Practitioner Peiqin Zhou, Nanjing University.

2016 Student Panels

Topic: Problems and Cases in Political and Economic Development

Haley Barbour
Presentation Title: “Societal Implications of Bare Branches: China and India”

Greg Gonzalez
Presentation Title: “Mexican Economic Policies and the Underlying Forces of Corruption”

Cecilia Panella
Presentation Title: “When the Statesman Surpasses the State: Gamal Abdel Nasser, Realism, Liberalism, and the Evolution of the Significance of Pan-Arab Sentiment, 1952-1970”

Topic: Issues in the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa

Kara Anderson
Presentation Title: “’Cubs of the Caliphate’: The Systematic Recruitment, Training, and Use of Childr”

Mollie Clark
Presentation Title: “The Case for a Unified Jerusalem”

Taylor Donaldson
Presentation Title: “Religion, Law, and Society: Liberationist Theologies within Islamic Feminism”

Hannah Grafelman
Presentation Title: “A Two-Fronted Approach to Combatting Daesh”

Topic: Issues in the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa

Morgan Daves-Gehrls
Presentation Title: “The International Court of Justice, Globalization and the Evolution of International Law”

Jeff Konrad
Presentation Title: “Global Currency Hedging in Global Investment Portfolios”

John Wingert
Presentation Title: “Selling Death: Marketing and Counter-Marketing in Global Tobacco Cessation”

Cody Frost
Presentation Title: “Zainichi Koreans within Japan”

The 2016 Best Presentation Award was given to Haley Barbour, Drake University.

2015 Conference Highlights:

The 2015 Conference on Global Affairs took place on April 10-11, 2015.

Activities included:

a group simulation in U.S. foreign policy facilitated by Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli
a keynote address "Political Islam: What the West Can Learn from Its Own History" by noted scholar John Owen
Student panels
a closing luncheon with Iowa Representative Zachary Nunn. Zachary Nunn was formerly Director of Cybersecurity Policy at the National Security Council, White House. (Nunn's topic was "Inside the National Security Council.")

2015 Student Panels

The 2015 Best Presentation Awards were given to Allison Smith, Beloit University, and William Heaston, Drake University.

2014 Conference Highlights:

The First Annual Nelson Institute Undergraduate Conference on Global Affairs was held on April 11-12, 2014 at Drake University. The 2014 Friday Night Keynote speaker was Todd Sechser, University of Virginia, on "Crisis Bargaining and Nuclear Blackmail: Should We Be Afraid of an Iranian Bomb?"

2014 Saturday Luncheon Keynote Speaker: Jerry Gallucci, Diplomat-in-Residence, Former Foreign Service Officer and UN Peacekeeper, spoke on "U.S. Policy on Russia and Ukraine."

2014 Student Panels

Topic: Globalism, Nationalism and Identity‌

Amanda Lawnicki, Beloit College
“Papa, should I tell you what I think of this exhibition, I would cry.”

An Analysis of Visitor Impression Books at the Bosnian Historical Museum in Sarajevo

Danny Hodorowski, Beloit College
The Faces Behind the Flags

Football-Hooliganism's connections to Civil-Society in Moscow

Joshua Duden, Drake University

The Changing Citizen in a Globalized World

Emily Grant, Central College
Finding a Balance Between the Old and the New

The 2nd Generation’s Struggle to Understand and Preserve the Tai Dam Culture