The Green School Magazine 2022

Green School

RISING TO NEW HEIGHTS

On the heels of its election into the prestigious Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA), the Green School is nearing completion on the iconic SIPA Phase II building.

justice student

Message from Interim Dean Shlomi Dinar

Dear Green School Family,

As we begin a new academic year, with all the excitement this time of year entails, we at the Green School continue to mourn the loss of our esteemed colleague, friend and founding dean, John F. Stack, Jr. While there is sadness, it is also a hopeful time as we envision our future and the ways in which we will build upon the remarkable foundation laid by Dean Stack.

I am honored to serve as the interim Dean. I embrace the vision of Ambassador Steven J. Green to build a world class institution devoted to understanding the pressing global and social issues we face as one human family. I want to ensure the entire Green School community – our students, faculty, staff and alumni, as well as our generous donors and valued partners locally and around the world – that I am committed to doing all that is necessary to advance this vision and fortify our position as one of the top schools of international and public affairs in the world.

The building blocks of our School are the individual departments, centers, institutes, and programs. While each may have a disciplinary, regional, or functional focus all these units, together, embody our cross-disciplinary approach to international and public affairs education. It is the spirit of embracing all faculty from different disciplines, along with various research agendas and methodologies, that is the School’s strength. We will leverage such diversity to highlight and advance the scholarship produced and the policy lessons learned, as well as enhance our connections to the community, both locally and globally.

It is a critically important time in the history of the Green School. We are so proud to have achieved full membership in the prestigious Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA). FIU is the only university in Florida to achieve this designation and only one of 38 APSIA member schools in the world. We are actively working with APSIA leadership to ensure that this membership translates into real value for our students and faculty through collaborations, connections, and new opportunities with other APSIA schools around the world. APSIA schools have graduated some of the world’s greatest leaders and public servants. We are in good company since many of our graduates and alumni have secured top positions in the governmental, non-governmental, and private sectors.

Membership in APSIA also reminds us that our mission as educators includes providing our students with the theoretical, conceptual, and historical knowledge of their respective field of study and, at the same time, providing the professional and hands-on skills that will allow them to be competitive in the job market and successful in their respective careers. To advance this important mission we will increase engagement with our alumni, further develop our partnerships with current and new employers, and double our efforts to work with our university partners to sharpen our career, talent, and workforce development initiatives.

Next on the horizon is the opening of the long-awaited “west wing” of the Green School – the iconic and beautifully designed SIPA II building – through which we will be able to connect nearly all our students, faculty and staff under one roof, allowing for more collaboration and innovation. Construction should be completed this fall and a grand opening will be scheduled in the spring. We will keep the community informed of this exciting progress.

To all who have reached out and offered your support and encouragement, thank you. I am looking forward to working with each of you to ensure that the Green School’s place in the world continues to rise. It is my honor to serve as your interim Dean, and I hope to meet more of you in the coming weeks and months.

Founding Dean

John F. Stack Jr.

His legacy lives on through the students he mentored

Dean Stack passed away at the age of 71 after a career at FIU that spanned nearly five decades.

“ Professor John Stack was one of a kind,’’ said the Hon. Barbara Lagoa, a U.S. Circuit Judge who was the first Hispanic woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Florida. “He cared deeply about his students. He taught us to think critically and to broaden our horizons. His mentorship was life-changing for so many of the students, including me, who had the privilege to learn from him. He made us realize that we had unlimited opportunities, and without his mentorship, we would not have achieved the dreams that he inspired in us. I will miss him greatly.”

John F. Stack Jr., the founding dean of FIU’s Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs, was a friend and mentor to so many Panthers throughout the last five decades. He leaves a legacy of groundbreaking work that shaped the university FIU is today.

His passion and sharp intellect live on in the thousands of students whose lives he touched, many of whom he continued mentoring long after graduation. Dean Stack, 71, was not only a brilliant scholar but a kind person who was very concerned about students, the university and the community.

John Stack came to FIU in 1976 as an instructor in the Department of Political Science and quickly rose through the faculty ranks to become professor and chair. He also served as founding director of the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy.

Before being selected to lead the newly formed School of International and Public Affairs in 2008, Dr. Stack was instrumental in the founding of FIU’s College of Law, serving as chair of the College of Law initiative in 2000-2001. He went on to serve as law faculty for the last two decades.

Under his leadership, in 2015, the school was named the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs in honor of Ambassador Green, a long-time supporter of FIU. Dean Stack spearheaded fundraising and lobbying for private and public funding for a new building for the school. Phase two of the Green School facility is expected to open in the spring of 2023.

In 2021, Dean Stack’s leadership led the way for the Green School’s membership in the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA), making it the first university in Florida to achieve the designation and one of only 38 globally.

Model UN was one of the Dean’s greatest passions at FIU and as the team’s faculty advisor and biggest champion, he was instrumental in its incredible success. For more than a decade, FIU has been the top public university team in the United States and for several years, it has been in the top five among all universities.

His proudest moment came in 2019 when the team was named No. 1 — a first in the program’s 34-year history.

Below are some remembrances from students Dean Stack mentored over the years.

If Carlos B. Castillo ’88 ever doubted the impact his friend and mentor Dean John F. Stack Jr. had on his students, he realized it fully when he arrived at the 2011 Beef O’Brady’s Bowl in St. Petersburg with Stack at his side. As they approached the FIU alumni tent at Tropicana Field, Stack was swamped by current and former students who wanted to say hello, shake his hand and say thank you.

“It really was an incredible thing to see,’’ said Castillo, a former assistant U.S. attorney who has served as FIU’s general counsel since 2016, a move he discussed with Stack, who he first met as a teenager in high school. “I told him he was a rock star. He didn’t like me saying that, but he was definitely a rock star at that football game.”

“The biggest thing he taught me was to believe in yourself,’’ said Chris Cummins ’16, an FIU Model United Nations head delegate who now serves as legislative and policy director at the Ferguson Group in Washington, D.C. “He embedded that in all of us. You always left Dr. Stack feeling encouraged and spurred on to do more.”

“He took me under his wing when I was just a 19-year-old punk and, two decades later, I can’t think of a single major life decision I’ve made without first discussing it with him,’’ said Clayton Solomon ’05, a federal prosecutor with the Department of Justice in D.C. who also served on Stack’s dean’s advisory council.

“He’s family. He leaves behind an incredible legacy at FIU and in the students who he inspired to work for the public good.”

SIPA II SLATED FOR COMPLETION IN FALL ’22

Opening of Green School’s new “west wing” expected in Spring ’23

Nestled between the existing SIPA building and the Labor Center, SIPA II is scheduled to be completed in Fall of 2022 and ready for students by Spring 2023.

Rising above the dust and debris in the center of campus, SIPA II — the new 85,000-square-foot “west wing” of the Green School — is scheduled for completion in Fall 2022.

While the official opening of the $40 million, LEED-certified building won’t be until Spring 2023, Green School administrators are already looking forward to pulling most of the school’s eight departments and 17 centers under one roof, giving students and faculty more opportunities to connect and collaborate.

“This beautiful new building designed by famed architect Yann Weymouth is going to be a real game changer for the Green School,’’ said founding Dean John F. Stack Jr. “We are so excited to see the fulfillment of Ambassador (Steven J.) Green’s vision for us as one of the greatest schools of international and public affairs in the world.”

An early rendering of the SIPA II lobby shows shared spaces with plenty of natural light.

Weymouth, renowned for his work with I.M. Pei on the Louvre in Paris, said the building’s design takes its inspiration from the mission of the Green School. Shared spaces with natural light will allow “the outside in” and reflect the fundamental structure of the Green School as interdisciplinary and collaborative, he said.

“We wanted to create a west wing tying seamlessly to the existing, providing easy navigation, ample light and views, encouraging departmental collaboration, promoting faculty and student interaction, and inspiring the future world leaders who will be using it,” said Weymouth, design director for special projects with Harvard Jolly Architecture.

The architect’s favorite feature of the new structure?

“The courtyard,’’ he said. “Nestled between the old and new wing, it is a modern version of the classic Oxford or Cambridge quadrangle, a shaded green meeting place, with a unique triangular spiral stair leading to the upper floors and garden terrace. We hope it becomes a memorable place for quiet contemplation, meetings, or events.”

The building is designed to be energy efficient and hightech, with its west façade deliberately skewed 30 degrees from due west to reduce the substantial afternoon sun and heat load, he added.

“This was the driver behind making the wing’s triangulated geometry,” Weymouth explained. “Windows feature aluminum sunshades and infrared-blocking glass.”

A covered walkway will link SIPA II to the original SIPA building. In addition, bridges on floors two through five will connect the two structures.

A terrace on the third floor will house an “art in public

spaces” installation, said Pedro Botta, executive director of marketing and strategic initiatives, who has served as the chief liaison between the Green School and the construction company, Thornton Construction, Inc.

The recently launched Maurice A. Ferré Institute for Civic Leadership is slated to occupy a large suite of offices on the second floor of the building, named the Ferré Family Floor.

It will include the Ferré Reading Room, the Ferré Collection — chronicling a lifetime of public service and containing the personal library and archives of longtime Miami Mayor Maurice A. Ferré — as well as offices for the director, staff, postdoctoral fellows and research scholars.

SIPA II was funded by a combination of philanthropy and state funding — $15 million from Steven J. Green, Dorothea Green, Kimberly Green and the Green Family Foundation, along with $12.7 million from the Florida Legislature. The building still has naming opportunities for future donors, including the lobby, courtyard, terrace, auditorium and various conference rooms and classrooms.

Though plans are still in the works, Botta said there will be an official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening, some time in the Spring.

The groundbreaking ceremony for SIPA II was held in October 2019 and included appearances by the Green family, elected officials and other dignitaries, as well as a keynote address by Jim Messina, White House deputy chief of staff under President Barack Obama.

“This project has been a long time coming and a labor of love for many of us,’’ said Botta. “The grand opening will be a time of celebration for our students, faculty and the entire Green School family.”

An aerial view shows the rise of SIPA II to the west of the existing SIPA building.

FIU and Jain community launch $3 million campaign to fund new institute

what the Green School seeks to do – foster dialogue and use an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach to tackle the many challenges facing our world today.”

The Jain Education and Research Foundation (JERF), which initially helped FIU launch the Jain Studies Program in 2010, joined interim President Kenneth Jessell and other university leaders this week to kick off their latest fundraising effort.

JERF funds the Bhagwan Mahavir Professorship in Jain Studies at FIU, recently filled by Aleksandra Restifo, who previously taught at Yale and Oxford universities.

“This institute is another example of how we at FIU are committed to providing a world-class, well-rounded academic experience for our students, as well as creating a place for dialogue and critical thinking for our community,’’ Jessell said. “I look forward to our continued partnership as we fundraise for this important project.”

Members of the Jain community joined FIU and Green School leaders in July for the launch of a campaign to fund the Institute for Advanced Jain Studies.

Jain Education and Research Foundation joins university leadership for kickoff of nationwide campaign to fund Institute for Advanced Jain Studies at FIU

In 2010, FIU made history by launching the first Jain Studies Program in North America. Since then, the university has pioneered Jain studies as an academic field and established the largest Jain studies library in the Southeast United States.

Now, FIU and the Jain community have taken another important leap forward, embarking on a national campaign to raise a minimum of $3 million to create an Institute for Advanced Jain Studies, to be housed in the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs at FIU.

The institute will be organized as a think tank to bring Jain studies scholars together and to connect them to policymakers, social activists and industry leaders with the goal of applying Jain principles to real-world challenges.

“It is an exciting time for Jain Studies and an exciting time for the Green School,’’ said Associate Dean Jeff Gonzalez. “Our affiliated scholars and fellows will spearhead the exploration of new paths in the study of Jainism while creating tools with practical, real-world relevance and application. This is precisely

Jainism is one of the world’s oldest religions, originating in India more than 2,500 years ago. The tradition teaches that the path to enlightenment is through nonviolence and reducing harm to all living things, including plants and animals.

The new institute’s focus will go beyond traditional religious education toward ways in which the Jain tradition can help address global challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and protracted global conflicts to climate change and poverty.

“The Jain tradition emphasizes intentionality and compassion in dealing with others,’’ said Nirmal Baid and FIU almnus Sapan Bafna, MBA ‘99, founding directors of JERF and co-chairs of the board, in a joint statement. “The institute will pilot the evolution of Jain studies to an interdisciplinary understanding of the tradition as having broader social, political and economic dimensions.”

The institute will also work closely with other programs within the Green School and across FIU, including the Václav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy, Mohsin and Fauzia Jaffer Center for Muslim World Studies and the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management’s research on commercially viable vegan diets.

Added Iqbal Akhtar, professor of religious studies and director of the Jain Studies Program: “It is our hope that through the institute we can also bring greater public awareness to the contributions of the Jain civilization to our shared global heritage.”

FIU NAMES NEW DIRECTOR OF KIMBERLY GREEN LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN CENTER

Anthony W. Pereira comes to FIU from King’s College of London

Anthony W. Pereira, director of the Brazilian Studies Institute at King’s College of London, has been named director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center at FIU.

Recognized as one of the leading centers of Latin American and Caribbean studies in the world, LACC is a part of the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs and an emerging preeminent program at FIU. LACC is also designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a National Resource Center on Latin America.

Pereira takes over administration of the center from former Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis, who has served as interim director since 2021.

At King’s College, Pereira is credited with founding the Brazil Institute, hiring its team of academics and creating the institute’s master’s and Ph.D. programs. He also assisted in the construction of a new master’s program in global affairs, with the cooperation of the China, India, Russia, Middle East and Africa institutes and centers. He helped create a joint Ph.D. in international relations with the Institute of International Relations at the University of São Paulo and developed partnerships with various Brazilian universities and organizations, including CAPES, the Brazilian research agency.

Pereira has extensive teaching and research experience at universities across the U.S., Brazil and the U.K. Before joining King’s in 2010, where he is also a professor of international development, Pereira held positions at the New School for Social Research in New York City, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at

Tufts University, Tulane University in New Orleans and the University of East Anglia in the UK. He has also been a visiting professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil, the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil and the International Relations Institute of the University of São Paulo in São Paulo, Brazil.

Pereira graduated from the University of Sussex in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in politics and in 1986 obtained a master’s degree in government from Harvard University. He earned his Ph.D. in government from Harvard in 1991, focusing on comparative politics with a concentration in Latin America.

His recent books include (with Lauro Mattei)

The Brazilian Economy Today: Towards a New Socio-Economic Model? (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015); (with Jeff Garmany) Understanding Contemporary Brazil (Routledge, 2018) and Modern Brazil: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2020). He was president of the Brazilian Studies Association (BRASA) from 2014 to 2016 and is an occasional commentator on Brazilian issues in the media.

Please join the Green School in welcoming Anthony Pereira to FIU and to LACC. We also wish to extend our sincere appreciation to President Solis, who led LACC through a challenging two years. We are very grateful for his steadfast leadership.

FIU names former head of U.S. Southern Command as senior fellow

Adm. Craig S. Faller meets with students and faculty at the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy.

After a nearly four-decade long career in the military, retired U.S. Navy Adm. Craig S. Faller joined the Green School as a senior fellow. He will lecture on national security and leadership, as well as mentor students through the university’s intelligence fellowship and global affairs programs.

As commander of U.S. Southern Command, Faller, 61, oversaw U.S. military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean from November 2018 until he stepped down in October 2021. At FIU, Faller will work closely with the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy, the Master of Arts in Global Affairs Program, as well as the Center for Leadership.

“Admiral Faller has always highlighted the importance of engaging leaders in the Western hemisphere in strategic partnerships and maintaining peace,’’ said John F. Stack Jr., founding dean of the Green School. “He has also been a tremendous partner to FIU and the Green School and we are so pleased to have that partnership continue in this new role.”

Before joining Southcom, Faller served as senior military assistant to the secretary of defense and held numerous high-level positions at U.S. Pacific Command and U.S. Central Command. He served as a commanding officer in the Persian Gulf War, as well as operations New Dawn in Iraq and Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

At FIU, Faller has regularly headlined major events on national security issues including the Hemispheric Security Conference in May 2021, where his roundtable conversation with university leaders drew thousands of online viewers.

“Admiral Faller brings tremendous national security and leadership expertise that will undoubtedly educate and inspire our students while enhancing the quality of FIU’s national security-focused research and programming,’’ said Brian Fonseca, director of the Gordon Institute, which has had a robust academic partnership with Southcom since 2007.

“I am honored to join the FIU team,’’ Faller said. “FIU is a world-class organization. As commander of U.S. Southern Command, I saw firsthand the great work FIU does educating students, partnering with the Miami community and building security in our Western Hemisphere neighborhood.”

Retired U.S. Navy Admiral Craig S. Faller joins FIU’s Green School

Deputy Secretary of State tells students: no one path to a career in foreign policy

“You don’t even have to be in political science or international affairs,’’ said McKeon, an attorney and former national security advisor who got his start in politics as a legislative assistant for then-Senator Joe Biden. “We need doctors and nurses, engineers and architects, law enforcement and security officers, economists. There are lots of pathways.”

Beyond foreign policy, there are also foreign service positions in economics, public affairs, consular service and management, added Mignon Houston, FIU’s Diplomat in Residence.

Students attended the event at FIU’s Modesto A. Maidique Campus and via livestream from FIU in Washington, D.C

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Brian P. McKeon likes to joke that his decades-long career in foreign policy, serving as a key advisor in the White House, Senate and Department of Defense, came about because he “hung around, didn’t screw up and stayed loyal.’’

“It was part dumb luck and part making my own luck,’’ said McKeon, who oversees billions of dollars in U.S. foreign assistance, along with diplomatic operations around the world. “Everyone in D.C. has a story like that.”

“The main takeaway here today is that there is no one path to the career you want to do in foreign policy,’’ he told a group of FIU students and faculty gathered in Miami and via livestream from FIU in Washington, D.C., for an event on careers in foreign affairs and government.

The day-long visit was organized by the Green School in collaboration with the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy, FIU’s Diplomat in Residence program, the Office of Career and Talent Development and FIU in DC.

“No matter your background, there is an opportunity for you to make a difference,’’ said Houston, who wore a broach in honor of Madeleine Albright, the first female U.S. Secretary of State who recently died.

McKeon said there was one common denominator among most of his colleagues in foreign service.

“They want to do work that matters,” he said. “You have 40 years of work ahead of you. You don’t want to wake up one morning and realize you are in a job that you hate.”

McKeon’s visit comes on the heels of another high-profile visit to FIU by a top U.S. official looking to recruit students for federal jobs. Samantha Power, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, recently came to campus to sign an agreement to recruit more students from FIU, particularly from underrepresented groups.

“We are recruiting for the future,’’ McKeon said, adding that the department is encouraging applicants from institutions like FIU, the largest Hispanic-serving university in the nation. McKeon’s own senior advisor, Ernesto Alfonso, graduated from FIU and joined the U.S. Foreign Service after earning the prestigious Pickering Fellowship, the first FIU student to receive that award.

FIU and USAID sign historic agreement to increase jobs, internships and research opportunities for students

USAID Administrator Samantha Power said the agency plans to “be more intentional” about recruitment and hiring at FIU.

“We are the promise of one people, one breath declaring to one another: I see you. I need you. I am you.”

In citing a line from inaugural poet and FIU alumnus Richard Blanco ‘91, MFA ‘97, Samantha Power, the Irishborn administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) noted how “inextricably linked” the world has become.

Just as FIU has served as a “port of hope” for students whose families fled persecution from around the world, Power said USAID now plans to become a “gateway for

FIU students” through jobs and internships, as well as mentorships, research opportunities and more.

Power joined Interim President Kenneth A. Jessell in signing a new partnership to promote hiring, retention and career advancement among under-represented groups in the agency’s Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean and throughout USAID.

“If we are to be the best of America, then we must recruit and hire staff that reflects the best of America,’’ Power said, noting that while the agency has a staff that is 18%

USAID Administrator Samantha Power, far left, meets with FIU students from Ukraine. Power was on campus to sign an agreement to recruit more FIU students to the federal agency.

Hispanic, only 4% of its overall workforce is Hispanic. FIU is the nation’s largest Hispanic-serving unversity.

“We need you,’’ she told an audience of students, faculty and university leaders in the gallery of the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs. “We are facing daunting challenges. We are swinging our doors open to you.”

As part of the agreement, FIU’s Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC) will work with USAID to identify internships, training opportunities, faculty and speaker exchanges, as well as research and mentorship opportunities for minorities and other under-represented groups.

“We’re ready and able to do this work and, quite frankly, we’re the right team for the job,’’ Jessell said, noting that FIU has the largest cluster of students and faculty in the

country focused on the study of the Latin American and Caribbean region.

“We represent the future of our nation,’’ he said. “Here, at the nation’s fourth largest university, excellence and social mobility converge in a unique way to make a real impact where and when it matters most.”

“What could be better than that?’’ noted Power, a Pulitzerwinning author who also served as the youngest U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Following the formal signing ceremony, Power spoke with students interested in applying for internships and jobs at USAID and toured various USAID research collaborations at FIU, including at the Institute of Environment, the Center for Administration of Justice and the Extreme Events Institute.

FIU Interim President Kenneth A. Jessell with USAID Administrator Samantha Power after the signing of the MOU

Excellence Elevated

Green School earns membership into elite network of schools of international and public affairs

“What’s really special about this election is the fact that we are a very young school,” says Shlomi Dinar, an associate dean who guided FIU’s membership application through the rigorous process. He attributes the success to the work of expert faculty, many of whom are active within the 17 centers, institutes and programs housed within the school.

The Green School has been named a full member of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA), making it the only university in Florida and the youngest in the United States to achieve the prestigious designation.

Only 38 institutions worldwide hold membership in the association, which brings together the leading graduate schools of international affairs to improve global affairs education and advance international understanding. FIU now stands alongside Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Stockholm School of Economics.

“Recent global events show how important international dialogue is,” says Steven J. Green, a former ambassador and the benefactor who invested in the school that now bears his name. ”FIU and the Green School are preparing our students to be the global leaders and change makers of tomorrow who inspire and guide us in building a more peaceful and prosperous world.”

FIU’s quick rise to membership speaks to an intentionality that predates the formal creation of the Green School as a freestanding college in 2008.

“These are faculty who are not only known in their fields,” Dinar says, “but also faculty who have gotten high honors and at the same time have engaged in very robust research.”

Funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Justice has increased over the years. Scholarly studies in top journals have drawn attention to the school for its policy-oriented work. And notably, several former government officials have joined the faculty in recent years, among them a former president of Costa Rica, a UN ambassador and a former U.S. assistant secretary of state.

Students benefit by learning from cutting-edge researchers and former leaders with experience in dealing with real-world problems. Many graduates go on to secure high-level positions within government, nonprofits and the private sector.

Ana Rosa Quintana ’11, MS ’13 earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Green School and currently serves as a professional staff member for the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. She appreciates both the classroom instruction she received while on campus and the ongoing support of some of her most valued professors, among them Eduardo Gamarra, an expert on Latin America and the Caribbean who teaches in the areas of security, democratization and elections.

GREEN SCHOOL PROFESSOR JOINS FEDERAL TEAM INVESTIGATING SURFSIDE COLLAPSE

Disaster resilience expert to lead interviews of residents, family members, first responders and government officials

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has added a disaster resilience expert from the Green School to the team of investigators looking into what caused the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside.

As the social science team leader for NIST’s evidence preservation project, N. Emel Ganapati, an associate professor of public policy and administration, will lead interviews, focus groups and surveys of residents, family members, first responders, government officials and others with knowledge of the building’s condition, collapse and response activities.

“Hearing from a variety of people who have different perspectives and memories of the event, and of the building over time, can help fill any holes in our understanding that quantitative measurements cannot fill,’’ said Ganapati, who also leads the Laboratory for Social Science Research at FIU’s International Hurricane Center, part of the Extreme Events Institute.

“I am thrilled to be named to such a prestigious group,” Ganapati added. “First, based on our investigation of why the Champlain Towers South Condominium collapsed, we will have a chance to make policy recommendations for building codes, standards and practices for new construction and existing housing stock that could be adopted by different levels of government in the U.S.”

“Our investigation will also lead to recommendations for better emergency response and evacuation procedures in the wake of building failures, which will inform the work

of first response agencies as well as homeowner associations,’’ she added. “Finally, the interviews we will conduct with the survivors may be an uplifting experience for them as they will allow them to share their lived experiences in their own words. Ganapati’s research is dedicated to helping communities become more resilient by studying the vulnerabilities and capabilities of those affected by disasters and those who serve them (for example, first responders). She has conducted significant research around disaster recovery, mitigation and resilience efforts, including the 2017 Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico as well as the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, earthquakes in Haiti in 2010 and 2021 and Turkey in 1999.

“As terrible as the Surfside event was, this appointment highlights Professor Ganapati’s stellar reputation, credibility and courage,’’ said Rich Olson, director of FIU’s Extreme Events Institute, who works closely with Ganapati. “Learning from disasters is crucial to the future safety of all of us, and I am proud to see my friend and colleague on such an important investigative team.”

FIU, OAS launch regional conference on cybersecurity education and training

“Cyber-attacks in Latin America and the Caribbean are rapidly outpacing the capacities needed to combat cyber threats,” said Fonseca.

“FIU and its partners launched RICET in an effort to help bring the region together to build innovative and collaborative workforces equipped to defend individuals, organizations, companies and governments in cyberspace.”

The conference consisted of three panels focused on K-12 curriculum development and the implementation of the NICE (National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education) framework; diversification of the cybersecurity workforce; and reskilling and upskilling.

Brian Fonseca and Randy Pestana of the Gordon Institute join Ambassador Nestor Mendez, Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), for the inaugural RICET conference.

FIU and the Organization of American States (OAS) partnered for the inaugural Regional Initiative for Cybersecurity Education and Training Conference (RICET).

The conference provided an opportunity for community members and thought leaders from education, government, industry and nonprofits to explore ways of developing a curriculum for the current and future cybersecurity workforce. It served as a collaborative effort to build and strengthen a foundation in cybersecurity education, training and workforce for the Americas and the Caribbean.

RICET featured welcome remarks by Brian Fonseca, director of the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy, FIU; Rodney Petersen, director of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education; and Ambassador Nestor Mendez, assistant secretary-general of the OAS. RICET was hosted in cooperation with the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education.

“The impact to our security and economic prosperity from cybersecurity incidents recognizes no borders or boundaries,” says Rodney Petersen, director of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education.

“Accordingly, our interdependence among the Americas combined with our global responsibility to create a safe and secure cyberspace necessitate coordination and cooperation to establish policies and standards that support the education and training of the cybersecurity workforce that is needed in both the public and private sectors.”

“Education is a key component to building and safeguarding the cybersecurity of our hemisphere and creating more rights for more people,” added Ambassador Mendez. “Through this conference, we are enabling a unique platform for OAS’ member states, key policymakers and thought leaders to share best practices around the new realities of education to adapt to new challenges, as well as new cybersecurity opportunities.”

New Master of Public Administration degree helps you make the right connections

o matter the industry, many times, it all comes down to who you know. Understanding this, the 12-month Hybrid Executive Master of Public Administration leverages the power of FIU’s more than 270,000 alumni worldwide, and the university’s extensive influence and deep connections in local, state and federal government for the benefit of learners.

The program’s blended curriculum couples online courses with three immersive, in-person residencies in Washington, D.C., Tallahassee and Miami to provide learners with unprecedented access to veteran leaders in public service.

“We want to help students speak to policy and learn what’s really going on from the people who are currently in those positions,” states Susannah Bruns Ali, associate professor at the Green School.

Online convenience, same program

The Hybrid Executive Master of Public Administration program launched in summer 2022. Ali said the program offers the most flexibility for working professionals.

All classwork is modeled after the face-to-face EMPA program with the same professors and courses, but is completed online. Like the in-person EMPA program, the Hybrid EMPA’s three residencies are face-to-face and take place over a weekend for two to four days.

Tailored for applicability

The residencies for the Executive Master of Public Administration are unique each year, whether face-toface or hybrid, as they are custom designed based on current affairs; the desires of the students who vote

Non what they’d like to learn; and the availability of FIU’s vast network of connections in public service. A recent cohort focused on municipal policies for COVID-19, for example, allowing students to graduate with immediately applicable skills.

“One year, the focus was on housing, so we took students to Washington, D.C., to meet with officials at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,” Ali explains. The events offer a deep understanding of the relevance of the program as well as camaraderie between the students.

Creating contacts

Ali notes that it’s about building connections to help students synthesize the information they are learning. “We’re facing different questions now. Our hybrid EMPA fills a need for working professionals with an online format, and our residencies provide invaluable experiential learning, using FIU’s far-reaching influence for impact,” she states.

Students have an opportunity to gain considerable inroads with the agencies featured, taking advantage of the extensive number of government, nonprofit offices and bureaus. The immersive residencies are like fastpasses to an “insider view” of public administration as it functions in the real world, Ali adds.

Valuable exposure

“Everything that I was learning, I was doing. I was living it, doing it and rebuilding a data structure,” says Jason Ochoa ’20, police major at North Miami Beach Police Department, who completed the in-person EMPA and residencies.

Classmate and alumna Lauren Linville ’20 agrees.

“The diversity added a level of value that you don’t really get—it allowed us to have open dialogue with professionals with experience,” says Linville, president and co-founder at Optimum Consulting.

Leveraging FIU’s cachet in public service, the new, yearlong Hybrid EMPA degree includes three in-person residency experiences

FIU professor Frank O. Mora nominated as U.S. ambassador to Organization of American States

President Joe Biden nominated Frank O. Mora—former director of FIU’s Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC) at the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs—as permanent representative of the United States to the Organization of American States (OAS).

As ambassador, he would be a leading administration voice on matters affecting the Western Hemisphere. It’s a familiar role for Mora, who served as deputy assistant secretary for defense for the Western Hemisphere from 2009 to 2013, during which time he helped lead the U.S. response to the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

At FIU, Mora served as director of LACC from 2013 to 2019. In 2014, LACC was awarded the U.S. Department of Education National Resource Center/Title VI designation and again in 2018. His experience and deep understanding of the region helped elevate FIU’s LACC to a place of preeminence at the university and beyond, becoming nationally and internationally known as one of the top centers of its kind

in the country and serving as a nexus between academia and public policy in the Western Hemisphere.

A professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations, as well as senior researcher at the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy, Mora has promoted immersive studies programs that help students become part of the solution to problems around the world, including the university’s 24-year-old Haitian Summer Institute.

“I am deeply honored to be nominated by President Biden to serve as OAS Ambassador,’’ said Mora. “I am grateful for the opportunity. If confirmed, I promise to be a steward of American values such as democracy and human rights in our hemisphere and beyond.”

Before coming to FIU, Mora taught national security strategy and Latin American studies at the National War College, National Defense University and served as chair of the department of international studies at Rhodes College. He has worked as a consultant to the Library of Congress, the U.S. State Department, U.S. Southern Command, as well as the Organization of American States.

Mora’s nomination must be confirmed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as the full Senate. If confirmed, he will succeed Ambassador Carlos Trujillo, a member of the FIU Board of Trustees who served as ambassador to the OAS under the former Administration.

The senior researcher at the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy previously led FIU’s Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center

COVID-19 at the 2-year mark: taking stock of the pandemic’s economic influence

arch 2022 marked the second anniversary of Covid-19’s onset. Since it began, more than 1 million Americans have died from the pandemic and the economy has experienced a lockdown-driven recession and significant recovery. With the Omicron variant receding and widespread diffusion of vaccines and treatments, there is hope COVID is enroute to endemic status.

Thus, the second anniversary provides an opportunity for taking stock of where the economy is heading.

Positives

Unemployment is at 3.6%, well below the COVID peak of nearly 15 percent in April 2020. Retail sales are strong, reflecting pent-up consumer demand. FICO scores have reached an all-time high of 716, with the greatest gains coming in households in the “Fair” range of 550-599; this reflects lower unemployment, stronger family balance sheets and lender flexibility during the crisis. Inflation is running hot — 7.5% year-over-year, the highest in 40 years. Nevertheless, there is evidence of moderation in consumer durables such as automobiles as supply bottlenecks moderate. Labor force participation has inched up from its pandemic lows.

Negatives

Inflation has overtaken COVID as the No.1 issue in public polling, an understandable result of inflation-adjusted wages falling 3.4 percent behind the cost of living. The “Great Resignation” has

Mresulted in a continuation of longstanding declines in labor force participation, particularly among the 55+ age group and women with childrearing responsibilities. The continued decline in labor force participation will contribute to shortand long-term economic sluggishness. Impending Federal Reserve rate hikes will further impede growth and are already causing stock market gyrations reflecting winners and losers in the emerging post-COVID economy.

Overall

The American economy is like a star athlete playing through psychic, physical and economic pain. Our current inflation is akin to that experienced after World War II, when the end of wage-price controls and rationing lead to a surge in demand that outstripped supply. That took two years to resolve. History may repeat itself.

Could a “Deltacron” variant that combines Delta’s health outcomes with Omicron’s transmissibility derail economic recovery? Yes. But that wildcard is impossible to predict and difficult to discount. Meanwhile, consumer spending — 70 percent of the American economy — remains strong.

Howard Frank, director of FIU’s Jorge M. Pérez Metropolitan Center and a professor of public policy and administration, shares his perspective on how the economy has changed since the pandemic began

FIU Model UN team named No. 3 in North America

Three students also named to prestigious “all-star” team

FIU’s award-winning Model UN team continued its track record of excellence this year, earning a No. 3 ranking in the collegiate Model UN circuit, behind only the University of Chicago and American University.

It’s the second year in a row the team has held the No. 3 spot – solidifying the team’s long-standing position in the Top 5 of the North American circuit for the past nine years in a row.

FIU has been the top team in Florida and the top of any public university in the United States for more than a decade. FIU MUN nabbed the No. 1 ranking for the first time in the program’s 31-year history in 2018-19.

“I could not be more proud of our talented and hard-working Model UN delegates,’’ said John F. Stack Jr., dean of the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs and faculty advisor to the team. “They have consistently outperformed top Ivy League teams at some of the most prestigious competitions on the circuit, including Harvard MUN and many others.”

In addition, three FIU MUN delegates have been selected to the prestigious North American College Model UN AllStar Team, described as the “best and most respected leaders in the [Model UN] community.” Those students are Hayley Serpa, Alexander Sutton and

Marek Kong, all head delegates for this year’s team.

This year, the team competed in 14 conferences, the most since its 20182019 run for first place and more than any other team on the circuit. Delegates received more than 100 individual awards and more than 20 team members received “gavels” or first place awards.

The team’s ranking was buoyed by solid performances at Harvard National Model UN, University of Chicago’s Collegiate Model UN, McGill University Model United Nations Assembly, as well as delegation awards at UC Berkeley Model UN and the University of Virginia’s annual collegiate Model United Nations conference.

Competition this year was especially challenging as the traveling delegates were predominantly freshman and sophomores and fewer than five had ever traveled to in-person collegiate competition due to the pandemic. For the past two years, most competitions were held virtually.

Their youth did not stop them from excelling at the highest level, said Ashley Weathers, a former FIU MUN head delegate who now serves as the program director.

“Our students have continued to demonstrate adaptability, diplomacy,

and their iconic branding to make this year a memorable one, all while balancing both in-person and online conferences throughout the season,’’ she said.

“We would like to give a special thank you to our remarkable head delegates: Sadie Testa-Secca, Alexander Sutton and Jake Williams for their contributions in leading the team to its success this past year,’’ Weathers added. “Thank you also to Dean Stack and the Student Government Association for their continued support.”

At FIU, Model United Nations is centered around an international relations course supervised by Stack, the team’s faculty advisor. FIU MUN is funded by the FIU Student Government Association.

When FIU nabbed the No. 1 ranking, BestDelegate described the team as “widely respected across the circuit for the training and hard work that the team puts in every year.”

“Seeing the hard work and dedication of the team pay off with our No. 3 ranking is a dream come true,’’ said head delegate Sadie Testa-Secca of this year’s No. 3 ranking. “The future is bright for FIU Model UN and I’m honored to be part of the continuum of our tradition of excellence.”

Head delegate Alexander Sutton, a rising junior majoring in political

This year’s head delegates (l to r) Jake Williams, Sadie TestaSecca and Alexander Sutton at the University of Chicago.

5

OF THE NORTH AMERICAN CIRCUIT FOR THE PAST NINE YEARS IN A ROW.

For the past two years, most Model UN competitions were held virtually due to the pandemic.

science and economics, said the latest rankings are “further proof that FIU is the best university in the world.”

“It’s been the honor of a lifetime to have led this team to greatness and helped maintain its decade-long streak in the Top 5 Model UN teams in the world rankings,’’ he said.

Added Jake Williams, another head delegate on the team: “Model UN has taught me what it means to be a leader, and I am thankful to have been able to help the team rise to such heights.”

“This team thrives because we bring out the best in each other, and the countless hours we all put towards supporting one another have truly paid off,” he added. “I have no doubt that FIU will continue to dominate the circuit.”

“ Seeing the hard work and dedication of the team pay off with our No. 3 ranking is a dream come true. The future is bright for FIU Model UN and I’m honored to be part of our tradition of excellence.”

—Head Delegate Sadie Testa-Secca

CELEBRATING BLACK FEMALE FACULTY AT FIU

THREE BLACK FEMALE FACULTY MEMBERS FROM GREEN SCHOOL ARE MAKING AN IMPACT AT FIU

CARLEEN VINCENT-ROBINSON’s contributions to the Green School cannot be understated. She is a Teaching Professor in the Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice and the Assistant Dean of the Green School. She began her career at FIU 14 years ago as an instructor at the Biscayne Bay Campus where she taught every criminal justice course that was offered.

“I was the Criminal Justice Department at BBC,” exclaimed Vincent-Robinson when describing her early career in the department. “I was the only faculty member there; everyone else was at MMC.”

Since joining her colleagues at MMC, she created and oversaw a dual enrollment criminal justice program that has expanded to eight different high schools, led an internship program, facilitated prior learning assessment for law enforcement, and created a teaching practicum for doctoral students.

But her work in the department is not the only thing that warrants attention.

Known for her commitment to students, diversity, and service to the FIU community, Vincent-Robinson supports an assortment of diversity-led initiatives. She completed a fellowship with the Office to Advance Women, Equity, and Diversity and served as the Green School’s Equity Advisor. Currently, she facilitates unit-specific implicit bias, microaggressions, and bystander intervention training, serves on the FIU Diversity Council, is a Faculty Fellow for Social Justice and Inclusion and Student Access and Success, and leads the accessibility initiative within the Green School.

OKEZI T. OTOVO has been at FIU since 2012. She has focused on researching and teaching about Latin American history, in particular Brazilian history, as well as gender and sexuality and the social history of medicine and public health. Additionally, she teaches about the history of people of African descent and race, gender and intersectionality. Otovo is currently an associate professor of history and African and African Diaspora Studies and an affiliate faculty at the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center and of the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies at FIU.

Otovo is heavily involved in community work and outreach efforts that facilitate conversations between Black women of the community who have given birth and medical experts and birthing advocates. She has led several community dialogues throughout South Florida, such as “Perspectives on

DONNA AZA WEIR-SOLEY has been a Panther for more than two decades, having joined the institution in 1999. She is currently an associate professor of English and an affiliate faculty member in African and African Diaspora Studies, Women’s Studies, and the Latin American and Caribbean Center. Additionally, she is also a literary critic, poet, essayist, fiction writer, and anthologist. She also serves as the director of Professional Development and Mentoring for the Black Faculty Association at FIU.

Weir-Soley’s ultimate vision for what she wants to accomplish in both her personal and professional life would be to “inspire, lead and provide a voice to current and future Black scholars at FIU and create the next generation of Black excellence and governance.”

One of the many courses Weir-Soley has taught over the years has been a course on the Harlem Renaissance, a topic that fascinates her. In celebration of the 100th year since its inception, she held a creative writing workshop in which students “read poetry from the Harlem Renaissance and wrote a love poem and a social justice poem… They wrote a love quatrain poem with four stanzas and four lines; a Shakespearean sonnet was written with a social justice theme.

Having been born in Jamaica, Weir-Soley is profoundly committed to work that supports Caribbean countries. She is the president of the Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars, an organization that specializes in promoting and disseminating literature, orature, and interdisciplinary work on the Caribbean. She was also appointed the Butler Waugh Professor in English, which is a professorship that is aimed at assisting undergraduate Hispanic and Caribbean students.

Black Motherhood and Health,” a discussion group for community members who have experiences with motherhood and health in Florida to converse with clinicians, doulas, midwives, and advocates.

Currently, she leads the “Black Mothers Care Plan,” funded by The Children’s Trust of Miami-Dade County, which focuses on reducing racial bias in obstetric and postpartum care and supporting maternal and infant health. One of her major accomplishments during her time at FIU is the publication of her book, Progressive Mothers, Better Babies: Race, Public Health, and the State in Brazil, 1850-1945.

She also led a program last year that centered around Black women’s health epistemologies, which discusses “women’s knowledge and how to share that knowledge about motherhood and challenges that Black women face.” Otovo is working on a new book, inspired, in part, by her own experience as a mother during the pandemic, that will center around the history of Black women’s understandings and lived experiences of health in South Florida, and how those understandings and experiences have changed over time.

WHY THE UKRAINIAN INVASION WAS PREDICTABLE: ‘IT’S TIME THE WORLD FINALLY LEARNS A LESSON ON RUSSIA’

Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008 was a warning sign of future aggression, professor says

Besiki Luka Kutateladze, associate professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice and a native of the Republic of Georgia

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is finally getting deserved attention. From financial sanctions to direct military assistance, the West is getting united to confront Putin’s imperialism. This development comes with the realization that the benefits of standing against Russian aggression outweigh the economic and security risks posed by these actions. While it is certainly refreshing to see the West finally throw a punch, much of this could have been done sooner.

I remember 2008, standing outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City as an international student from Georgia, screaming my lungs out: If the West ignores the Russian invasion of Georgia, this would encourage Russia’s subsequent military expansion both south and westward. Just like in 2008, the opportunities still appear endless, from Kazakhstan to the Baltic States, even if the latter are NATO members.

Russia occupies 20% of Georgia, and continues the process of creeping annexation of the land surrounding occupied territories. Russia has also orchestrated frozen conflicts in NagornoKarabakh and Transnistria.

Yet the move toward Ukraine seemed to yield the greatest prizes for the post-Soviet era. The invasion aimed to deter EuroAtlantic integration of Ukraine, as well as Georgia and Moldova. Putin has always viewed Ukraine as part of the historical land of greater Russia. The 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea and

eastern Ukraine has tamed the raging appetite of the imperialistic monster for nearly eight years, but those who thought Putin would stop there fooled themselves.

The ground for a Ukraine invasion could not have been any more fertile.

The European Union’s increasing energy dependence on Russia has made many Europeans, and especially Germans, prioritize today’s egg over tomorrow’s chicken. As Russia’s natural gas, crude oil and solid fuel kept European cars running and buildings heated, many European politicians blamed Ukrainians (and also Georgians) for not being ready to join the EU or NATO.

During the 2008 Bucharest Summit, NATO created a pathway for Ukraine and Georgia’s membership to NATO, but no substantive next steps have been taken, leaving these fragile democracies in peril of returning to the Russian orbit.

The abandonment of Ukraine and Georgia has stagnated prodemocratic reforms in the entire post-Soviet sphere whose leaders watch carefully as both Georgia and Ukraine are paying a heavy price for looking westward.

Professor Kutateladze experienced Russian aggression firsthand in the 90s when Russia took over Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions. During the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, he joined fellow Georgians in New York City and Washington D.C. to protest the occupation and to warn about likely future aggression from the Putin regime. From 2008 to 2013, he played a crucial role in the development of the United Nations Rule of Law Indicators. In 2002, he was the U.S. State Department Fellow from the Republic of Georgia. He holds a law degree from Georgia and a PhD in Criminal Justice from the United States.

GREEN SCHOOL RESPONDS TO RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE

Faculty experts share their views online, in the press and in a series of events

R

ussia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 left the world stunned, an unprovoked attack that received swift, widespread condemnation from global leaders.

Faculty experts from the Green School – historians and political scientists to scholars of global affairs, cybersecurity and human rights – were quickly called upon to offer their views on the rapidly expanding conflict.

Many wrote op-eds and explanatory pieces for online publications and newspapers, while others took part in a series of online and in-person events designed to help the university community understand the unfolding crisis and what it might mean for the global world order.

Just a few weeks after the invasion, the Green School teamed up with the Office of Global Learning Initiatives for an online discussion of the global implications of the attacks, featuring three of the Green School’s top experts on Russian-Ukraine relations: Professor Tatiana Kostadinova, a noted expert on Russian and Eastern European politics; Markus Thiel, professor of international relations and director of the EU-Jean Monnet Center of Excellence, and Senior Fellow David J. Kramer, who is also managing director for global policy at the George W. Bush Institute. The conversation was moderated by Hilary Landorf, director of Global Learning.

Not long after that event, the Green School’s Václav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy hosted a conversation with Ambassador Jakub Kulhánek, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations. He spoke candidly about the UN response to the invasion and its influence on the work of the Security Council and General Assembly, given the fact that Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security Council with the right to veto. The renewed conflict between East and West has had many far-reaching consequences and is perceived by some as a confrontation between world democracies and autocracies.

The Havel Program also hosted Ambassador Michael Žantovský to speak to students about the unlikely hero of the unfolding drama – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who began his career as an actor and standup

comic. From the earliest days of the invasion, Zelensky drew praise for his determined resolve and Žantovský, who heads the Václav Havel Library, drew some comparisons to Havel, the principal architect of the Velvet Revolution of 1989 and the first democratically elected president of Czechoslovakia. Both men, he said, have cemented their place in history as champions for freedom and democracy.

Next, the Havel program held a virtual conversation with Yuriy Sergeyev, former Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations, who reflected on the crisis, as well as the situation on the ground. He gave context to the ongoing struggle between Vladimir Putin’s vision to revive the Russian Empire and that of the Ukrainian patriots, whose principal goal is to protect and further build an independent, democratic, and prosperous Ukraine.

The final event in the series was perhaps the most broadly focused: The Geopolitics of the War in Ukraine: What Does the Future Hold for the Global Order?

Featuring Green School Senior Fellow David Kramer, an expert on Russia, and moderated by Associate Dean Shlomi Dinar, this event attempted to explain the emerging debate about the nature of the post-Cold War world order and whether the invasion of Ukraine precipitated a realignment in the global order, whereby the world’s democracies are pitted against the world’s autocracies.

FIU collaborates with Casa Pueblo and University of Puerto Rico on NIH grant to explore the impact of energy independence on health in Puerto Rico

—Professor Mark Padilla

When Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in 2017, it demonstrated the catastrophic impact natural disasters and an aging power grid could have on the most vulnerable populations, many of whom depend upon electricity for life-saving medical care. A group of scientists from FIU, the University of Puerto Rico, and Casa Pueblo want to change that.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have awarded four Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA) FIU professors - Mark Padilla, Sheilla Rodríguez-Madera, Nelson Varas-Días, and Kevin Grove – and Arturo Massol-Deyá of Casa Pueblo and University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, $3 million for a five-year study that will look at the impact that energy security has on vulnerable populations who rely on electrical power for medical equipment. The study will examine the factors that enable local government agencies, communities, and individuals in Puerto Rico to adapt to energy independence and their implications for chronic disease management. It aims to demonstrate the positive health impact of energy independence through direct access to solar power, which has already begun to appear on the island thanks to Casa Pueblo, a non-profit community organization that has converted homes, businesses, and community centers in Puerto Rico to solar power, supporting disaster resilience.

“It is an intentional and structural intervention conducted by Casa Pueblo that aims to liberate vulnerable populations from the unreliable power grid as a means to support community health and well-being,” said Padilla, co-PI of the NIH grant and professor of global and sociocultural studies at FIU. “Therefore, the research will be able to provide an evidence-based model of how to get ‘off the grid’ and establish best practices for this work. It will also measure the precise effects on the health and wellness of the whole community and document the geographic extent of these effects.”

Puerto Rico faces frequent power outages due to damage to its power grid caused by natural disasters like Hurricane Maria. These outages increase the deaths of aging Puerto Ricans, who are already vulnerable during natural disasters. Puerto Ricans aged 50 and over account for a large proportion of patients with chronic conditions such as renal disease, respiratory disease, and diabetes. The latter, for example, has a prevalence that is 50 percent higher on the island than the mainland U.S., and a three times higher associated mortality rate, according to a recent study.

The findings of this study will contribute to policy development and dissemination regarding the role of community engagement and energy independence in managing chronic diseases among aging populations in the U.S. and the Caribbean that are vulnerable to health inequities magnified by disasters.

“The research will be able to provide an evidence-based model of how to get ‘off the grid’ and establish best practices. It will also measure the precise effects on the health and wellness of the whole community and document the geographic extent of these effects.”

A man walks past destroyed homes in Puerto Rico. Hector Retamal / AFP - Getty Images file

How Americans often misunderstand Cuba, from Fidel Castro’s rise to the Cuban American vote

ast year, Cuba erupted in the largest protests seen there in six decades, reflecting popular anger over a crippling economic crisis, scarce food and medicines and a halfcentury of repression. Cuba remains largely an enigma to outsiders, and especially to Americans. This article examines common areas of confusion about Cuba, Cuban Americans and the U.S.-Cuba relationship.

THE CUBAN REVOLUTION

Fidel Castro and a band of guerrillas overthrew the brutal U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959. At the time, Castro’s political ideology was unclear; he had not yet publicly committed to communism. Anti-communist revolutionaries allied with him.

In Castro’s famous 1953 “History Will Absolve Me” speech, he said his revolution would return “power to the people” and proclaimed Cuba’s liberal democratic 1940 Constitution as “the Supreme Law of the State.”

When Castro installed a socialist economy and a oneparty political system, many fellow revolutionaries felt betrayed. Cubans fought to form a government that would answer to the Cuban people, rather than foreign interests. They got Castro’s Soviet-backed regime.

Many poor Cubans revered Castro for implementing policies that promoted equity and minimized discrimination, including major reforms in land, agriculture, education and housing. Others fled because of fear and persecution.

LTHE US EMBARGO

The Cuban government blames the United States for poverty on the island, but many of Cuba’s economic problems are homegrown. The U.S. embargo originated in the early 1960s to prevent the spread of communism from Cuba to other Latin American countries. It also sought to compel Cuba’s new government to compensate American corporations for property expropriated by the regime and to prevent further confiscations.

Many people in the U.S. and beyond are urging President Joe Biden to lift the embargo to ease Cuba’s current food and medical shortages. But the president of the United States cannot do that unilaterally. Lifting the embargo would require Congress to either certify that Cuba has become sufficiently democratic according to the 1996 Libertad Act or pass a new bill overturning it.

However, the embargo is not the primary reason Cuban people are struggling. The Cuban government has a history of political repression and fiscal mismanagement, both of which harm the economy.

CUBAN AMERICANS

The media often stereotypes Cuban Americans as overwhelmingly conservative. But they are a racially, economically and politically heterogeneous community. Cubans who’ve come to the U.S. since 1990 are even more diverse than the largely white first waves of exiles who came after the Cuban Revolution.

Cuban Americans’ political opinions differ depending on their race, socioeconomic status, gender and age. Cuban Americans as a group became overwhelmingly Republican after Ronald Reagan courted them in the 1980s, but they are increasingly independent voters. In the 2020 presidential election, around 55% of Cubans in Florida voted for Donald Trump.

Caroline McCulloch, professor of international relations, wrote this piece, republished from The Conversation.

Exploring Jain heritage in Pakistan

FIU’s Jain Studies Program helps effort to create first Jain Studies program in Pakistan

As a Fulbright Scholar in Pakistan for the past year, Iqbal Akhtar had plenty of tasks on his plate – collaborating with Pakistani scholars, giving guest lectures, hosting virtual exchanges between Pakistani and American students, even reviewing doctoral theses for Pakistani students.

His visit also had a far-reaching impact on the Jain Studies Program at FIU, for which he serves as director, and its efforts to help create the first Jain Studies Program at the University of the Punjab in Lahore, Pakistan.

In April, the FIU Jain Studies annual Mahavir Jayanti Lecture highlighted the contemporary research being done in Pakistan to explore the country’s Jain heritage by leading scholars.

The event featured the work of Mohammed Hameed, the leading archaeologist of Jainism in Pakistan and

chair of archaeology at University of the Punjab; Zohaib Ahmed at Islamia University, who is writing the first Jain Studies textbook in modern Pakistani Urdu; and Kamin Gogri, who is working on the ancient Jain heritage of Pakistan through the Eikam Institute in Mumbai.

This work is being generously funded by the American Jain community in the hope that it can develop interest in establishing the first academic Jain Studies program in Pakistan.

Iqbal also assisted with organizing an “introduction to Jainism” lecture by Nirmal Baid of the Jain Education and Research Foundation, which was held at the University of Management and Technology’s Centre for Peace Studies in Lahore, Pakistan. This was the first annual Satadru Sen Memorial lecture honoring one of the leading scholars of South Asian Studies.

Jain Center Director Iqbal Akhtar volunteers with students from the Miami Jain pathshala (place of learning) at Sheyes of Miami in Brownsville.

Labor Day in a global pandemic: How are workers faring?

The national holiday came in the midst of continuing uncertainty and changing expectations for many Florida workers, say Green School labor and economics experts

“A lot of people are not taking jobs or not even seeking jobs because they’re waiting to see what will happen with the rate of infections,” she says. “It’s about safety. It’s about preservation of life. If those concerns are not addressed, people will not even think about looking for a job.”

While workers in some professions have found flexibility in how and where they work — many opting to set up home offices and connect virtually with coworkers and clients — those in other areas don’t have the “luxury” of such a choice, Ilcheva explains.

The global pandemic has negatively impacted just about everyone, not least of all those who hold jobs.

FIU’s Center for Labor Research & Studies’ annual report, “The State of Working Florida,” focused on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the Florida economy. The third most populous U.S. state has seen more than 3.2 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 44,000 related deaths since March 2020.

Eye-popping statistics in the report paint a tenuous picture around employment and tell a story of deepening inequity.

More than 151,000 workers, when compared with prepandemic levels, have yet to jump back into Florida’s workforce as of July 2021. And Florida employers are showing a deficit of 331,150 workers. Another key finding: unevenness in both losses and recovery among various demographic groups. Black and Latino workers, for example, have experienced greater increases in unemployment rates than their white counterparts.

Maria Ilcheva is the associate director of FIU’s Perez Metropolitan Center, an applied research center that tracks ebbs and flows through an online COVID-19 Economic Recovery Index. Ilcheva believes that hesitancy to reenter the job market correlates not so much with availability of government assistance but with the persistence of the coronavirus.

“The most severely impacted workers, and households who have these workers, are the ones employed in the service sector,” she says. “Those customer-interaction jobs, the ones that require face-to-face interactions rather than virtual, they’re the ones who suffered.”

Judith Bernier, director of the labor center, points anecdotally to changes in perceptions of work and workers that have taken place over the past two years.

“The pandemic was able to really peel back the layers of who is a worker and who is essential,” Bernier says. While first responders and medical personnel have typically topped the list, folks such as grocery store workers, for example, now land there too.

Another shift Bernier has noticed: a complete obliteration of the line between work time and personal time. Many who work from home report working longer hours or never fully disconnecting from the job.

“It becomes this long day of work,” says Bernier, “because mentally we do not have any boundaries when work life ends and home life begins.”

As for near-term economic improvement, Ilcheva foresee better times ahead as more people rejoin the workforce, possibly in the last quarter of the year — but only if society acts collectively to stem the virus.

Preparing public servants for the highest levels in foreign affairs

Green School helps lead the way in preparing future global leaders

FIU – and the Green School – are powering the next generation of foreign affairs professionals. The university is turning out leaders ready to tackle the most pressing issues of the day. Green School alumni have forged careers at all levels of the federal government in Washington, D.C. and students are increasingly capturing the attention of recruiters and agencies as the intelligent, diverse representatives that the government needs.

ALUMNI LEADING THE WAY

ERNESTO ALFONSO ’11 is a U.S. Foreign Service Officer currently serving as a special assistant to Deputy Secretary of State Brian P. McKeon. He is a prime example of FIU students landing significant positions in government thanks to preparation they received at the university.

“FIU was crucial for me,” says Alfonso, who majored in international relations and economics. “It was where I cemented my international affairs background.”

He says meeting the Diplomat in Residence at FIU — a senior foreign service officer assigned by the Department of State to certain colleges and universities — was a turning point for him. The diplomat was a first-generation immigrant.

“Just seeing yourself in somebody like that, it broke so many barriers for me,” he says. “I realized, ‘This could be me’.”

Alfonso helped coordinate Deputy Secretary of State Brian P. McKeon’s visit to FIU in March.

Alfonso packed his bags and moved to the nation’s capital after graduation to intern with the university’s governmental affairs office in Washington. He worked on advocacy efforts and became the main contact working with a delegation of foreign affairs professionals from the Republic of Georgia, eventually bringing them to FIU.

“It was my first diplomatic engagement,” Alfonso says. “It got me really excited about doing this line of work.”

Alfonso became the first Panther to earn the prestigious Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship, which funded his graduate studies at Columbia University. The fellowship — funded by the Department of State – offers students interested in pursuing a career in the Foreign Service financial support for two years of higher education. Fellows commit to working in the Foreign Service for five years upon completion of their degree.

Alfonso has since worked as a Foreign Service Officer in Mexico, Afghanistan and Italy. Currently, he advises the Deputy Secretary of State, particularly on European-U.S. relations. He helped coordinate the recent visit to FIU.

Ernesto Alfonso ’11 is a U.S. Foreign Service Officer currently serving as a special assistant to U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Brian P. McKeon.

Alfonso on campus during McKeon’s visit.

THE FUTURE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Panthers are heeding the call and increasingly filling the ranks of the Foreign Service. Recent alumna PIERINA ANTON LOPEZ ’20 found her inspiration to serve while on a trip through the FIU Honors College to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. She taught English to students and helped raise money to buy school resources for students in need in the area.

The international relations major earned a spot on the university’s top-ranked Model United Nations team. She participated in two “DC fly-ins,” which are seminars that provide students unprecedented access to representatives on the hill and career-building tips. She completed several internships, including one with the International Rescue Committee and another at the USAID’s Bureau for Africa’s Office of Sustainable Development, Education and Youth Division. She earned the university’s Global Learning (GL) Medallion and conducted research on education and resilience in conflict-torn regions as a GL fellow. She also conducted research on foreign policy in the Latin American and Caribbean region with a student team and presented findings to representatives of the Department of State.

In 2021, Anton Lopez became the first Panther to earn the prestigious USAID Payne Fellowship, which provides young individuals up to $96,000 in benefits over two years toward a pathway to working at the USAID Foreign Service.

She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in global human development from Georgetown University and is also a fellow for the Global Campaign for Education, working on advocacy and communications for the advancement of inclusive, quality education for all. After graduation, she will begin her career in the Foreign Service.

“FIU was the perfect training ground for me,” she says. “At FIU, we don’t place any limits on ourselves. I have no doubt in my mind that FIU will produce the country’s next leaders.”

Always giving back to the community and empowering others to do the same, WILLIAM T. JACKSON started The Justice Project of South Florida to help reduce youth arrests and incarcerations, while also improving interactions between law enforcement and communities of color. Jackson graduated this summer with a Ph.D. in public affairs and will continue his academic career as a postdoctoral fellow at American University’s School of Public Affairs.

FIU Master of Arts in Global Affairs prepares students for policy careers

RANKED

TOP 40

by Foreign Policy magazine

Ranked one of the Top 40 master’s programs in the world for policy careers in international relations by Foreign Policy magazine, the FIU Master of Arts in Global Affairs offers students a premier global affairs education while also preparing them for careers in the public and private sector. This two-year graduate program offers three tracks – Globalization and Security, International Crime and Justice, and Cybersecurity and Technology Policy. Two of the tracks are available fully online. Interdisciplinary courses are taught by faculty with experience working in international organizations and government agencies. These courses are designed to use a handson, active learning approach instead of traditional lecture format to prepare students to think systematically, critically and creatively to tackle some of the world’s pertinent global security issues.

Gustavo Perez spent most of his career in the tech and business world, but he was always interested in foreign affairs and civic engagement. Losing a good friend to gun violence as well as the pandemic lockdown made him rethink his career path. Now with his MA in Global Affairs, he is deciding between several job opportunities within the federal government, including policy roles at the departments of the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development. Perez was selected as a finalist for the prestigious Presidential Management Fellows Program, a highly competitive government program that matches graduate students with experiences in federal leadership and management of public policies and programs. He has also been chosen as an alternate for the Boren Fellowship, which funds research and language study proposals by U.S. graduate students in regions critical to U.S. interests. “The MA program changed my career trajectory for the better,” Perez said. “It exposed me to many disciplines, ranging from foreign policy to disaster risk and GIS. The faculty is top-notch, and they are experts in their fields. I am grateful for their mentorship and guidance during my time at FIU.”

In her role as Vice President and Chief of Staff for the United States Hispanic Business Council, Sabrina Rosell manages the day-to-day operations for an organization that serves as the leading advocate for America’s 4.7 million Hispanic-owned businesses. That includes facilitating board relations, media placement, legislative and regulatory affairs, and coalition building. She credits FIU’s MA in Global Affairs program with helping her develop the practical and relevant professional skills needed for her current role. “Specifically, the program equipped me with the ability to look at issues and synthesize the information in a way that makes sense to a broad audience,’’ she said. “Additionally, our advocacy works stretches across various policy areas, and the (MA) program enabled us to develop a quick expertise on multiple issues at once.” While most of her time in the program was remote due to the pandemic, Rosell said the highlights of her experience are the strong relationships she developed with her peers and the capstone project, which she completed for U.S. Southern Command. “Thanks to the MA program, I now work in my dream job and the expertise and skillsets I gained through this experience have certainly become a lever for leveling up my professional career,’’ she said.

Before she graduated with her MA in Global Affairs in 2021, Ashley Morales made sure to take advantage of the program’s many resources for career guidance and internships. She interned with the Federal Aviation Administration and became a Virtual Student Foreign Service Intern, which she said was instrumental in her getting hired at her current position, as a management delivery analyst for Accenture Federal Services, a government consulting firm. Her work on her capstone project, “‘How has COVID-19 impacted the defense industry, and how can government consulting pivot to meet demand?” was also with a consulting firm and she said that helped prepare her for the multiple rounds of interviews for her current job. “I interview stakeholders from a government agency to determine areas of improvement for their day-to-day operations and assess their business processes,’’ she explained. Morales learned of the company through a recruiter at a virtual FIU career fair. She said the MA program was excellent preparation for her current position. “In terms of skills, the communication skills I learned in the program were instrumental,” she said. “From working with different groups of people, to developing and executing presentations, and learning the BLUF (bottom line up front) style of writing - all of these skills helped prepare me for my current role. The highlights of my time in the program are meeting with program staff for career counseling and the internship experiences I was able to have.”

Gustavo

Sabrina

Majority of American voters say politics do not belong on social media

Student researcher Bethany Bowra collaborated with USF on national survey of 1,000 eligible voters to measure public opinion on political parties, social media, election reform and other topics

Most Americans say they avoid political discussions online and are divided on whether they believe politicians, including the president, should use social media to communicate with voters.

In a national survey of 1,000 eligible voters, researchers at the Green School and the University of South Florida found that an overwhelming majority of voters (83 percent) said they “occasionally post” or “never post” about politics on their personal social media platforms.

They also held strong opinions about others who do, according to the poll, conducted in January by FIU political science doctoral candidate Bethany Bowra and Stephen Neely, associate professor at USF’s School of Public Affairs.

A majority reported “unfriending” or “unfollowing” someone within the last six months for posting political content he or she disagreed with (57 percent), and an overwhelming majority said they had “unfriended” or “unfollowed” someone for posting political ideas that they found morally objectionable (80 percent) or untrue (81 percent).

Regarding politicians’ use of social media, Americans were more divided, the survey found.

A slight majority (55 percent) said it was an “effective tool” for the president to communicate with the public. However, 54 percent said they were “uncomfortable” with members of Congress communicating with constituents through online platforms, and an even larger majority (65 percent) were

uncomfortable with legislators communicating with each other through social media.

“As social media continues to infiltrate virtually every aspect of society, politicians are using it more frequently; but this survey shows that most Americans are not thrilled by this change,’’ said Bowra, whose research covers the presidency, Congress and political communication in the digital age.

“This challenges many current perceptions of effective political communication,” she added. “As midterms approach, politicians and parties are working to win voters. Information about voters’ communication preferences could play a significant role in November’s election outcomes and beyond.”

Bentley Walker has one goal in life: to help usher unprecedented growth and prosperity in the Caribbean region.

The Global Studies major admits it’s a lofty goal, but that’s not going to stop him from getting it done.

For his commitment to this cause as well as his academic excellence, leadership and service, he has been named a finalist for the internationally recognized 2022 Rhodes Scholarship, considered the most prestigious program of its kind in the world and also the oldest, first started in 1902.

According to the latest records, Walker is the first Panther ever to be named a finalist for the award. Rhodes Scholars receive a scholarship to study full-time, post-graduation at the University of Oxford.

Walker is representing Jamaica, his home country, and is one of only a few other students across the globe selected as finalists for the Jamaica and Commonwealth Caribbean district.

“The idea that hundreds of people in the region applied, and that I made it as a finalist along with about 10 other people, is breathtaking,” Walker says. “It feels very unreal to me.”

Walker is a member of the FIU Honors College and the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society. He has immersed himself in the study of the Caribbean region and policies, currently earning a minor in Caribbean studies. He has been studying languages of the region – and is already fluent in Spanish and currently learning French. He plans to take up Dutch soon.

He joined the FIU Caribbean Student Association and was recently elected District 6 director of the group, which means he is leading students at FIU, University of Miami and Barry University.

Walker is also the CEO and founder of an organization he is currently developing to encourage and inspire Caribbean pride, solidarity and prosperity, called the Organization for Caribbean Development.

His passion is rooted in his own experiences in Jamaica.

“Growing up, I always saw people struggle,” he recalls. “I saw the poor. I saw the lack of infrastructure and the lack of resources in the country. I also saw the massive loss of bright minds leaving the country, to advance the prosperity of other [countries].”

A 2022 finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship, Bentley Walker has captured attention for embracing a big goal: to promote unprecedented economic development and prosperity in the Caribbean.

GLOBAL SCHOLAR ON A HEARTFELT MISSION

Students lead real-world projects through prestigious UN-affiliated fellowship

Millennium Fellows work to help solve major issues impacting the globe

Earning good grades and landing great jobs are just the tip of the iceberg for Green School students. Making a positive impact in the world? Now, that’s the real goal. This semester, several students committed to civic duty and service have been selected to receive the prestigious Millennium Fellowship

The students were selected from more than 25,000 applicants on more than 2,200 campuses across the globe.

LEADING WOMEN EMPOWERMENT EFFORTS IN VIETNAM

International relations major Ha Le is passionate about sustainable development. When the pandemic hit her native Vietnam, she knew she needed to help them. In June 2020, Le co-founded an organization to fundraise for emergency aid, food, clothes and medicine for those most in need.

“It turned out to be a great success,” says Le. “People really appreciated our help.”

Today, the organization is comprised of about 70 people, mostly high school and college students. The students conduct surveys in rural areas, asking questions to determine pressing needs or problems. Then, they craft solutions in collaboration with the local townspeople and help fundraise and kick off projects to address those issues.

For her Millennium Fellowship project, Le worked through her organization to empower women in a village in the Dak Lak province, by creating a job training program. Le’s organization has partnered with a garment workshop in the local area to teach women how to sew and knit clothes so they can help provide for their families.

“The majority of the population in the Dak Lak region doesn’t speak the official Vietnamese language,” Le explains. “This leads them to be isolated and unemployed or working dangerous and unstable jobs. In our survey, we found these women are harvesting pepper on the tips of mountains, a dangerous task. This program will give them a safer work alternative.”

“What I’m most looking forward about the fellowship is having actual conversations with people who are making an impact,” she says. “I want to be given the resource or experience of people who have more skills, so we keep building this project in a way that is beneficial. The people deserve that from us.”

CONNECTING STUDENTS WITH MENTORS

Luis Moros knows the power of networking. Majoring in political science and criminal justice, Moros arrived from Venezuela as a teenager. When he was in high school, he didn’t have the support or guidance he needed.

When he arrived at FIU, Honors College advisor Grisel D’Elena gave him advice, shared resources at FIU and pointed him toward internships and other opportunities.

“She became my number one mentor,” Moros says. “Through her, I discovered the power of having someone who believes in you more than you do.”

Moros interned at the prestigious Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. (and is the first FIU student ever to do so), was selected as a Hamilton Scholar at FIU in DC, is an FIU student ambassador and was recognized by Sen. Marco Rubio and former Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho as the most influential student in the county (in recognition of a school supply drive Moros organized for students in Venezuela).

His project for the Millennium Fellowship focused on helping FIU students understand all the resources available at the university and how to network.

“Sometimes students don’t know we have access to resources or students are scared to reach out to staff and faculty. I want to help students find mentors. It’s not just about reading books and getting 4.0 GPAs. It’s also about knowing that you have the power to connect with others.”

“FIU provided me everything I have right now,” he says. “It’s my responsibility to give back to the community the way they’ve given to me.”

HELPING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ACCESS COLLEGE

Sophia Jaimes’ parents worked up to three jobs to make sure she received an excellent education at a private Catholic school. Her parents’ sacrifice taught her to respect and value education.

Majoring in political science and international relations at FIU, she quickly took advantage of a number of opportunities such as joining the group of FIU student ambassadors who host visiting dignitaries at university functions.

In March of her freshman year, she landed a spot as a scholar with the Clinton Global University. Through that program, she and a group of colleagues started a project to help underserved high school students learn about college applications, admissions processes and college entrance exams.

For her Millennium Fellowship, Jaimes is continuing the project and has already hosted her first event. She and her colleagues created an Instagram page and reached out to all their contacts. They have recruited a group of 45 local high school students, mostly from low-income households.

“We’re teaching what schools don’t always teach you,” Jaimes says. “We share our experience based on what we learned throughout our college entrance process. As a Latina, first-generation college student, I know how hard this can be.”

“I want to help these students. I know what’s it like.”

A RENEWED SPIRIT READY TO TAKE ON THE WORLD

Amelia Raudales is a force to reckon with. She has conducted research projects for federal agencies, landed a congressional internship and collaborated with alumni to develop a charitable-giving app.

It wasn’t long ago that the international relations major doubted her ability to earn a university degree. Having dealt with imposter syndrome, the Honors College student now looks back upon an academic career buttressed with reassuring advice and packed with high-level activities to launch her future as a human rights attorney.

She was recognized at Spring Commencement as the Green School’s Real Triumphs Graduate, nominated by four separate university faculty and administrators.

With a professor’s guidance, Raudales conducted research projects related to human trafficking for the State Department and the International Bureau of Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. With help from FIU in DC, she secured a congressional internship to better understand the legislative process.

With support from the university’s innovation and entrepreneurship engine, she collaborated with three alumni to develop a charitable-giving app for which the studentfocused Center for Leadership and Service granted seed money. She also served as a student government senator and earned three national fellowships, among them one from the United Nations.

The daughter of an FIU alumnus who emigrated from Honduras and a mother from Argentina, Raudales plans to work one day at the international level and has newfound confidence to get her there.

“When FIU opened its doors to me, that’s really something [for which] I can never show how thankful I am. It really did change my life. Because of all the opportunities and all of the amazing people I’ve met, I truly feel like there is no limit to my potential, and that’s not something I would have said five years ago.”

Green School students awarded prestigious Charles B. Rangel Graduate Fellowships

The fellowships will help further their careers in U.S. foreign policy, government leadership and service.

Green School students continue to achieve national recognition. This year, two students were awarded prestigious fellowships that assist them in graduate school or further their careers in U.S. foreign policy, service and government leadership.

Both were Intelligence Community - Centers for Academic Excellence (IC-CAE) scholars with FIU’s Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy.

Max Ulloa and Brandon Lee were selected as fellows for the Charles B. Rangel Graduate Fellowship. The Rangel Graduate Fellowship aims to “prepare outstanding young people for careers in the Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State in which they can help formulate, represent and implement U.S. foreign policy.”

The program supports fellows through two years of graduate study, internships, mentoring and professional development activities.

Lee and Ulloa were selected as national finalists and are two of only 45 recipients of this prestigious scholarship. Lee is majoring in international relations and political science with a minor in economics and business analytics. His transformational experiences as an IC-CAE scholar and his time interning in D.C. at the Department of Treasury “fueled his desire” for a future in foreign service.

“Representing the United States abroad has always been a career aspiration of mine. Programs at FIU provided in-depth mentorship and network development, which strengthened my professional development and helped me earn internships at the U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. State Department,” Lee said.

Ulloa, also an IC-CAE scholar, heard about the fellowship through friends in his Model UN team. He credits his experiences as a Model UN delegate and a Diplomacy Lab researcher with expanding his knowledge and giving him the confidence to join the workforce. Ulloa aspires to study law and diplomacy in graduate school, with concentrations in international negotiation and global organizations.

“[Becoming a] Foreign Service Officer will allow me to assist Americans abroad, serve on the frontlines of our foreign policy decisions and represent the multiculturalism of my Latino community all in the same job,” he said. Ulloa also received a National Security Studies certificate from the Gordon Institute.

Max Ulloa

Brandon Lee

Reflections on Haiti brings diverse perspectives on crisis

Haitian President

Jovenel Moïse

Garry Pierre-Pierre was asleep at his home in New York when he got the call from a reporter in Haiti that Haitian President Jovenel Moïse had been assassinated.

“It took me a minute to process the information because I did not see that coming,’’ said Pierre-Pierre, a Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist who founded the Haitian Times after leaving the New York Times in 1999. “We know that Haiti is a very volatile place, but we haven’t assassinated a sitting president since 1915.”

Pierre-Pierre, who joined FIU faculty and members of the Haitian community for a conversation on Haiti last week, said there were many questions still to be answered.

“The killing of a sitting president is not a small thing,’’ he said. “This is a defining moment for us, for Haiti.”

As the world watches the turmoil unfold, organizers of Reflections on Haiti at FIU said it was important to provide a more nuanced perspective of the situation than what might be seen on cable news.

“We’re looking forward to a conversation that will help add layers to what has been in the news and the typical knee-jerk reaction in the U.S. and elsewhere to Haiti,’’ said Chantalle Verna, an associate professor of history and international relations at FIU who moderated the event. “There are a lot of misperceptions about Haiti that are really counterproductive.”

Though unexpected, the assassination was not entirely shocking given recent events, said Nadève Ménard, professor of literature at the State University of Haiti and a visiting scholar of Haitian Studies at FIU’s Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC).

“We have seen unprecedented events, armed gangs parading in the streets, waves of kidnappings and murders, for weeks, months and years now,’’ said Ménard, who is based in Haiti. “From the perspective of one who is living in Haiti and is living through all of this, it seems like this is what we were headed toward.”

She cautioned that it was important not to cast Haiti as a violent nation or Haitians as more violent than others.

“I do not think we can claim that Haitians have some kind of privileged relationship to violence or that a cycle of violence is inherently or exclusively Haitian,’’ she explained. There are many individuals and organizations in Haiti who are working hard toward a better future, she added.

Green School faculty join members of Haitian community for a discussion on the assassination of the Haitian president.

FIU hosts national security and defense leaders at the 7th Annual Hemispheric Security Conference

“In today’s dynamic global security environment, it is important to bring together leaders and experts to examine the opportunities and risks facing the Americas,” he said.

Other panels included a conversation on the impact of cybersecurity and a Summit of the Americas preview with Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, special advisor for the Summit of the Americas. According to the U.S. State Department, the Summit “brings together leaders from the countries of North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean” to “promote cooperation towards region-wide, inclusive economic growth and prosperity based on our shared respect for democracy, fundamental freedoms, the dignity of labor, and free enterprise.”

For a 7th consecutive year, the Hemispheric Security Conference brought together international experts for a series of discussions on issues crucial to the security landscape of the Western Hemisphere.

Hosted by FIU’s Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy and the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC), the conference is always free and open to the public with simultaneous translations in Spanish and Portuguese.

Topics included the Summit of the Americas, the impact of cybersecurity, the future of the armed forces in Latin America, the geopolitical convergence in Venezuela, disinformation, democracy, and the inter-American system, and institutional challenges to democracy in the Americas.

“This year’s conference will provide an important and timely forum to enhance regional understanding about how the hemisphere should respond to the challenges ahead,” said Dan Erikson, deputy assistant Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere at the U.S. Department of Defense. Erikson was one of this year’s featured speakers and delivered the opening keynote address.

“This year’s HSC takes place at a very distinct and significant conjuncture — just a few weeks before the Summit of the Americas,” said President Luis Guillermo Solis, former president of Costa Rica and interim director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center. “It will provide inputs in issues of the hemispheric agenda that will not be centrally discussed at the summit. [HSC] is a very valuable complement that will contribute to the determination of the countries of the Americas to forge a continental alliance in favor of peace, democracy and economic prosperity.”

Other notable speakers included: Juan Gonzalez, special assistant to the president; National Security Council senior director, Western Hemisphere; Ricardo Zúniga, principal deputy assistant secretary of state of Western Hemisphere Affairs and special envoy for the Northern Triangle; Rebecca Bill Chavez, president of Inter-American Dialogue and former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs; Admiral Craig Faller, retired U.S. admiral and senior fellow at Florida International University; Ambassador Anthony Phillips-Spencer, Trinidad and Tobago’s ambassador to the U.S.; and Celina Realuyo, professor of practice, William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies.

Special Advisor for the Summit of the Americas Debbie Mucarsel Powell, a former congresswoman, speaks with Luis Guillermo Solis, former president of Costa Rica.

Jaffer Center continues to expand its reach

The Jaffer Center for Muslim World Studies has continued to expand its reach and increase its educational activities over the past year, providing robust programming and lectures for FIU students and the surrounding Muslim and non-Muslim community and continuing to educate others on the global Muslim experience.

The center has also maintained its engagement with community partners, including the Coalition of South Florida Muslim Organizations (COSMOS), Emgage USA, UHI Clinic, the Islamic Center of Greater Miami, the Islamic School of Miami, MCCJ, and Masjid Al-Ansar, just to name a few.

Additionally, the Jaffer Center established a new twoyear postdoctoral position. T.J. Liguori, the Khalid and Diana Mirza Postdoctoral fellow, began his tenure in Fall 2021 and has been actively involved in expanding the center’s research activities, including the launch of a Pakistan Studies Initiative.

The Jaffer Center, under the leadership of Iqbal Akhtar, also assisted in the sponsorship of six visiting Fulbright scholars for the academic year 20212022, four of which were Foreign Language Teaching Assistants (FLTAs) and two were Scholars in Residence. The FLTA’s included Ana Ramsha from Pakistan, Svetlana Kurbanova from Uzbekistan, Elif Cirak from Turkey and Chintan Sonawane from India. The Scholars in Residence were Amit Ranjan from India and Bacha Hussainmiya from Sri Lanka. Their assistance and participation has been instrumental to the research activities of the Jaffer Center’s affiliated faculty.

Jaffer Center staff and faculty join community leaders at the Coalition of South Florida Muslim Organizations (COSMOS) Annual Dinner Gala in March 2022.

The Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center continues to shine

Former LACC Interim Director Luis Solís and FIU faculty members

Augusta Vono, Simone Athayde and Clinton Jenkins met with Consul General of Brazil in Miami, Ambassador André Odenbreit Carvalho, in May 2022.

It was another banner year for the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center.

In May 2022, LACC Interim Director Luis Solís and faculty members Augusta Vono, Simone Athayde and Clinton Jenkins met with Consul General of Brazil in Miami, Ambassador André Odenbreit Carvalho. The LACC delegation discussed potential collaborations between the center’s Program of Excellence in Brazilian Studies and the Consulate, including an invitation to the Consul General to participate in a series of Fall 2022 events, which will mark the official launch of the Brazilian Studies Program.

In collaboration with the Center for the Administration of Justice (CAJ), LACC was awarded a three-year grant by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs to co-lead (with Notre Dame researchers) an evaluation of the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) Program in El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama. The $600,539 award will allow FIU researchers to conduct the first systematic evaluation of GREAT programs implemented in Central America. Leading the effort will be Jose Miguel Cruz, director of research at LACC, Ana Carazo, deputy director of

CAJ, and Ryan Meldrum, professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

In the fall of 2021, LACC became home to the prestigious Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies (LACES) Journal, edited by FIU anthropology professor Jean Rahier, a leading scholar in the field. LACES is a multi- and inter-disciplinary journal for quality peer-reviewed scholarly research on ethnicity, race relations, and indigenous peoples in any country or countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The aim of the journal is to play a constructive role in the consolidation of this still growing field of studies. Manuscript submissions come from authors around the world.

Also in Fall 2021, Solís, was appointed as Chief of the Organization of American States Electoral Observation Mission for the November 2021 elections in Honduras by OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro. Solís, the former president of Costa Rica, oversaw the mission, comprised of over 80 people, with the goal of strengthening democracy in Honduras. He previously served as Chief of the OAS Observation Mission for general elections in Guatemala in 2019.

LACC hosted a two-day virtual conference focused on Migration in the Americas, that featured academics and policymakers to analyze the current state of migration throughout the hemisphere, including challenges faced by migrants and refugees. The event was organized by Jose Miguel Cruz, LACC’s director of research.

In May 2022, LACC received the prestigious Paul Hanson Award from the Miami Dade Council for the Social Studies, a professional organization connected to the Miami Dade County School District. The award recognized LACC for its outstanding contributions to South Florida’s academic institutions through its Title VI program.

When Luis Moros arrived in the United States from Venezuela with his mother, he was 14 and spoke almost no English. For more than a year, they moved from one homeless shelter to another.

It was a hard existence, but Moros says his mother, facing her own challenges as a single mom, never gave up on him and his dream of pursuing an education and, eventually, a career in politics.

Anytime he heard “no” it was not a rejection of him, she would say, it was a “new opportunity” presenting itself.

Moros took those words to heart and, now as a junior and Honors College student at FIU pursuing a dual degree in political science and public affairs, he has seized upon each new opportunity in a way that continues to inspire his peers and mentors.

Not only has he interned with the U.S. House of Representatives, the Cato Institute and the Organization of American States, this summer, Moros was one of only 20 students accepted from around the nation for the inaugural class of the Stanford Law Scholars Institute (SLSI) at Stanford University.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,’’ said Moros, 20, who is interning in Washington, D.C., this summer with the Bipartisan Policy Center. “I really didn’t expect as a firstgeneration college student to be accepted into a program at the second-highest ranked law school in the country. It was life-changing.’’

Moros has already made his mark in many areas of FIU – receiving numerous awards, as well as being named a Millennium Fellow, a Hamilton Scholar through FIU in DC and

From homelessness to Stanford Law first Ferré Fellow joins law school pipeline program

a founding fellow and student ambassador for the recently launched Maurice A. Ferré Institute for Civic Leadership.

Agatha Caraballo, founding director of the Ferré Institute, said Moros embodies the same spirit of servant leadership that Ferré modeled as mayor of Miami.

“Luis Moros is an exceptional young man with boundless potential, passionate and committed to public service and civic engagement,’’ she said. “As a Ferré Institute fellow and chair of our engagement committee, Luis organized several workshops on civic literacy and leadership and led a multi-disciplinary student group that ranked #13 in the nationwide It’s Up to Us competition to increase civic literacy and awareness on campus.”

“Luis continues to inspire me and many others with his dedication and drive to make the world a better place for all,’’ she added.

Through his work with policymakers in D.C., Moros hopes to help other immigrants learn to navigate the U.S. educational system, become civically engaged and pursue their dreams.

Diego Zambrano, an associate professor of law at Stanford who served as Moros’ faculty mentor, said Moros is already well on his way. Like Moros, Zambrano immigrated to the United States from Venezuela when he was 14.

“I see in Luis a wonderful example of all the talented people who have been forced to leave Venezuela,’’ he said. “Luis’ story is a deeply American story, arriving to American shores in pursuit of a better life.

“He represents some of the best qualities of immigrants to this country. I’m sure he’ll make an excellent law student, attorney, and future leader.”

Celebrating Indigenous perspectives

The Cherokee Indians were once the dominant power in what is now the Southeastern United States. The Emmy award-winning film, “First Language: The Race to Save Cherokee,” follows the Cherokee community as it comes to terms with a heritage that predates the United States by thousands of years.

In honor of Indigenous Peoples Day at FIU, the Global Indigenous Forum joined the Center for the Humanities in an Urban Environment (CHUE) in hosting a showing of the film,

which focuses on the extraordinary steps taken by the Eastern Band of Cherokee to preserve Cherokee language.

The screening was followed by a discussion with experts and activists about the many issues raised in the film. This included Benjamin Frey, professor of American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, María-Luisa Veisaga, director of the Andean Studies Program at FIU, and Walt Wolfram, renowned linguist and producer of “First Language.” The conversation was moderated by the Rev. Houston Cypress, artist, poet, environmental activist and member of the Otter Clan of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida.

Following the panel, GIF Director Mitzi Carter interviewed rap sensation Awich about bringing Okinawan language, indigenous identity and culture to the world stage through hip hop.

Green School hosts Ambassador of Ireland to the U.S.

contemporary Irish issues, Ireland’s significance in a postBrexit European Union, and the country’s transatlantic connections. He explained the value to Ireland of the EU and how the membership benefited the country. He also remarked on the challenges that both Ireland and the EU need to face in the following years at several levels and analyzed the new European and Irish situation after Brexit.

In November 2021, the Miami-Florida Jean Monnet Center of Excellence hosted a visit by His Excellency Daniel Mulhall, the Ambassador of Ireland to the United States. Sponsored by the Ruth K. and Shepard Broad Distinguished Lecture Series, the Green School hosted the event in collaboration with the Embassy of Ireland, the World Affairs Council Miami and the European Union Center at the University of Miami. Mulhall tackled diverse

Following his presentation, the ambassador engaged in a dialogue with Markus Thiel, director of the Jean Monnet Center. They discussed several topics, including the Irish border conflict, the potential for future Irish unification, and the challenges and opportunities that the larger issue of Brexit has posed to the island. This event was meaningful because it was the first in-person panel that the Monnet Center organized after the pandemic restrictions. A large audience gathered in the MARC Pavilion at FIU’s Modesto Maidique Campus, and many others were able to follow and participate online.

An image from the Disrupting Anti-Blackness exhibit, organized by the African and African Diasporas Studies Program at the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum.

Artists Voicing Truths

African Studies Program organizes “Disrupting Anti-Blackness” exhibition

In the 21st century, police violence against Black communities has met strong and vocal resistance. The number of demonstrations and public conversations as well as increased media coverage—not to mention individuals recording police brutality with cell phones—is unprecedented. The democratization of technology has expanded the reach of these savage spectacles against Black bodies; the documentation and global dissemination of the images has catalyzed not only the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement but also creative production that bears witness for history and in the present time.

In response to this movement, Green School professors Andrea Queeley, associate professor of anthropology, and Valerie Patterson, director of the African and African Diaspora Studies program and clinical professor for public policy and administration, organized an exhibition to invite dialogue about systemic abuses of power and local, national, and global responses to these events. The exhibition sought to recognize the prevalence of anti-Blackness while affirming Black life and experiences.

Disrupting Anti-Blackness was held at the Philip and Patricia Frost Art Museum in January 2022 as part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Exhibition Series, which addresses issues of race, diversity, social justice, civil rights, and humanity.

In honor of the exhibition, Patterson and Queeley also hosted a virtual discussion, “Anti-Blackness and State-Sanctioned Violence: Art and Activism in Global Perspective.” Special guests included photojournalist Vanessa Charlot, filmmaker Amberly Alene, human rights activist Rinu Oduala, community activist Alexey Rodriguez and sociologist Tanya Saunders. The conversation examined how artists have responded to anti-Blackness over time and within various national contexts. The panel was part of the African and African Diaspora Studies Program’s 11th Annual Humanities Afternoon.

Also in 2022, African and African Diaspora Studies hosted its 14th Annual Chris Gray Memorial Lecture, Practicing Diaspora: the Making of the “Seneglao-Hatian” Community in Postcolonial West Africa, which featured Hilary Jones of the University of Kentucky.

Havel Program continues to examine human rights around the globe

As human rights and democracy face ongoing challenges around the world, the Green School’s Vaclav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy has continued its efforts to shine a light on these issues, enlightening students and the community through thought-provoking discussions and publications.

This year, the program continued its series on LGBTQ+ Rights as Human Rights, with public events covering the attacks against LGBTQ+ advocacy in Ghana and Europe’s promotion of LGTBI rights, as well as a special collaboration with the Florida Grand Opera that explored «Fellow Travelers,” a tragic story of a love affair between two young men at the height of the Red and Lavender Scares in the 1950s.

The Havel team also worked to strengthen the program’s Global Immigration and Migration Initiative, by hosting an event on the controversial asylum system in Australia, as well as webinars on the structural drivers of migration in Honduras and global human trafficking trends.

In March, the program hosted a guest lecture by writer and activist Ma Thida, a Burmese scholar and former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience. She spoke about Myanmar’s current dilemmas and the prospects for the restoration of democracy.

As part of its Cuba Initiative, the program also published three academic studies that offer various considerations for a political transition in Cuba, focusing on the legal reforms that would potentially take place under a representative democracy. In May, the authors of the studies presented their findings and analysis during an online event, “Conceptualizing a Democratic Cuba: The Legal Dimensions of Transition.”

Finally, the program published a thought-provoking collection of essays by FIU students, containing powerful and diverse answers to the question, “What does democracy mean to me?”

Holocaust & Genocide Studies co-hosts annual Holocaust & Genocide Awareness Week

FIU’s 7th Annual Holocaust & Genocide Awareness Week was presented by the Holocaust & Genocide Studies Program in collaboration with Hillel at FIU and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU in January 2022. The week-long event featured a stimulating series of inperson, hybrid and online events, including exhibitions and panels at the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami and the Glenn Hubert Library on the Biscayne Bay Campus, virtual film screenings in conjunction with the Miami Jewish Film Festival, campus and zoom panel discussions and interviews with survivors and their children. Topics ranged from the rescued Czech Torah scrolls to the legacy of slavery, the massacre at Babi Yar and the “new” antisemitism.

The annual Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony, cosponsored with the Dorothea Green Lecture Series, featured Holocaust survivor Karmela Waldman of Miami Beach and her son Joel Waldman, a former national correspondent for Fox News who cohost a podcast together called Surviving the Survivor.

Conversations on Global Issues

The Green School hosts numerous events, lectures and presentations bringing leading thinkers, scholars and politicians from around the world to FIU. Particularly through our Ruth K. and Shepard Broad Distinguished Lecture Series and our Dorothea Green Lecture Series, we engage our students and community members in conversations about some of the most pressing topics of our day.

Sponsored and co-sponsored events of 2021-22 included:

The Role of the Media in Contemporary Society, a conversation with journalist Simon Marks on the role the media play in democratic societies in a digital age.

Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan 20 Years Later, a discussion of the ascendancy of the Taliban within the wider cultural, historical and geopolitical landscape.

Russia’s Parliamentary “Elections”: Neither Free Nor Fair, a discussion of Russia’s elections, riddled with fraud and manipulation in the past. Organized by the European and Eurasian Studies Program and the Institute on Russia at USF’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Ferré Institute Civic Leadership and Service Series — A Conversation with George F. Knox, legendary attorney, business and community leader. Mr. Knox served as the City Attorney for the City of Miami from 1976-1982 with Mayor Maurice A. Ferré during some of Miami’s most formative years

Ganesha, Understanding and Celebrating Indianness, an online event celebrating one of the key festivals of India, with a discussion by Chintan Kishor on the significance of the festival and its celebration as an important supplement to the Independence of India.

Asylees and Offshore Processing: Australia’s Attempts to Deter Immigration through Isolation, a discussion among experts who addressed the causes, consequences, and future of the asylum system in Australia, widely condemned by human rights organizations and the United Nations.

Reflections on Haiti: Layering the Conversation through Advocacy, a panel of experts on the ground, including earthquake impacted areas and the U.S. Mexico Border, that explored the common roots of these seemingly separate events, including the international community’s role in the problems.

Hotel Rwanda Hero Behind Bars: Paul Rusesabagina after the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi, a conversation that shed light on Rusesabagina’s story, the details of his trial, and the genocidal context in which his actions unfolded.

Destination Retrograde: A Reflection on “Fellow Travelers”, hosted by the Green School, Florida Grand Opera and Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ to explore the themes of Gregory Spears’ highly praised opera, Fellow Travelers (based on the best-selling 2007 novel by Thomas Mallon).

Relevance of Gandhi with Reference to Hind Swaraj, with guest speaker Imran Surti, who discussed a seminal text of Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, which is a revolt against the dominant but perverse and violence-prone philosophy which has become a worldwide phenomenon.

Europe’s International Promotion of LGBTI Rights: Promises & Pitfalls, a conversation with Jessy Abouarab and Markus Thiel about Thiel’s new book, which examines how Europe attempts to jointly formulate and implement guidelines for the external promotion of LGBTI rights.

Fred Korematsu and His Quest for Justice — A Conversation with Lorraine K. Bannai, attorney, author and professor on the very personal story of Fred Korematsu; a simple man courageous enough to challenge criminal conviction and the removal and incarceration of 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry during WWII.

Ireland, the Pursuit of Peace in Northern Ireland, and the Challenges of Brexit, a conversation with Ireland’s Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Daniel Mulhall, on contemporary Irish issues, Ireland’s significance in a post-Brexit European Union and the country’s transatlantic connections.

Ferré Institute Civic Leadership and Service Series — A Conversation with David Lawrence Jr., retired publisher of The Miami Herald, founder of The Children’s Movement and board member emeritus of The Children’s Trust.

Ethics in Research and Methods: Notes from a Native Anthropologist, a talk exploring the disciplining of anthropology from an Indigenous perspective.

To Make the Wounded Whole — Book Presentation and Conversation with Dan Royles, about his recent book To Make the Wounded Whole, a compelling work that offers

the first history of African American AIDS activism in all its depth and breadth. Royles was joined by Requel Lopes of the World AIDS Museum.

Ferré Institute Civic Leadership and Service Series — A Conversation with James R. Haj, president and CEO of the The Children’s Trust.

From Warsaw with Love: Polish Spies, the CIA, and the Forging of an Unlikely Alliance – need description

Transatlantic Identities, Music and Verse in the Latin American Décima, a journey through the main décima of Latin America, a ten-verse poetic form that came to the New World from the Iberian Peninsula and expanded widely as a genre throughout Latin America.

Transatlantic Relations in a Global Environment: A Conversation with André Haspels, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United States, on the value of the Transatlantic Alliance.

Ferré Institute Civic Leadership and Service Series — A Conversation with Anitere Flores, former Florida State Senator, on the areas of civic engagement and leadership, community infrastructure, and social justice.

Cervantine Blackness, a discussion of Nicholas Jones’s new book project titled Cervantine Blackness, where he examines the presence and representation of sub-Saharan African Blackness in the writings of Miguel de Cervantes.

The Golden Mean between Secular and Religious Fundamentalisms, an examination of two fundamentalist tendencies of Muslim attitude by tracing their roots in the works of Abu Bakr al-Razi and Muhammad al-Ghazali.

Sacred Sound and Movement: A Spiritual Healing Journey with Rich Gausman and Erik Lieux, a dynamic, interactive, and experiential event exploring the healing and spiritual qualities of sacred sound and movement.

Myanmar: Between the Past and the Future — A Conversation with Dr. Ma Thida, former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, writer, activist and visiting scholar-in-residence at Yale University on the current dilemmas of Myanmar and its future, in both regional and global contexts

Inside the Collapse of Venezuela: Book Presentation and Conversation with William Neuman, author of Things Are Never So Bad That They Can’t Get Worse, a fluid combination of journalism, memoir, and history that chronicles Venezuela’s tragic journey from petroriches to poverty.

Book Presentation and Conversation with Ken Peters, author of acclaimed work of fiction, Cuba’s Nuclear Piñata, which centers around an economically desperate Fidel Castro who threatens the United States with the specter of nuclear warheads.

The United Nations After February 24, 2022 — A Conversation with Ambassador Jakub Kulhánek, on the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including the United Nations’ response and consequences of this renewed conflict between East and West.

New Government, Same Challenges: Structural Problems, Migration, and Political Change in Honduras, a discussion of how the Honduran government plans to solve deeply rooted problems of corruption, violence, and poverty forcing many Hondurans to migrate to the United States.

A Hero’s Legacy: A Conversation with Ambassador Michael Žantovský on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose determined resolve mirrors that of Václav Havel, the principal architect of the Velvet Revolution of 1989 and the first democratically elected president of Czechoslovakia.

Black Spain: Past, Present and Future - A Conversation with Jeffrey Coleman on the history of Black Spain, highlighting key figures and events that have led to the recent boom in Afro-Spanish cultural production today.

Ukraine: Between the Past and the Future — A Conversation With Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev, former Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations, on the current crisis in Ukraine and the situation on the ground.

The Geopolitics of the War in Ukraine: What Does the Future Hold for the Global Order?, a panel discussion of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and what it means for the global order.

Contemporary Human Trafficking: An Escalating Global Scourge, a conversation with a panel of experts that shed light on contemporary global human trafficking and the efforts to combat it.

Members of the Jain Education and Research Foundation (JERF) got a sneak peek at the inside of SIPA II this summer during a tour led by SIPA leadership and members of the construction team. SIPA II is scheduled to open in Spring 2023. JERF members were on campus to celebrate the launch of a $3 million dollar campaign to fund the Institute for Advanced Jain Studies at FIU.

International relations major Amelia Raudales was recognized as a Real Triumphs Graduate at Spring Commencement. She was recognized for her work to help victims of domestic violence and human trafficking, among other activities.