International Institute celebrates 10th anniversary

The International Institute, which serves as the UW–Madison’s portal to the world, is marking its tenth anniversary this year and plans a number of events to mark the occasion.

The International Institute, a 1996 joint initiative of the Division of International Studies and the College of Letters and Sciences, has 16 member programs, eight of which are federally funded national resource centers.

The institute covers every world region and has programs that lead the nation in international and area studies. It promotes innovation in international studies, faculty research and collaboration, program development, overseas education and educational outreach to the state.

To mark the 10th anniversary, the institute and affiliated research circles will host a series of lectures and conferences in March and April.

The keynote address will be given by Arjun Appadurai, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the New School University in New York City. His address will be on Thursday, April 6 at 4 p.m., at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St.

Appadurai is founder and current president of Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research (PUKAR), a non-profit group of practically oriented researchers concerned with urban global issues, based in Mumbai, India.

He holds a distinguished professorship as the John Dewey Professor in the Social Sciences. Before arriving at the New School, Arjun Appadurai was the William K. Lanman Jr. Professor of International Studies and a professor of anthropology, and director of the Center on Cities and Globalization at Yale University.

Another major series this spring is “The Global Futures Colloquium,” which will feature a series of talks on globalization. They include:

• “African Diaspora and Globalization,” will feature Michael Gomez, March 23, 4:30 p.m., Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St. Gomez serves as chair of the department of history at New York University, and director of the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora. Sponsored by the International Institute’s African Diaspora and the Atlantic World Research Circle.
• “Cosmopolitanism and Cultural Identity” will feature John Tomlinson, head of research in communications, media and cultural studies and director Nottingham Institute for Cultural Analysis at Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom. March 30 at 4 p.m., Chazen Museum of Art, 800 University Ave., Madison. Sponsored by the International Institute’s Global Media and Democracy in Asia research circle.
• Charles Sabel will present “Global Governance, Global Politics, Global Democracy?” Thursday, April 20, 4 p.m., 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Dr. Sabel is professor of law and social science at Columbia University’s Law School. Sponsored by the International Institute’s Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy.
• “Global-Local Environments, Local-Global Knowledge” will feature Peter Brosius, University of Georgia; Tim Forsyth, London School of Economics; Nancy Peluso, UC-Berkeley; and Tori Jennings, UW–Madison on March 6, 2006, 11:15 a.m., The Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St. The speakers are participating in the “Political Ecologies of Knowledge, Science and Technology Interdisciplinary Workshop,” sponsored by the International Institute’s Environment and Development research circle.

All events are free and open to the public.

The Institute takes a unique approach to international education by promoting cross-college cooperation through joint projects with major departments and other interdisciplinary programs. The Institute sponsors study abroad and international internships opportunities in more than 70 countries, attracting more than 1,300 students annually. It also offers programs in more than 20 different undergraduate and graduate degrees, certificates, and Ph.D. minors.

Research circles are another innovative feature of the institute, where UW–Madison faculty and graduate students from a variety of disciplines collaborate and create new knowledge. In foreign language instruction, the institute trains students in more than 65 languages and offers hundreds of non-language and international studies each year, in cooperation with the College of Letters and Sciences.