Providing a Forum for Analysis & Dialogue on Critical Global Issues Fostering Educational & Professional Networks Among the St. Edward’s University Community, Austin & the World

The Kozmetsky Center looks forward to launching a new lecture series beginning in Spring 2022 focused on developments in space.  The series will feature expert lectures on new developments in astrophysics and other interdisciplinary research projects focused on private investment in space and the shift from government to commercial space exploration, critical infrastructure and space, cyber vulnerability, relationships between climate change and space, national competition and cooperation in space and exploring implications concerning the potential existence of life on other planets.  We are delighted to welcome our first speaker in the new series Dr. Nestor Espinoza, Astronomer currently affiliated at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore Maryland.  Dr. Espinoza’s research focuses on exoplanet detection.  Nestor Espinoza completed his PhD in Astrophysics at Instituto Astrofisica Pontificia Universidad Catolica in Chile in 2017.  He is the recipient of the Gruber Fellowship and Bernulli Fellowship for research in Astrophysics and was selected among 100 emerging leaders in Chile by El Mercurio.  Dr. Espinoza will offer his perspective concerning the most valuable scientific methods employed to search for conditions that might be suitable for supporting life on other planets.  Dr. Espinoza’s lecture entitled “Our Place in the Universe:  New Directions in Exploring and Understanding Exoplanets” is scheduled for Tuesday February 22 at 12:00 noon (Central Time/Austin, USA).  Register for the lecture event here:  https://stedwards.zoom.us/s/99347281288

We will host a research and forthcoming book talk with SEU Assistant Professor of Global Studies, Dr. Angela Ju on Monday March 7, 12:00 noon (Central Time). Zoom Meeting link:  https://stedwards.zoom.us/j/98486665538?pwd=aEsxWENEV3ZhN05zNHNXT0kwSUlSZz09

Although the most common type of international migration in the world occurs between countries in the Global South, South-South migration is a phenomenon that has not received as much attention as migration to developed countries in Europe or North America. Dr. Ju's research encompasses issues of immigration within countries of Latin America and East Asia. Dr. Ju’s lecture based on her current research and book project entitled “Immigrant Political Incorporation in Another America: Brazilians of Japanese and Jewish Heritage” explores how immigrant groups pursue different strategies of political incorporation in the Brazilian case.  Prior to returning to academia in the 2017-2018 academic year, Dr. Ju worked in international development consulting in Washington, DC and in New York City.  She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.

On Wednesday March 23, 12:00 noon (Central Time), the Kozmetsky Center will host an expert panel followed by our annual student international virtual seminar devoted to Afghanistan.  Confirmed speakers for the panel session entitled  “Twenty Year War in Afghanistan:  Lessons, Consequences and the Future” include U.S. Army General (Ret.) combat veteran of the war in Afghanistan and Global Policy Scholar, Kennan Institute, Wilson Center, U.S. Army Bridgadier General (Ret.) Peter Zwack; Dr. Theodore Karasik, Senior Analyst, Gulf Analytics; Dr. Ralph Roloff, Associate Dean, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies and Mr. Sarang Shidore, Director of Studies, Quincy Institute and Senior Fellow at the Council on Strategic Risks.  On Thursday March 24, St. Edward’s University students will meet in the virtual space with students of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) and Friedrich Schiller University in Jena Germany to discuss the panel session conclusions.  Professor Andrey Kazantsev (Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer, MGIMO) and Professor Rafael Biermann, (Chair of International Relations, Friedrich Schiller University, Germany) have been invited to participate as faculty discussants for the student Austin-Moscow-Jena annual student videoconference seminar. Register for the March 23, 12:00 noon (Central Time) expert Zoom Webinar session at:  https://stedwards.zoom.us/s/91505774706

On Tuesday April 4 at 12:00 noon (Central Time), the Kozmetsky Center will host an open forum discussion session with Dr. Maria Luisa Alaniz, Professor Emeritus (Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences) of San Jose State University, San Jose, California to discuss the significance of the experience of leading 20^th century labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta for advancing social justice and human rights from the local to global levels.  Maria Luisa’s mother, Loretta Alaniz, was a farmworker who, although she did not have the opportunity to attend school, made education a priority for her three daughters.  Maria Luisa feels it was a blessing to have come of age in the central valley of California during the 1960's and 1970's when Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta were organizing farm workers and founded the United Farmworkers Union (UFW).  She had the opportunity, as a college student, to participate in rallies and marches; she also worked at the Stockton UFW Field Office.  These experiences shaped her perspective regarding human rights and social justice. Based on these seminal life experiences, the prime motivating factor in Maria Luisa's pursuit of an education was to give back to her community.  To that end; she attended San Joaquin Delta College (A.A.), San Jose State University (B.A., M.A.) and Stanford University (Ed.S., Ph.D.).  Maria Luisa has had a rewarding career as a professor and department chair at San Jose State University since 1988 when she started her career as a lecturer in Mexican American Studies. She has served as program director for several educational and research projects focused on challenges for communities of color sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education: Title IX, Ford Foundation and National Institute of Health. Dr. Alaniz looks forward to meeting with the St. Edward’s University community in this interactive dialogue venue to be held on campus at the Jones Global Events Center.