GLOBIS Friday Forum, March 30

Please join us Friday, March 30th, from 2:00 to 3:00PM for the next installment in the ongoing Friday Forum Series hosted by The Center for the Study of Global Issues (GLOBIS), to be held in the 4th floor conference room of the Franklin House. This week's talk "Empty Nets: Social Democracy and the 'Catchall Party Theory' in Germany and Sweden." will be delivered by Dr. Christopher Allen of the Department of International Affairs at the University of Georgia. An abstract follows:

The social democratic parties of both Germany and Sweden were part of the "third way" movement common to such political parties during the 1990s. By continuing to moderate their positions and move away from their traditional bases, they seemed to embody -- one generation later -- the essence of Otto Kirscheimer's thesis. But in doing so, each of them opened up their left flanks and saw considerable growth of both Green and Left (former communist) parties fill the policy space that social democracy had relinquished. Both parties no longer lead their governments. This paper will ask whether the Kirscheimer thesis: a) was executed poorly by these social democratic parties; b) is no longer relevant for social democratic parties with the proliferation of smaller parties in many parliamentary systems; or c) needs fundamental revision not by trying to "catch all", but to catch a broader left that they may have missed by following Kirscheimer's thesis.

Also, please plan ahead for the next forum. On Friday, April 6th, at 2:00PM, Mr. Regan Damron and Mr. Nathan Freeman, both graduate students in the Department of International Affairs, will present talks in preparation for the Midwest Political Science Association conference. In addition, if anyone is interested in presenting a paper, thesis, prospectus, or dissertation to an interested and informed audience, please contact Jon Polk at the e-mail address or phone number listed below.

GLOBIS is located in the historic Franklin House on the corner of Thomas St. and Broad St. at the Northern edge of campus. Please email jonpolk@uga.edu or call 706-542-6633 for directions or to be removed from our mailing list.

2007 Holmes/Hunter Lecture

The twenty-second annual Holmes/Hunter Lecture will be delivered Tuesday, April 3, by Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. This year's Holmes/Hunter Lecture begins at 2:00 p.m. in the Chapel. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Franklin was elected Atlanta's 58th mayor in 2001 in her first bid for public office and was re-elected last year. She is the first African-American woman to serve as mayor of a major southern city.

The Holmes-Hunter Lecture was established in 1985 to honor Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter Gault, who in 1961 became the first African Americans to enroll at UGA. Lecture speakers focus on race relations, black history or aspects of higher education with implications for race relations. Previous speakers for the Holmes/Hunter Lecture include Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson, Vernon Jordan, Nikki Giovanni, and Deborah Roberts.

Sibley Lecture

The 102nd Sibley Lecture, sponsored by the Dean Rusk Center, will be held on Tuesday, March 27 at 2:30 p.m. in the university Chapel. Giving a presentation entitled, "A Balanced View of American Power," the Honorable Lee H. Hamilton, co-chair of the Iraq Study Group and vice-chair of the 9/11 Commission, will be discussing how America can use its power around the world to pragmatically protect its interests and advance its values.

More information, including a bio of the speaker, may be found here:

http://www.uga.edu/ruskcenter/hamilton.html

Russell Undergraduate Teaching Award

Congratulations to Dr. Jaroslav Tir on being named a recipient of the 2007 Richard B. Russell Teaching Award. Funded by the Richard B. Russell Foundation, the award recognizes excellence in undergraduate instruction at The University of Georgia by faculty members in their early academic careers.

Dr. Tir has been with the university since fall 2003. His book, Redrawing the Map to Promote Peace: Territorial Dispute Management via Territorial Changes, was published by Lexington Books in 2006. In his time at UGA Dr. Tir has taught undergraduate classes on international relations, comparative politics, and developed and taught a new course on modern warfare.

He is also the program director for the university’s Ecuador Conflict Resolution Study Abroad program in Quito, and is an instructor for the Croatia Maymester Study Abroad program.

Outstanding GTA Award

Congratulations to Ms. Esther Skelley, a student in our Ph.D. program, on being named a recipient of a 2007 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. The award recognizes graduate teaching and laboratory assistants who have excelled in instruction. Previously, Ms. Skelley had received a 2005 Graduate Student Excellence in Research Award.

In the news

Dr. Gary Bertsch and his work with the Center for International Trade and Security are featured in today's Athens Banner-Herald in an article written by Loran Smith.

Midpoint withdrawal deadline

Just a reminder that the midpoint withdrawal deadline is this Thursday, March 1. If you drop a course after that date you will receive a WF for the class.

On a related note, we've added a calendar page on our department web site listing upcoming, noteworthy department related events and academic calendar dates and deadlines. As we're utilizing Google for our calendar, if you have a Google calendar of your own you can add events from our calendar to yours.

SPIA Excellence in Teaching Award

Congratulations to Dr. Markus Crepaz on being named the recipient of the 2007 SPIA Excellence in Teaching Award. Dr. Crepaz has been with the university since 1993 and has taught courses on comparative political analysis, postindustrial democracies, and graduate level methodology. His book, European Democracies, which he co-authored with Jürg Steiner, was published by Longman-Pearson Press in 2006, while his next book, Trust beyond borders: Immigration, the Welfare State and Identity in Modern Societies, is slated to be published by the University of Michigan Press in 2007.

GLOBIS Friday Forum, Feb, 16

Please join us this Friday, February 16th, from 2:00 to 3:00PM for the next installment in the ongoing Friday Forum Series hosted by The Center for the Study of Global Issues (GLOBIS), to be held in the 4th floor conference room of the Franklin House. This week's talk, "Risky Business: Third Party Trade with Sanctioned States," will be delivered by Mr. Bryan Early, a graduate student in the Department of International Affairs at the University of Georgia. An abstract follows:

The paper explores the factors that determine whether third party states' trade with sanctioned states increases or decreases after sanctions are imposed upon them. Using a triadic model, I explain how economic and political factors regarding third party states' relations with both the sanctions sender and the target of the sanctions ultimately affect third party states' trade with the sanctions target.

Also, please plan ahead for the next forum. On Friday, March 2nd, at 2:00PM, Dr. Patricia Sullivan of the Department of International Affairs will present her work. In addition, if anyone is interested in presenting a paper, thesis, prospectus, or dissertation to an interested and informed audience, please contact Jon Polk at the e-mail address or phone number listed below.

GLOBIS is located in the historic Franklin House on the corner of Thomas St. and Broad St. at the Northern edge of campus. Please email jonpolk@uga.edu or call 706-542-6633 for directions.

International Law Colloquium

For those interested in such things, the School of Law is presenting their International Law Colloquium Series again during spring semester. The series kicks off tomorrow, February 9 with Curtis Bradley from Duke University presenting his paper, "Unratified Treaties, Domestic Politics and the US Constitution." His presentation will be from 2:30-4:00 in the Cheeley Room on the third floor of the main Law School building. Click here to see the full schedule of speakers for their colloquium series.

Pardon our mess

Anyone who's come to Candler Hall of late has likely noticed the work going on in front of the building. The Physical Plant is doing a lot of digging in order to waterseal the foundation. One of the side effects of having this work done is that the handicap access ramp in the front had to be removed to allow excavation work on that side of the building. The current work schedule calls for the ramp to be replaced anywhere from two to three months from now. If you're a student with a disability who needs to get into Candler but cannot climb the front steps, please know that there is another way to access the building in the back. So if you'll need to gain access to Candler through that entrance, depending upon which office you need to see please contact one of the following numbers in advance:

Department of International Affairs: 542-6705
SPIA Dean's Office: 542-2059
Undergraduate Advising: 542-0096

In the news

Dr. Han Park is featured in the February 7, 2007 edition of the Athens Banner-Herald in an editorial on the Iraq war. The article can be found here.

In the news

Dr. Patricia Sullivan is featured this morning on page 2 of the Washington Post in a full-length feature article, "Twisting Arms Isn't as Easy as Dropping Bombs" by Shankar Vedantam, devoted entirely to Professor Sullivan's research work. The article can be found here. An online subscription to the Washington Post maybe required.

UGA MyID password reminder

From one of the many email listservs on campus:

Please be advised that the deadline for all UGA students, faculty, and staff to change their MyID password to a strong password is January 31, 2007.  In accordance with University policy, all MyID passwords must be changed to comply with a set of security standards that make passwords difficult to guess or compromise, thus protecting you against unauthorized access to your email and other accounts.

The MyID is used to access UGAMail, WebCT, MyUGA, Parking Services, and a number of online departmental services.

Anyone who has not changed his or her password by February 1, 2007, will not be able to access services that require the MyID.

Password Change Web Site--Passwords can be changed at the MyID Web site:

http://myid.uga.edu

Select the “Click here to change your password” link to begin. In general, all passwords must be at least 8 characters in length, contain 1 or more special characters (< >, . / ? ' " ; : ] [ } { | + = - _ ) ( * ^ % $ # @ ! ` & ~), and cannot be a dictionary word.

Secret Question/Answer Pairs--Along with stronger passwords, MyID users are required to set answers to secret questions. The first time you change your password, you will be asked to set answers to several secret questions.  The secret question/answer pairs are a significant customer service enhancement, as they will allow you to reset a forgotten password on your own.

These secret question/answer pairs will also be used to provide additional verification of a user's identity for security-sensitive online applications. The University continues to build more Web-enabled applications that rely upon the MyID for access, and the secret question/answer pairs will provide a greater level of security for protecting private information.

Password Change Requirement--As an added security measure, you will be required to change your password every six months. You will be reminded via UGAMail when it is time to change your password.

Questions and Comments--Please direct your questions and comments to the EITS Help Desk, helpdesk@uga.edu / 706-542-3106.

UGA à Paris

Are you interested in going to Paris and earning 6 credit hours for doing so? If so, there will be an informational meeting about the UGA à Paris Study Abroad program on Tuesday, January 30 at 5 p.m. in SLC 214. Free pizza will be served. For more information about the UGA à Paris program, visit their website.

GLOBIS Friday Forum, January 26

Please join us Friday, January 26th from 3:30 to 4:30 PM for the next installment in the ongoing Friday Forum Series hosted by The Center for the Study of Global Issues (GLOBIS), to be held in the 2nd floor conference room of GLOBIS.  This week’s talk, "Carrot or Stick? U.S Foreign Aid and Recipient Country U.N. Voting Compliance: 1997-2004," will be delivered by Xiaojun Li, a graduate student in the Department of International Affairs at the University of Georgia.  The paper won the grand prize of the graduate student paper competition at ISA South, 2006, and is currently under review at ISQ.  An abstract follows:

Historically, the use of aid has often been regarded as an effective foreign policy instrument in influencing the political behaviors of recipient countries. However, studies have been inconclusive when trying to determine how the effects of foreign aid are manifested with respect to recipients' voting pattern in the United Nations. Specifically, they have not provided clear evidence of if and how the United States uses aid as to induce compliance behaviors in recipient countries. This paper first reviews the theoretical paradigms that link foreign aid with voting compliance in the United Nations. It then shows that previous empirical studies have suffered from specification, measurement, and sample-composition problems. A cross-sectional time series simultaneous equations model is then proposed to address two important questions: namely, how effective U.S. foreign aid is as an instrument to enhance U.S. influence in the United Nations in terms of voting compliance and if U.S. aid is used primarily as an inducement ("carrot") or as a punishment/reward ("stick"). Using two-stage least squares random effects estimation procedures and correcting for measurement error in both foreign aid and U.N. voting compliance, I find evidence that U.S. aid is used as an inducement. I also find that military aid is more effective than economic aid in increasing voting compliance. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the results and directions for future research.

Also, please plan ahead for next week’s (February 2nd) presentation on Somalia by Dr. Abdulahi Osman of the Department of International Affairs.  In addition, if anyone is interested in presenting a paper, thesis, prospectus, or dissertation to an interested and informed audience, please contact Jon Polk at the e-mail address or phone number listed below.

GLOBIS is located in the historic Franklin House on the corner of South Thomas St. and East Broad St. at the Northern edge of campus.  Please email jonpolk@uga.edu or call 706-542-6633 for directions or to be removed from our mailing list.

Founders Day Lecture

The UGA Alumni Association and the Emeriti Scholars are sponsoring the annual Founders' Day Lecture, scheduled for Thursday, January 25 at 3 p.m. at the Chapel in honor of the 222nd anniversary of the adoption of the University of Georgia charter by the Georgia General Assembly. Professor Clifton Pannell will deliver the lecture entitled "The China Challenge: Outlook for the 21st Century."

Taped highlights of the Redcoat Band's historic 16-day tour of China last May will precede the lecture from 2 until 3 p.m. for your viewing enjoyment.

Wish you were here?

Something different than the usual posts on our blog--an impromptu demolition derby on the ice covered streets of Portland, Oregon.

Spring semester

Welcome back to campus for spring semester! We hope everyone enjoyed the time off from classes and had a good holiday season.

Just some dates and deadlines of importance that are coming up. First, the undergraduate drop/add period ends Thursday, January 11 at 5 pm. Anyone who wishes to add a class after that point will need the instructor's permission and a late add form available from the Registrar's Office. Anyone who withdraws from a class after that point will receive a W for the course (the midpoint withdrawal deadline is Thursday, March 1).

The drop/add period for graduate courses ends Tuesday, January 16 at 5 pm.

There are no classes, and UGA offices will be closed, on Monday, January 15 in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday.

Faculty in the news

Dr. Loch Johnson is quoted in a story running in Bloomberg News, the Dallas Morning News, and elsewhere, that the job of the House intelligence committee is to “lean on the bureaucrats,” not be a “cheerleader.”

Dr. Han Park tells a campus audience that President Bush is hindering peace with North Korea. Report in the Athens Banner-Herald.