Seminars

The purpose of the seminars is to bring to the campus persons whose own responsible leadership enables them to help clarify issues of public policy. These talks provide opportunities for students to network and interact with these external experts. Each seminar topic is researched by the Garfield Scholars so that they can then engage with the seminar speakers in a professional sophisticated manner. All of the seminars have been well attended by students, faculty, staff, alumni, and greater community leaders. The Garfield Center has already been remarkably successful in exposing the local public to thoughtful discussion of public issues and in promoting the aspirations of the Center’s own students toward careers in public leadership and service.

This conference focused on the issues of Latin America through the eyes of diplomats from both North and South America. The topics centered on economic integration and broadened to discussions of western hemisphere relations.

The speakers from this conference were: Jorge Castañeda, Ph.D., Foreign Minister of Mexico, 2000-2003, Ambassador Roberto Flores Bermúdez, Ambassador of Honduras to the U.S. from May 2006-2009, Ambassador Craig Kelly, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State, James Creagan, Director of the Center for International Studies, University of the Incarnate Word. Below are the videos of the event.

Dr. Scott Sagan discusses the current issues surrounding nuclear power and the proliferation of new weapons, while outlining the potential for disarmament through extranational efforts. Below are the videos from the event.

Participants: Scott D. Sagan, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, Stanford University; James Thompson, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, Hiram College.

The Garfield Center hosted a lively discussion on civility in American politics. The videos below are from the event.

Participants: Clifford Orwin, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, Fellow of St. Michael’s College and Director of the Program for Political Philosophy and International Affairs, University of Toronto; Fred Baumann, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, Kenyon College.

The Garfield Center’s yearly scholar trip to DC was held on October 14-16, 2011. The scholars visited and hosted a Hiram College event at the National City Christian Church. The scholars heard from Professor Allen Peskin about the life of James A. Garfield and what the possibilities would have been for his presidency if he had not been assassinated. The talk is below:

Leaders in the discussion of America’s energy future share their insights and concerns with Hiram College, with a main presentation on the potential of coal gasification.

Participants in the seminar are as follows: Mark Shanahan, Director, The Ohio Quality Development Authority, James Bartis, Senior Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation Environment, Energy & Economic Development Program, Louis Circeo, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist, Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Thomas Hoffman, Senior V.P., External Affairs, CONSOL Energy, Inc. Below are the videos from the event.

The Garfield Center hosted a seminar on Monday, December 5, 2011; the event focused on the issues surrounding the debt issue and how politics has affected the situation.

Featuring: Paul H. O’Neill, the 72nd Secretary of the United States Treasury and former Chairman and CEO of Alcoa Inc.

The Garfield Student Scholars take on a two-part seminar on the relationship between the United States and China.

“The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship? China, the U.S. and the Future of the World’s Most Important Bilateral Economic Relationship,” Feb. 6, 2012

Featuring: Zachary Karabell, President of River Twice Research, award winning Portfolio Manager of the China-US Growth Fund, author of Superfusion: How China and America Became One Economy and Why the World’s Prosperity Depends on It.

Featuring: John Mearsheimer, R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science & Co-Director of the Program for International Security Policy, University of Chicago, author of The Tragedy of Great Power Politics.

A seminar focusing on the partisanship of our political system and it’s impact on our future.

Participants: William A. Galston, Ezra Zilkha Chair and Senior Fellow in the Governance Studies Program of The Brookings Institution; former policy advisor to President Clinton and expert on domestic policy, political campaigns, and elections; Thomas E.Mann, W. Averell Harriman Chair and Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution, former Director of Governmental Studies at Brookings and former Director of the American Political Science Association.

Participants: Paul Wolfowitz, Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Deputy Secretary of Defense (2001–2005) and former Ambassador to Indonesia; L. Paul Bremer III, member of the Council on Foreign Relations as well as a member of the Board of RAND Corporation’s Center for Middle East Public Policy, and former presidential envoy to Iraq. Moderation by David Aaron, Ambassador, Senior Fellow, and former Director of the Center for Middle East Public Policy at RAND.

Participants: Boaz Ganor, Founder & Executive Director, Institute for Counter-Terrorism; Deputy Dean, Lauder School of Government, The Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel; Dalia Dassa Kaye, Director of the Center for Middle East Public Policy and a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation.

Participants: Alexander Wendt, Professor of International Security and Professor of Political Science, The Ohio State University; Timothy Burns, Professor of Political Science, Baylor University

With Paul O’Neill 72nd Secretary Of The U.S. Treasury

“Interconnected Crises: ISIS, Iran and Israel” Oct. 14, 2015

Speakers: Clark Neily, Vice President for Criminal Justice at the Cato Institute, and John C. Koritansky, Professor of Political Science, Hiram College.