New Awards
Dartmouth College has awarded $196,740 to Dan Breznitz, Associate Professor, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, for the project, "Ubiquitous Data Collection: The Need for a Comprehensive Privacy Analytical Framework." INTA Professor Seymour Goodman is Co-PI and Michael Murphree, PhD student in INTA's Science, Technology, and International Affairs Program, is Research Scientist for the project.
Books by Faculty
Pandemics and Peace: Public Health Cooperation in Zones of Conflict (United States Institute of Peace Press) by William J. Long, Professor and Chair, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. Long examines infectious disease surveillance networks of the Mekong Basin, Middle East, and East Africa and explains how and why interstate cooperation can occur in zones of conflict. The book also draws lessons from these cases for improving transnational governance and furthering U.S. diplomatic interests.
What Does Georgia Tech Think?
Selected Press for Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
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On Sam Nunn's Legacy
"Nunn has been called a renaissance man, but to me he was also a retro Senator, a politician from another era when the Senate was a place of giants and the greatest of them found ways to rise above partisanship and work with those in the other party to actually accomplish things," said Bob Schieffer in a broadcast of Face the Nation on CBS. Schieffer, who hosted "A Conversation with Sam Nunn" during the March 14th Allen Prize Symposium. Watch or read more of Schieffer's remarks at CBS Face the Nation - March 20, 2011.
On Libya
“Now, Libya is a difficult case because Libya has such weak institutions," said Sam Nunn, former U.S. Senator and Distinguished Professor of International Affairs. Nunn continued, "They don’t have the history that Egypt does. Their military, instead of identifiying with and protecting the people [has sided with the regime.] That’s why I have a lot of hope for Egypt. Because the military retained its credibility. In Libya, they’re not going to retain their credibility. They’re being used in a brutal way against people. And that means instability in Libya is going to continue, one way or the other, for quite a while." Read full article in Atlanta Journal-Constitution - March 15, 2011. Senator Nunn was interviewed in conjunction with the 2011 Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts Founder's Day events March 14-15.
On Narrative in New Media
Janet Murray, Professor of Digital Media in the School of Literature, Communication, and Culture, wrote Hamlet on the Holodeck, which is paraphrased here to describe the art of immersion: "every new medium that’s been invented, from print to film to television to cyberspace, has increased the transporting power of narrative. And every new medium has aroused fear and even hostility as a result." Read full article in Wired.com - March 10, 2011
On China's Crisis Regime
"It is startling to see the Chinese Government, rich and powerful, which has achieved staggering economic successes, yield so easily to fear," writes Fei-Ling Wang, Professor of International Affairs. Wang continues his commentary about Chinese leaders making the transition to a crisis regime, "Despite huge investment in order and stability, Chinese officials frequently behave as though their state is one step away from collapse." Read full article in BBC News International Reports (*subscription only) - March 8, 2011
On Nuclear Proliferation
"As long as there has been war, there have been efforts to deter actions a nation considers threatening. The advent of the nuclear weapon introduced entirely new factors. It was possible, for the first time, to inflict at the beginning of a war the maximum casualties. The doctrine of mutual assured destruction represented this reality. Deterrence based on nuclear weapons, therefore, has three elements: It is important psychologically, depending on calculations for which there is no historical experience. It is therefore precarious. It is devastating. An unrestrained nuclear exchange between superpowers could destroy civilized life as we know it in days. Mutual assured destruction raises enormous inhibitions against employing the weapons." - Excerpt from commentary by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn who is Distinguished Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, former U. S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of Defense William J. Perry, and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger which appeared in Wall Street Journal (online edition). Read full article (*subscription may be required) - March 7, 2011
On the Falcon's New Stadium
"It certainly has potential, but a lot of it depends on dialog between the stakeholders," says Danny Boston, Professor of Economics, about the abundant development opportunities surrounding the proposed new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons. This excerpt is from an article which appeared in Atlanta Journal-Constitution (print edition) - March 7, 2011
April 2, 2011 - April 16, 2011
April 4, 2011 - April 14, 2011
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Founder's Day: Nunn Calls for Fundamental Change
Former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn accepted Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen Prize for Social Courage March 15 and, in a speech punctuated by an extended standing ovation from the audience, called for civility, cooperation, and bipartisanship in the American dialog. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed took part in the awards program announcing that the City will partner with Georgia Tech on a Westside Communities Alliance to improve those neighborhoods and to celebrate the upcoming 50thanniversary of Ivan Allen Jr.’s election as Mayor of Atlanta.
The speeches by Senator Nunn and Mayor Reed were among highlights of two-days of events on March 14-15 celebrating the 2011 Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts Founder’s Day and Georgia Tech’s inaugural presentation of the new Allen Prize. Georgia Tech President G. P. “Bud” Peterson and Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts Dean Jacqueline J. Royster presented the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage to Senator Nunn and the College presented the 2011 Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Awards.
 “Senator Nunn is a man of our generation whose work will have a significant impact on not only our history, but our future,” said President Peterson when presenting the award. “Senator Nunn has worked tirelessly behind the scenes, sometimes at great personal risk… Since leaving office, he has been steadfast in his conviction to combat a deepening worldwide nuclear crisis.”
President Barack Obama offered praise for Senator Nunn via a special taped message that was shown. President Obama thanked Nunn “on a very personal level” for his advice and vision. The program also included a congratulatory message from U.S. Senators from Georgia Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson.
Senator Nunn delivered a compelling acceptance speech calling for fundamental change “if America is to continue to prosper and lead.” He highlighted “just three of our challenges": "a fiscal policy that is out of control;” a lack of “a sustainable, sensible energy policy;” and the erosion of American leadership in math, science and engineering. “China is already graduating more English-speaking engineers than we are in the U.S.,” he said. “When I compare our high schools to what I see traveling abroad, I am terrified for the workforce of tomorrow.”
Senator Nunn asked, “Do we have the political and civic will to work together to confront these challenges and build a world of promise? Big question.” He stated that civility and bipartisanship are required “to meet our fundamental challenges” and suggested a course of action for citizens, calling on them to convey to public officials and political leaders the message “we noticed” when they work cooperatively with their political .jpg) opponents to achieve solutions. “To build a world of promise and avoid a world of peril, we’re going to have to make fundamental changes. To do that we are going to have to cooperate with each other. This will not happen without increased social courage by our leaders, but also by alert citizens.”
Also presented during the luncheon were the Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Awards which are generously supported by Col. Stephen Hall and Mrs. Pamela Hall. Dean Royster and Associate Deans Susan Cozzens and John Tone, and Assistant Dean Peter Brecke presented the four awards. The Ivan Allen Jr. Faculty Legacy Award was presented to Dr. Haizheng Li, Professor in the School of Economics, in recognition of his research on China and cultivation of an exchange with China. The Alumnus Legacy Award recognized Philip Rafshoon (IM ’83) for his courageous entrepreneurship as founder of Outwrite Bookstore and his leadership in Atlanta’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community. The Graduate Student Legacy Award went to Joel Hewett, a PhD candidate in the History and Sociology of Technology and Science program and a Melvin Kranzberg Graduate Fellow in the History of Technology. The Undergraduate Student Legacy Award was given to Amira Choueiki, an Honors Program .jpg) student who is completing her degree in Economics and International Affairs with an International Plan track in Arabic and a minor in Public Policy.
Prior to the awards luncheon, the College hosted more than 80 people at a cross-college Research Roundtable. The program began with a lecture and dialog on the unfolding crisis in the Middle East by Larry Rubin, Assistant Professor, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. Then faculty from across Georgia Tech offered perspectives from a range of innovative and cross-disciplinary work that is contributing to knowledge creation, innovation, and problem solving and that links the humanities and social sciences with science and technology in order to advance the human condition.
The “Water and Conflict” panel represented research from faculty who are part of a cross-campus initiative to study water in its social and political context. Panelists highlighted issues of cooperation and competition around water in Africa, Peru, and Atlanta’s own local ‘tri-state water wars.’ Moderated by Sally Bethea, Executive Director, Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, presentations were made by Susan Cozzens, Associate Dean for Research, School of Public Policy; Aris Georgakakos, Georgia Water Resources Director and School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor; Barbara Deutsch Lynch, Visiting Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, and Bruce Stiftel, Architecture Professor and Chair of the School of City and Regional Planning Program.
 “The Future of Media” panel challenged the notion that “technology is a power for good that will save us so long as we invest in it.” Noting that we are at the second stage of new media technology adoption, that is using it to extend what has been done in the past, we are now close to the point where we will discover new forms of informing and entertaining via media that may be used to forge new paths toward social good. The panel was moderated by Phil Sharpe, Senior Vice President of Digital Media Competitiveness and Strategy for Turner Broadcasting with presenters Ian Bogost, School of Literature, Communication, and Culture Associate Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in Digital Media; Michael Best, Assistant Professor of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Interactive Computing; and Alexandra Mazalek, School of Literature, Communication, and Culture Assistant Professor and School of Interactive Computing Adjunct Assistant Professor.
In her remarks at the awards presentation, Dean Jacqueline J. Royster said, “The Ivan Allen College Founder’s Day celebrates Mayor Allen’s legacy of courage, leadership, and action and holds forth a beacon for others to take seriously the importance of this powerful framework, a framework that has the demonstrated capacity to change hearts and minds and to inspire us to change our world for the better.” The 2011 Founder's Day celebration marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Allen Jr.
Top Photo: Dean Jacqueline J. Royster, Senator Sam Nunn, President G. P. "Bud" Peterson; Second Photo: Faculty Legacy Award recipient Dr. Haizheng Li; Third Photo: Col. Stephen Hall, Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Award recipients Amira Choueiki, Joel Hewitt and Philip Rafshoon, Dean Jacqueline J. Royster, and Mrs. Pamela Hall; Bottom Photo: Audience at Research Roundtable.
Click to read the full text of Senator Nunn's remarks
Videos of the Allen Prize Symposium including remarks by Admiral James G. Stavridis; the cross-college Research Roundtable; and the Founder’s Day luncheon including remarks by Senator Nunn and Mayor Reed and the taped messages from President Obama and Senators Chambliss and Isakson are being posted to the Ivan Allen College website. The Founder's Day schedule and programs are also available on the website. If the segment you are interested in have not yet been posted, please check back. All videos should be posted by March 30. http://www.iac.gatech.edu/news-and-events/annual-founders-day/videos.
See related stories for more about Mayor Kasim Reed's announcements and about the Allen Prize Symposium.
Read more about Senator Nunn
Read more about the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage
Read more about the inspiring life and legacy of Mayor Ivan Allen Jr.
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Founder’s Day: Atlanta Mayor Reed Announces Two Partnerships with Georgia Tech
City of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed spoke at the 2011 Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts Founder’s Day awards luncheon March 15 announcing that the City will partner with Georgia Tech on a Westside Communities Alliance and on celebrating the upcoming 50 th anniversary of Ivan Allen Jr.’s election as Mayor of Atlanta.
Mayor Reed announced the City’s commitment to the Westside Communities Alliance, a new initiative spearheaded by Ivan Allen College Dean Jacqueline J. Royster and College of Architecture Dean Alan Balfour. The initiative is designed to engage a broad coalition of civic, business, and community partners in cohesive efforts to create and sustain improvements in the distressed Westside neighborhoods which are located near Georgia Tech and include English Avenue, Home Park, Vine City, and Centennial Park. Mayor Reed designated as his liaison to the Alliance his Chief Services Officer for the City of Atlanta, Amy Phuong, who is an alumna of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and a former president of the Georgia Tech Student Government Association President. Mayor Reed said that the has charged Phuong with building “a robust community engagement.”
Mayor Reed also announced that the city will partner with the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and Georgia Tech in marking the 50 th anniversary of Ivan Allen Jr.’s election to Mayor of Atlanta which will occur in January 2012. Mayor Reed said that Mayor Allen’s “acts of social courage created the Atlanta that was too busy to hate and shaped our openness and willingness to embrace other cultures and races. It fast tracked the city’s social progress and economic development and set Atlanta apart. It put us on the path we’re on.” Mayor Reed spoke directly to the Allen family who were present at the luncheon saying that “you should carry in your heart” the affection that so many Atlantans have for Ivan Allen Jr. and his father, Ivan Allen Sr.
Mayor Reed congratulated Senator Nunn as the inaugural recipient of the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage, praising him as “a true global statesman” whose “work helps to ensure the security of our nation and the security of the world. It also sends an important message to the nation and the world that an individual of his stature and intellect comes from our own Georgia Tech and the State of Georgia.” Mayor Reed thanked the Senator for his dedication through the years to work on behalf of Atlanta and Georgia saying that he is “an exemplar and represents the best of us who have the ability to hold public office.”
Mayor Reed’s announcements were a highlight of the two-days of events on March 14-15 celebrating the 2011 Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts Founder’s Day and Georgia Tech’s inaugural presentation of the new Allen Prize. Marking the 100 th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Allen Jr., the events focused on ongoing global challenges and celebrated the Ivan Allen Jr. legacy of conscientious and socially courageous leadership.
Photo: Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed
Videos of Founder's Day Luncheon including remarks by Mayor Reed and the Honorable Sam Nunn, as well as videos of the Allen Prize Symposium including remarks by Admiral James G. Stavridis and the Ivan Allen College Cross-College Research Roundtable are being posted to the Ivan Allen College website. The Founder's Day schedule and programs are also available on the website. If the segment you are interested in have not yet been posted, please check back. http://www.iac.gatech.edu/news-and-events/annual-founders-day/videos .
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Founder’s Day Allen Prize Symposium: NATO Commander Stavridis on Interagency Defense and Diplomacy, Nunn Recognizes Community Heroes
The March 14 th Allen Prize Symposium brought to the Georgia Tech community a distinguished roster of current and former policy and decision-makers who shared perspectives on “Global Challenges, Courage, Leadership.” The symposium keynote address was made by Admiral James G. Stavridis, Supreme Allied Commander Europe and head of NATO forces.
Shaped by Senator Nunn and Dean Jacqueline Royster the presentations focused on opportunities and risks, tools, policies and actions needed to transform the status quo on a broad array of issues, but with particular focus on national defense, security and nuclear non-proliferation, which have been the heart of Senator Nunn’s work for nearly 40 years. The symposium, as well as the awards luncheon, was punctuated by a taped special message to Senator Nunn from President Barack Obama.
 Keynote speaker, Admiral James G. Stavridis, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (NATO) highlighted 13 global security threats and some of the strategies used in those arenas, many of them “soft power” approaches such as teaching Afghani troops to read. Stavridis credited former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn with leading the U.S. to an interagency approach to today’s security threats that is unfolding under a new Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review.
“Today, in Afghanistan, there are almost 2000 [groups such as the United Nations, the World Bank, AID, NGOs, troops from 49 nations] working together, so this international-interagency-private-public nexus as practiced in a place like Afghanistan, I think, is the future of security in the 21 st century.”
“If I were to boil it all down, it’s about connections, it’s about how we can connect, how we can use our organizations, our ideas, our innovations, to connect seemingly disparate entities. That’s what happens right here at this center [GT/Ivan Allen College] where we see social sciences and the areas of ethics and responsibility harnessed to the technology and the ideas that Georgia Tech is a global leader in.”
 Stavridis closed by emphasizing that the U.S. military’s “bedrock” is “lethal force in defense of this nation.” “It’s about the ability to perform important tasks that contribute to security in a range that goes from soft power kinds of things all the way over to hard power…. that’s smart power.”
Global perspectives were further expanded by a presentation, “Seven Revolutions ” made by Johanna Nesseth and Erik Peterson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. The presentation identified and analyzed seven key trends that will define world challenges over the next 25 years, with the goal of prompting policy and decision leaders to think beyond pressing and short term priorities to long-range strategic thinking on trends and global perspectives.
 Three of Nunn’s fellow Cold War era statesmen joined the symposium via video conference. Former U.S. Secretaries of State George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry are allied with Senator Nunn in efforts to advance policy and actions toward a nuclear free world as a priority on the American agenda. Their fourth op-ed on the subject “Deterrence in the Age of Nuclear Proliferation” appeared in the Wall Street Journal March 7. The symposium dialog between the four “Cold Warriors,” graduate students in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, and the audience was moderated by Adam Stulberg, Associate Professor in the Nunn School.
Other sessions included an entertaining and compelling discussion among a group of panelists who have worked with Senator Nunn over the years and a one-on-one interview with the senator conducted by CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent, Bob Schieffer.
 Closing the symposium, Senator Nunn recognized four “Unsung Heroes” who are doing courageous volunteer work: high school student Mackenzie Bearup who founded the non-profit Sheltering Books to provide libraries to homeless shelters in six states; Atlanta attorney Anthony Webb who founded Boys Speak Out to confront issues faced by adolescents; financier and investor Bob Pattillo who founded Grey Ghost Ventures and provides microfinancing to local entrepreneurs in Hyderabad India; and his father, philanthropist Pat Pattillo whose foundation, Fundacion Progreso, has helped transform the Guanacaste region in Costa Rica by improving housing, integrated health services, and access to quality education. Senator Nunn announced that he will share with each of the four “Unsung Heroes” a portion of the monetary stipend which accompanies the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage. More than 250 people attended the symposium.
Top Photo - Senator Nunn and INTA graduate students in dialog with Secretaries Kissinger, Perry, and Shultz; 2nd from Top - Admiral Stavridis; 3rd from Top - ROTC students who attended the symposium; 4th from Top - Bob Schieffer (r) interviews Senator Nunn; Bottom - Senator Nunn with "Unsung Heroes" Anthony Webb, Mackenzie Bearup, Bob Pattillo, Pat Pattillo.
All sessions of the Allen Prize Symposium, the Founder’s Day Research Roundtable and awards luncheon were videotaped except for the Seven Revolutions presentation which was embargoed. The videos are being posted to the Ivan Allen College website. If the segment you are interested in has not yet been posted, please check back. http://www.iac.gatech.edu/news-and-events/annual-founders-day/videos .
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Nersessian Awarded Inaugural Patrick Suppes Prize for Philosophy
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Nancy Nersessian, Regents' Professor with a joint appointment in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and the College of Computing, has been named by the American Philosophical Society (APS) as the recipient of the Patrick Suppes Prize in Philosophy of Science. This prestigious prize recognizes outstanding work in philosophy, psychology or neuroscience, and history of science. Nersessian, who teaches in the School of Public Policy and the School of Interactive Computing, has been awarded this prize for her work in Philosophy of Science. Her research focuses on creativity, innovation and conceptual change in science and interdisciplinary engineering research. The APS is the country's first learned society, playing an important role in American cultural and intellectual life for over 250 years by promoting useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and community outreach. This honor is especially unique because there are very few philosophy prizes and they are not often awarded to interdisciplinary intellectuals. Nersessian accepts the prize without hesitation, saying "It's an honor I never would of conceived of receiving. Needless to say, I accept!" The prize, which carries a $10,000 stipend, will be presented to Nersessian during the APS biannual meeting on April 29, 2011. |
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Campus Forum to Focus on Cause, Response, and Condolences of Japan Catastrophe
From the nuclear crisis to earthquake engineering logistics, Georgia Tech professors are providing insights and perspective on the aftermath of the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan.
Campus and the general public are invited to attend a panel and conversation about the consequences of the catastrophe that will be held April 6, 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. in room 236 of the Global Learning Center, Technology Square. The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Brian Woodall of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, and participation from the audience is welcomed.
The panel members are: Dr. Pinar Keskinocak, H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering; Dr. Usha C. Nair-Rechert, School of Economics; Dr. Glenn Rix, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Dr. Glenn Sjoden, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.
Guests will have the opportunity to sign a book of condolence and encouragement for the Japanese people, and a number of organizations will be present for those who want to become more actively engaged in recovery efforts.
Forum Website
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LCC and High Museum Present Independent Chinese Cinema Series
Independent Chinese Cinema is a series of three films being co-presented April 2-16 by the School of Literature, Communication, and Culture and the High Museum.
Key themes and sentiments of the series are: China, youth, pain, hope, migration, home, education, work, reality, and dream. Co-curated by LCC Professor Qi Wang and Linda Dubler of the High Museum, the films are selected from “the increasingly prominent corpus of independent Chinese cinema.” The curators write that, “Through them we hope to offer a brief yet fruitful insight in Chinese society today, as updated within the past decade, and to try together to understand and perhaps share the country's changes, charms, and challenges as experienced and contemplated by the Chinese, not only as groups but also as individuals.”
The three films are: Last Train Home (April 2, 8pm), a documentary by Canadian-Chinese filmmaker, Lixin Fan, about the largest human migration on earth as seen through the experience of two of the 130 million Chinese workers traveling home for the annual lunar New Year. In Senior Year (April 9, 8pm), Zhou Hao illuminates the extreme anxiety of Chinese teenagers preparing for the national college entrance exams that will determine their destiny. This film may generate special interest because of the recent ‘Superior Chinese Tiger Mother’ controversy. Suzhou River is a modern noir film whose stylistic virtuosity reflects the “watery channel that runs through Shanghai” and takes its narrative framework form Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo .
All films are subtitled in English.
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Conference Connects Business and Universities on Strategies for Preparing the Global Workforce
In a special conference March 17, Georgia Tech brought together executive leadership from organizations with interests in developing or expanding a global workforce and introduced them to top university international internship programs.
Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Business and International Education Division, the conference was an outgrowth from recent major government studies that have recognized both the need for a global workforce that is competent in foreign languages and intercultural skills, as well as the serious deficiency of adequate training and educational preparation in these areas. Sponsors of the program were the School of Modern Languages, Georgia Tech’s Division of Professional Practice, the Georgia Tech CIBER, and the Georgia Department of Economic Development.
Juan Luis Goujon, President & CEO of BPI Group, a global management and human resources consulting firm delivered the conference keynote address. Sessions included presenations by business and academic experts from YKK, Infosys, The National Commission for Cooperative Education, MIT, The University of Rhode Island and Georgia Tech. Corporate panels presented business strategies; university panels discussing what curricula best serve the needs of global competitiveness; and students shared their perspectives on the value and transformative nature of their work abroad experiences.
Faced with increasing pressure from worldwide competition, businesses and organizations in the U.S. are searching for profitable opportunities that could include collaborations with international entities. The conference participants suggested that these may be better facilitated with employees prepared to act as intercultural mediators. The conference conveyed that an extremely effective way of developing a global workforce is through an international internship program and presented opportunities for attendees to connect with university international internship programs and to sponsor students for internships in countries not accustomed to the culture of paid student internships.
To learn how to sponsor students who want to work in these countries see the Conference Sponsorship Opportunities and fill out the Sponsorship Form.
Find out more at www.modlangs.gatech.edu/globalworkforce/
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Modern Languages Announces Scholarship Recipients for Study in China
Three Georgia Tech undergraduate students have been selected as the recipients of full scholarships funded by the Chinese government for the 2011-2012 academic year.
David Garner is a 3 rd year Computer Science major who is taking 3000 level classes in Chinese and hopes to pursue a career with an American technology company located in China. Laura O’Donnell, a senior who is pursuing dual majors in International Affairs and Modern Languages (IAML) and Management. She is taking 4000 level classes in Chinese and hopes to reside in China working in management operations. Ryan Yan is a sophomore majoring in Management. Yan’s parents emigrated to the U.S. from China before he was born, and he said “it would be a dream come true” to study at the university where his parents met and studied in China. He is a recipient of the Penny and E. Roe Stamps Leadership Scholarship.
These are the most prestigious scholarships awarded to American students by the Chinese Embassy and Consulate Generals in the United States and the Ministry of Education in People’s Republic of China. Recipients may choose to study at leading universities in China including Beijing University, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, and Renmin University. The scholarships cover registration and tuition fees, accommodations on campus, basic learning materials, a monthly living allowance, medical insurance, and a subsidy for inter-city travel.
These new scholarships were secured by Modern Languages Assistant Professor Jin Liu who also headed the selection committee of ML faculty and staff from Georgia Tech’s Office of International Education.
“We have students here who are highly motivated to learn Chinese, Chinese culture, and China, but they can't fulfill their dream to go to China mainly due to financial constraints,” said Liu. “I believe this wonderful new opportunity will provide our students with many eye-opening experiences and help them develop a life-long interest in China.” Modern Languages hopes to be able to offer the scholarships annually going forward.
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Another Mideast Battle Brews
This op-ed by Larry Rubin, Assistant Professor, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs appeared in the March 24 Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Until a few weeks ago, the most volatile area of the Mid-east — the Palestinian-Israeli conflict — was one of its quietest. But this just changed. The gruesome slaying of a Jewish family in the West Bank settlement of Itamar — including a mother and her young children — shocked Israelis from across the political spectrum and reduced chances of a settlement freeze in the near future.
Since then, Israeli airstrikes against targets in Gaza in response to Qassam rocket fire into southern Israel have killed innocent civilians, and there has been a bombing in Jerusalem — the first in four years. These are ominous signs of greater escalation of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the potential costs this could have for Israeli and Palestinian populations are reasons alone for the U.S. to intervene.
But an escalation of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, could drastically undermine U.S. efforts to maintain the delicate balance of facilitating democratic transitions and managing its strategic interests. The Obama administration must act now to prevent this from happening through diplomatic intervention by sending a special envoy back to the region.
The potential regional costs of this escalation are enormous and cannot be understated. At a minimum, some Arab authoritarian leaders may use this crisis to divert the revolutionary fervor and reverse some of the gains proponents of political reform have made.
But the most important consequence with the greatest potential impact on U.S. interests is how a new Gaza war might affect domestic politics in Egypt. A major escalation of fighting would cause another humanitarian crisis similar to 2009 and pressure the Egyptian military government to act. The supreme military council would be confronted with the same pressures that challenged former President Hosni Mubarak: either retain strict control of the borders with Gaza in the interests of Egyptian national security and face domestic and international Arab criticism, or relax border restrictions to provide humanitarian relief and risk “owning” Gaza as well as the associated security risks of a more porous border. These contingencies were likely far from Egyptians’ minds as they voted to approve a number of constitutional amendments. A new Gaza war or even an escalation at this time could easily derail the process of meaningful political reform — one of the goals of the revolution.
A successful democratic transition in Egypt is just as vital for the Egyptians as it is for the region; as the regional trendsetter, it could have a power positive demonstration effect. But a neglected Palestinian-Israeli conflict could threaten this development and complicate U.S. involvement in the region.
To avoid this situation, the U.S. must escalate its diplomatic efforts through the intervention of a special envoy. This robust diplomatic intervention would not only work to diffuse tensions, but also would have a positive effect throughout the region by showing the United States’ leadership is built on more than just possessing escalation dominance in warfare.
Finally, since the U.S. is the most capable broker in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this diplomatic initiative could be a respectable exit strategy from the Libyan conflict — a conflict that is quickly becoming unpopular domestically and has signs of a major quagmire.
The proven political power of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict across the Arab world is unparalleled and the Obama administration can no longer afford to ignore it. The U.S. must escalate its diplomatic efforts by sending a permanent envoy before the window of opportunity closes.
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In Brief
D'Unger Named Undergraduate Academic Advisor of the Year
 Dr. Amy D'Unger has been named Georgia Tech Undergraduate Academic Advisor of the Year Award (Faculty Role).
D'Unger, Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in the School of History, Technology, and Society, is currently serving as president of the Georgia Tech Academic Advisor Network. She will be presented the award during the campus honors luncheon on Tuesday, April 19. D'Unger has also been nominated as the National Association of Academic Advisors' (NACADA) Faculty Advisor of the Year.
Gardner Named 2011 GT Graduate Student of the Year
 Bettina Gardner, a student in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs masters program, has been named the 2011 Georgia Institute of Technology Graduate Student of the Year. Gardner, who is now interning with the U.S. Department of Commerce Foreign Commercial Service in Lisbon, Portugal, was selected because of her enthusiasm for her placement in Lisbon and consistently outstanding performance evaluations.
Read Bettina's Blog from Lisbon
Read an article about Gardner in the UNCF Special Programs Blog
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This Month's Banner Photo
The 2011 Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts Founder's Day awards luncheon. The audience of more than 200 people honored former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn with a 4-minute standing ovation for his remarks after receiving the 2011 Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage.
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