The Muslims in the Global Context series offers the opportunity to examine the factors and trends that are having major impacts on these diverse regions and their relationships with other world regions and countries. The mini-courses consist of presentations on topics of critical importance to the understanding of Muslims in diverse regions of the world. In addition to attendance at all lectures, students enrolled for credit are required to develop and write a research paper on one of the themes of the mini-course and answer reflection prompts during the course.

In our first Conversation on Europe for 2015, panelists will consider the demands on and capabilities of the European Union as a major global actor. Panelists will use a Carnegie Europe “Memo to the European Union Foreign Policy Chief” as a starting point.

2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Join the JASP for an evening of reflection on the Japanese-German alliance. Dr. Ricky Law, Assistant Professor of History at Carnegie Mellon University, will speak.

His lecture will provide an overview of the origins, formation, development, and fall of the Axis alliance between Japan and Germany before and during World War II. It will discuss major events such as the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936, the Tripartite Pact of 1940, and the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Are you looking for travel opportunities and a chance to get “real world experience” before facing the job market? Join us at the Global Gap Year Panel, where representatives from the Peace Corps, Hekima Place, PULSE Pittsburgh, Fulbright Fellowship Program, and others will talk about what they gained from their “Gap Year”.

Panelists include:
Abraham Kim, Peace Corps (Zambia)
Jessa Darwin, Hekima Place (Kenya)
Jenna Baron, PULSE, United Way, Fulbright Scholar (Pittsburgh, PA & Kenya)
Holly Hickling, FORGE (Paris & Zambia)

Mark De Vos holds a Licentiate and Doctorate in Law (Universiteit Gent), a Master in Social Law (Université Libre de Bruxelles), and a Master of Laws (Harvard University). He teaches employment and labor law, EU-law, and the rule of law at Ghent University and the University of Brussels. He is the director of the Itinera Institute, an independent policy think-tank based in Brussels.

A part of the 25 Years – Fall of the Berlin Wall Series, this exhibit is free and open to the public. It was curated by the Special Collections Department, with grateful assistance from the Archives Service Center, the Digital Research Library, Web Services, and the Hillman Library Journal and General Map collections.

Professor Spoon’s presentation is based on work (with Heike Klüver) on how voter polarization affects party responsiveness. The authors analyze party responsiveness across nine West European countries and argue that party responsiveness increases with the polarization of issues among voters. Professor Spoon is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at North Texas and a candidate for the position in European politics in the Department of Political Science.

This paper is based on Professor Slapins’ forthcoming Cambridge University Press book (with Sven-Oliver Proksch) of the same title. Professor Slapin is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Houston and a candidate for the position in European politics in the Department of Political Science.

Countering violent extremism remains a critical security challenge confronting Western democratic societies. Policy makers face difficult questions about how to prevent their citizens from engaging in terrorism, what to do with citizens that seek to travel abroad to fight in “jihad,” and how to minimize the potential for violent attacks when fighters return to their countries of origin. Local communities also have an important role to play in countering violent extremism.