By Jordan Kimmel and Noor Adatia
The Pardee Graduate Council hosted a conference on Friday and Saturday entitled “Walls or Bridges? Restructuring for a Better Tomorrow.” More than 20 students gathered for presentations and discussions sponsored by the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies.
The conference began Friday night with a keynote speech by Boston University alumnus Stephen Kinzer, who is currently a senior fellow in international and public affairs at Brown University. Kinzer has written several books, most recently “The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire.”
Jack Davidson, president of the Pardee Graduate Council, said that Kinzer’s research and expertise was the reason the council sought out Kinzer to be the keynote speaker.
“We chose [Kinzer] because he’s written quite extensively on U.S. foreign policy, U.S. intervention, and about other countries,” Davidson, a second-year graduate student, said before the conference began. “We thought the stuff he writes on would be relevant to our theme: … openness, protectionist ideas and international affairs.”
Kinzer’s book also offers a historical parallel of this current political climate to that of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency.
“We have never had a president who was destitute of self-respect and of respect for his higher office,” Kinzer said. “We’ve had no president before who’s not been a gentleman. We’ve had no president before that’s been intended for a butcher, a dive keeper, or a bully. No, those words were not written this week. That’s Mark Twain talking about Theodore Roosevelt. In my new book, I deposit these two figures as opposites in the great debate that has been shaking America for 120 years over how we should fate the rest of the world. Roosevelt and Twain were magnificently matched opponents, and in the some ways they were very different.”
Davidson said it is important to give students a chance to present their work.
“A lot of international affairs schools host conferences and we think we should as well.” Davidson said. “Since it’s a newer program, it’s really important to have an event like this so that people learn who we are. [It’s important] to give us and our students a chance to showcase the work that they’ve been doing, and to give an opportunity for people in other schools in the Northeast to come and present on some of the work they’ve been doing.”
On Saturday, the conference reconvened for a series of panels, beginning with “Environment; Development and Economics.” At the panel, students presented their research on topics ranging from the ivory trade to international environmental negotiations.
Stephanie Gagnon, a first-year graduate student in Pardee, presented on the Payment for Ecosystem Services program in which farmers agree to practice environmentally-friendly techniques in exchange for economic incentives.
“Developing countries were saying their economic development was sort of overlooked in environmental protection,” Gagnon said. “That’s what this research is getting at — that perhaps environmental development and economic development can go hand in hand, and they don’t necessarily have to be opposed.”
Gagnon used the Sumber Jaya region in Indonesia as a case study. She said that due to the serious erosion and deforestation in the region, farmers were granted land tenure rights if they protected the remaining forests and planted trees.
“By giving them land tenure rights, [the farmers] were able to, if not completely, come out of poverty [and] really benefit from the situation,” Gagnon said.
Michael DiMuccio, a first-year graduate student in Pardee, presented on the obstruction tactics used by Saudi Arabia in climate change negotiations in order to maintain its wealth and position as a global superpower. He said that understanding why nations like Saudi Arabia impede these talks is important in making progress for the environment.
“It’s important we begin to try to understand and find common ground as opposed to allowing our differences to separate us and bring us further away from the desperate urgent action that we really need,” DiMuccio said.
Philip Horowitz, a first-year graduate student in Pardee, presented his research on the economics of the ivory business and organizations today that monitor the illegal poaching and killing of elephants.
“Because the supply is coming from Africa and the demand is coming from China, Japan and the United States, you need international cooperation to ensure that there’s a coordinated effort to prevent the illegal killing of elephants,” Horowitz said.
After their presentations, professor of international relations Henrik Selin posed questions to the panelists regarding the success of the programs they presented on. After the panel concluded, the students took a break before regrouping for panels on three additional topics: religion and international affairs, international treaties, and international security.
Several Pardee graduate students in attendance said they found the conference a great opportunity to discuss environmental issues and listen to their peers’ work.
Fan Zhang, a first-year graduate student, said she was particularly interested in Gagnon’s topic as her focus is also on Asia.
“It’s a really good and really valuable case study in terms of how I can take a long-term look at the successful implementation of economic environmental issues,” Zhang said.
Veronica Lopez Gamboa, a first-year graduate student, said that the panelists presented on topics that were both local and international.
“I think it was important in terms of theme of [the] conference,” Lopez Gamboa said. “It’s so relevant today and the environmental problem is something that will require global action, so we can definitely build bridges instead of walls.”
Sarah Dymecki, a first-year graduate student, said the conference was a good combination of looking at the past and future of international relations.
“These conversations are a great way to hear what peers are talking about,” Dymecki said. “I also think it’s great to have an event outside of class and to see people and have intellectual conversations with people you don’t normally see.”
