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Events

5/30 - Francine McKenzie, Assistant Professor of Social Sciences, University of Western Ontario, "The Fight for Free Trade: The Embattled History of the GATT, 1948–1994," Cosponsored with the Department of History

5/23 – Hossein Mousavian, Former Iranian Ambassador, "The Iranian Nuclear Crisis," Cosponsored with UCI Global Zero, Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, Office of the Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs, Dean of Undergraduate Education, and Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies

5/16 – Donald E. Miller, Firestone Professor of Religion and Executive Director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern California, "Global Pentecostalism: The Growth of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity," Cosponsored with the Religious Studies Program

5/9 – Mark Juergensmeyer, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, UC Santa Barbara, "The Global Rise of Religious Rebellion," Cosponsored by Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies and the Interdisciplinary Conference on Religion, Law and Ethics

5/2 – Roxanne L. Euben, Wellesley College, "Islamism, Humiliation and the Mobilization of Masculinity," Cosponsored by the Department of Political Science and Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies

4/25 – Katharine Keith-Azar, Deputy Head of Press, Policy, Public Affairs, British Consulate-General, Los Angeles, "The UK in USA: GREAT Britain’s Public Diplomacy in the United States"

4/18 – Lourdes Cisneros, University of Havana, "Professional and Academic Travels between Cuba and the United States," Cosponsored by the UC-CUBA Academic Initiative, Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies, and Center for Real Estate

4/11 – Pico Iyer, Essayist and Novelist, "Travelers' Tales," Cosponsored by the Center for Asian Studies, Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies, Department of History, and Literary Journalism Program

3/7 – Ha Nguyen, Aviation Security, Executive Office of the President, "From International Studies to International Security"

2/28 – Roberto Blancarte, El Colegio de Mexico, "Religion, Politics, and Secular Society," Cosponsored by the Department of History

2/21 – Monica das Gupta, Research Professor, University of Maryland, College Park and Visiting Scholar, Population Reference Bureau, "China’s Bride Shortage and Upcoming Challenges for Elderly Men," Cosponsored by the Center for Demographic and Social Analysis

2/14 – Allen Wells, Professor of History, Bowdoin College, "Representative Charles Porter and the Latin American Crusade for Democracy during the Cold War," Cosponsored by the Department of History

2/4 – Gershon Baskin, Ph.D., Former Israeli Co-Director and Founder of Israel/Palestinian Center for Research and Information, "20 Years After the Oslo Peace Accords: What Happened to Peace in the Middle East?," Cosponsored by the Olive Tree Initiative and the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding

1/31 – Film Screening: "Exchanging Language – from the Orange to the Gold Coast," with commentary by Sheron Wray, UCI, and Jessica Millward, UCI

1/24 – Rev. Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr., Distinguished Senior Scholar-in-Residence, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, "The Journey to Global Nonviolence and Peace," Cosponsored by the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding

For more information on these and other events, see International Studies Events.


Event Calendar




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For more information on International Studies at UCI as well as for job announcements, grants, and conferences, visit us online.

To submit news and events for the next quarterly International Studies newsletter, please contact Carrie Reiling.





Director's Message from Cecelia Lynch

International Studies has had another productive year, sponsoring cutting-edge talks and seminars, organizing conferences and workshops, and working with affiliated centers, departments, and programs to provide opportunities for both students and faculty in IS and across campus. As you will see from the list to the left, we have been fortunate to host journalists and authors, scholars from Cuba, Iran, and Mexico, and numerous experts on issues concerning religion, social activism in Africa, demography in China, and the methodology of nonviolence, among many other topics.

We have also featured two of our International Studies alumni in our talks. Ha Nguyen now works in the Office of the President (yes, of the United States) and came to tell students of her journey from IS at UCI to the Kennedy School to Homeland Security to the White House. Katharine Azar moved from IS to a master’s degree and then to the British Consulate in Los Angeles and regaled students with her experiences working on U.S.–British relations. We are planning another great lineup of co-sponsored events for 2013–2014.

IS also sponsored a major conference on UCI's engagements on the continent of Africa (following on a similar conference held several years ago), a conference on religion, law and ethics, and a workshop on interpretive methods for grantwriting. Again, such initiatives are possible through working with centers and departments in the School and across campus, the Dean, and the Office of the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor for Undergraduate Affairs.

Last but definitely not least, our students and faculty continue to win major awards in the School of Social Sciences and beyond. Our majors took home both the David Rosten award for International Education and service scholarship, the School of Social Sciences Outstanding Transfer Student Scholarship, and the Elena B. and William R. Schonfeld Scholarship this year. Graduate students working on international topics won Fulbright, Wenner-Gren, Fletcher and State Department fellowships and grants. Our faculty have won major UCI, national, and international awards as well as prizes for their research.

Enjoy reading about all of these and other accomplishments below. Have a wonderful summer, and we look forward to communicating again in the fall.




International Studies Conferences and Workshops

One of the important functions of International Studies is to bring together faculty and students, along with scholars and activists from outside of campus, to discuss critical issues in the conduct of international affairs and the way global and international phenomena are studied. We sponsored three significant conferences and workshops in 2012–2013:

In December, International Studies and the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies, with support from the Office of the Chancellor, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, School of Social Sciences, Division of Undergraduate Education, Education Abroad Program, and Institute for Money, Technology, and Financial Inclusion, as well as the Critical Investigations into Humanitarianism in Africa blog (The CIHA Blog) sponsored a conference, "UCI and Africa: Expanding Engagements, Ongoing Dialogues." The conference, which brought together UCI faculty and students with scholars from across the African and North American continents, opened with an address by Chancellor Michael Drake and also featured Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs Thomas Parham. The first panel honored Distinguished Professor Ngugi wa Thiong'o, and other panels showcased UCI's ongoing collaborations on The CIHA Blog, engagements in dance, literature and studies of slavery, social movement activism on the continent, and collaborations and contacts with nongovernmental organizations. Videos of the talks and panels are available on YouTube.

As a result of funding from the Henry Luce Foundation, three new co-editors joined The CIHA Blog at the conference: Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Director of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon; Professor R. Simangaliso Kumalo, Director of Research and Postgraduate Studies, School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal; and Professor Cilas Kemedjio, Director of the Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies at the University of Rochester. Three new editorial assistants were also added: Edwin Adjei, graduate student at the University of Ghana, Legon; Albert Bangirana, graduate student at the university of KwaZulu-Natal; and Carrie Reiling, graduate student at UCI.

The graduate student-led group on Interdisciplinary Encounters in Religion, Law, and Ethics organized a successful conference entitled Interdisciplinary Encounters on Religion, Law, and Ethics on May 10, 2013, cosponsored by International Studies and the Center in Law, Society and Culture. This conference focused on religion and law, as well as the intersection between religion and ethics; the presented papers are being developed for submission as working papers to IS and CLSC.

International Studies, along with the Interpretive Methods and Methodologies Group of the American Political Science Association, sponsored the "Interpretive Methods for Grant Proposal Development" Workshop May 30–31, 2013. This advanced workshop for graduate students and junior faculty focused on the development of grant-writing skills for projects utilizing interpretive methods, which are increasingly adopted and used by scholars in a wide variety of social science disciplines. In addition to UCI scholars, the workshop included representatives from the National Science Foundation and the Social Science Research Council and scholars from the New School for Social Research, Wageningen University, and the University of Utah. Participants included graduate students and junior faculty from UCI as well as California State University Long Beach, California State University Northridge, New School for Social Research, St. Louis University, UC Berkeley, UC Riverside, the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, and the University of Utah.






Faculty Honors and Awards

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, distinguished professor of comparative literature and English, was honored with the UCI Medal, which confers lifelong recognition on those who have made exceptional contributions of time, service, and support to the university. Ngũgĩ is an internationally acclaimed writer, academic and social activist from Kenya. Read more...




Etel Solingen, Chancellor's professor in political science, just completed her tenure as the International Studies Association president for 2012–2013. The 2013 ISA Annual Convention in San Francisco, the theme of which was "The Politics of International Diffusion: Regional and Global Dimensions," had a record number of submissions, resulting in a total of 5,772 individual acceptances, 199 presidential and regular theme panels, and 1,196 other panels and roundtables. She also inaugurated the Junior Scholar Symposia for mentoring new scholars at the conference and an "extra-curricular" conference activity about the transnational diffusion of film.

Kristen Monroe, political science professor and director of the UCI Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality, is the recipient of the 2013 Nevitt Sanford Award. This honor recognizes a faculty member for distinguished professional contributions to the field of political psychology. Read more...



Paula Garb, anthropology lecturer and co-director of the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, received a Vision of Peace Award from the Interfaith Women of S.A.R.A.H. for her and the center's work to cofound the Olive Tree Initiative and launce UCI's first gang intervention and mediation program. Read more...




Sara Goodman, political science assistant professor, is the recipient of the 2012 James B. Christoph Prize for the best conference paper on British politics, presented by the American Political Science Association’s British Politics Group. Read more...





Judy Treas, sociology professor and Center for Demographic and Social Analysis director, has been named a fellow of the National Council of Family Relations. Read more...






Tom Boellstorff, anthropology professor, and Bill Maurer, anthropology and law professor and Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion director, have been named Wyse Visiting Professors by the University of Cambridge. Read more...





Keith Nelson, emeritus professor of history, is being honored this year as a recipient of the Edward A. Dickson Emeriti Professors award, which is awarded to retired faculty who "continue to make significant contributions in the areas of university service, teaching, and research." Read more...







Faculty in the News

Cecelia Lynch, political science professor and international studies director, was featured by The Immanent Frame, a blog about secularism, religion and the public sphere by the Social Science Research Council. Read more...

Associate professor of anthropology, Roxanne Varzi, has a sound installation and article on Public Books, a monthly review of books and the arts. Read (and hear) more...

Bill Maurer, anthropology and law professor and Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion director, was quoted in The Economist about mobile money offerings in Kenya. He was also featured in Bloomberg Businessweek.

Political science professor Dorothy Solinger was quoted in The Guardian about her research on China’s rural poor. Read more...

Political science assistant professor Daniel Brunstetter was interviewed for Bill Moyers's website and was featured in Daily News America on just war and the morality of drone strikes.




IS Student News

UCI’s Gamma Gamma Chapter of the Sigma Iota Rho (SIR) International Studies Honor Society was reinvigorated with new leadership this year; president Rocio La Rosa, vice president Sheila Vilanilam and secretary-treasurer Laila Zandi, with the help of advisor Teresa Neighbors, strengthened its presence within the network of IS students and alumni. In the fall quarter, members met U.S. District Judge David Carter, who also lectures at UCI, and were able to witness courtroom procedures and tour the OC District courthouse. In winter, in collaboration with ISPF, SIR and the International Studies Club hosted a networking event to meet UCI alumna Ha Nguyen, Director of Aviation Security at the White House. A similar event was held in the spring quarter with another UCI and SIR alumna, Katharine Keith-Azar, Deputy Head of Press, Policy and Public Affairs at the British Consulate in Los Angeles.

SIR works to encourage a lifelong commitment to a better understanding of the world. Members believe in an education that suits a globalized society to make the world a better place as a student and a professional and from lasting connections. The year will end with the induction of eight new members on May 29, 2013. Current membership includes 18 juniors and seniors with an average GPA of 3.7. Incoming chapter President Sarahzin Chowdhury is enthusiastic about the Society’s next year at UCI.




IS Students Continue to Win Major Honors!

Sasha Sabherwal, junior international studies and women's studies double major, has been awarded both the Elena B. and William R. Schonfeld Scholarship and the David Rosten International Education and Service Scholarship. Read more...






Shruti Sharma, international studies senior, is this year's recipient of the School of Social Sciences Outstanding Transfer Student Scholarship. Sharma, as well as Lucas Hahn, Rocio La Rosa and Maritza Mantilla, were all international studies Order of Merit recipients this year.




Mazamir Yousefi, international studies and political science major, has been one of 12 social sciences graduating seniors recognized with the Chancellor’s Award of Distinction. Read more...

We honored these and many other students at our awards ceremony on May 29, 2013. (Check out our fall newsletter for other updates on our graduates!)




IS Undergraduates Studying Abroad

Our students continue to benefit from wonderful opportunities to study abroad all over the world. Check out the following photos (and students, keep them coming!):

Lori Ke, Edinburgh, Scotland – along Princes Street

Roxana Vazirpour Kennedy, Buenos Aires, Argentina – at Caminos Abiertos, an after-school hangout meant to foster healthy activities for young students

Cesar Barrios, Rome, Italy – at Roman Coliseum

Cesar Barrios, Rome, Italy – at soccer game, Roma vs. Fiorentina (Florence)

DEADLINE FOR STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS IN SPRING 2014: Study abroad spring semester 2014 on the UC Education Abroad Program in Egypt, Ghana, Israel, South Africa, Tanzania and Turkey. The application deadline for these opportunities is June 24, 2013. A number of other Africa and Middle East study abroad opportunities for fall semester are also available and can be found through the Study Abroad Center.




Graduate Students Win Major Awards, Fellowships, and Honors

Tom Le, political science graduate student, has received a Fulbright award to study at Hiroshima City University in Hiroshima, Japan. The title of his project is "Where Power Projection Ends: Constraints and Restraints on Japanese Militarism."





Anthropology graduate student Elham Mireshghi has received the Woodrow Wilson dissertating writing fellowship for her research on kidney transplants in Iran. Read more...






Political science graduate student Nathan Jones has been awarded the 2012 Western Political Science Association Best Dissertation Award for his dissertation, "The State Reaction: A Theory of Illicit Network Resilience." This is the second year in a row that his award has been won by a UCI political science/international studies Ph.D. student.



Anthropology graduate student Joanne Nucho has received a Wenner-Gren Engaged Anthropology Grant to organize and ethnographic filmmaking workshop for young adults in Lebanon. Read more...








Natalie Newton, anthropology graduate student, has been awarded the Kenneth Payne Student Prize from the Association for Queer Anthropology. The title of the paper is "Contingent Invisibility: Space, Community, and Invisibility for Lesbians (Les) is Saigon."



Kelsey Norman, political science graduate student, has been awarded a U.S. State Department Critical Language Scholarship to Study Arabic in Morocco. Read more...






Katie Dingeman-Cerda, sociology graduate student, has been named the 2012 Fletcher Jones Fellow. Her research explores how individuals navigate their lives after they have been deported from the United States to El Salvador.






Anthropology graduate student Taylor Nelms published a blog post on the marketing of finance in Ecuador in Charisma, the online publication for the Center for Research on SocioCultural Change at the Open University.






Natalia Milovantseva, UCI social ecology graduate student who earned her B.A. in International Studies at UCI, has been granted a Fulbright-Schuman grant for her research about electronic waste. Read more...







A number of social science graduate students whose work focuses on international studies have been recognized by national, university system, and UCI research awards and grants. Read more...






News from Affiliated Centers

International Studies acts as a hub for 17 affiliated Social Science centers and institutes and a number of other centers campus-wide. Recent and upcoming event highlights include:

The Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studieshas selected a new director, Julia Elyachar, associate professor of anthropology. CGPACS also held a conference for its graduate student grantees May 13, 2013, highlighting emerging research in global peace and conflict studies. We welcome Professor Elyachar to CGPACS. Read more...





A number of UCI faculty and graduate students from the Public Health program and from the Center for Disaster Medical Sciences presented at UC Global Health Day, held at UC Riverside on February 23, 2013.



Simon Cole, criminology, law and society associate professor, was appointed as the new director of the Newkirk Center for Science and Society. His research lies at the intersection of science and technology with history and sociology. We welcome Professor Cole and look forward to working with him on the international aspects of the Newkirk Center’s work.




Kevin O’Leary, visiting faculty at the Center for Study of Democracy, was featured in the Orange County Register with a commentary article: “Warming Not a Partisan Issue – It’s Physics.”




Thank you for reading! For more information on International Studies at UCI as well as for job announcements, grants, and conferences, please visit the International Studies website.

To submit news and events for the next quarterly International Studies newsletter, please contact Carrie Reiling (creiling@uci.edu).







If you no longer wish to receive the eNews, please email Carrie Reiling.



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