GV PS

Ready to Run Michigan: Women in Elected Office

From the GVSU Women's Center: 

(Click on image for full resolution.)

Michigan ranks 36^th in the nation when it comes to women in elected office, with women making up only 20.9% of the current legislature.  When you consider research from the University of Michigan showing that diverse groups of people are more productive and come to better solutions than homogeneous groups (see “In Professor’s Model, Diversity = Productivity,” The New York Times), the lack of women in our state, county, and municipal offices means we are missing an opportunity for healthier public debates and stronger public policies.

The low number of women in office is not a partisan problem; it is a Michigan problem.  But you can help to reverse this trend.  As a local political leader, you hold the keys to determining whether Michigan will remain near the bottom of diverse representation, or whether there will be opportunities for all Michiganders in elected office.  We ask that you look into your community and invite up-and-coming women leaders to attend Ready to Run Michigan!

Ready to Run Michigan will take place on Saturday, April 21, 2012, at Grand Valley State University in Allendale.  This nonpartisan training is sponsored by the Grand Valley State University Women's Center, with funding provided by Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.  The Ready to Run Michigan agenda features two tracks designed to accommodate the needs of women at different points in their political careers: "I'm Ready to Run...Now What?" and "I'm Not Ready To Run Yet, But..."  The first track is for women planning to run for office in the immediate future, while the second track is for those interested in getting more information about different ways to get involved in politics and how to position themselves for a possible run in the future. 

 

Fujimori and Peru: Two Events

Events hosted by Latin American Studies this week:

 

 

"Socio-Political Overview of Peru after 1990: The President Fujimori, The Washington Consensus and the New Challenges"

Date: April 4, 2012 
Time: 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. 
Location: Cook DeWitt Center - Allendale Campus

Dr. Jorge Parodi will discuss:

• An approach to the political process in Peru after 1900, President Fujimori's election and his downfall in 2000, the 'neoliberal' ideas after the Fall of Berlin Wall and the relationship with the United States and Japan.
• A cultural approach to Peruvian society. From Machu Picchu and the Inca Empire to new food revolution and Peruvian cuisine. The 90's free market ideas, a new Constitution and the new Peruvian spring for investments.
• The 90's violence agenda, Shining Path and Tupac Amaru movement and the defeat of terrorism. The failure of the war against narcotraffic. Vladimiro Montesinos, the "vladivideos gate" and the downfall of President Fujimori.
• Peru now and new challenges.

 

 

 

 

The Fall of Fujimori

Date: April 4, 2012 
Time: 4:00 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. 
Location: Cook DeWitt Center - Allendale Campus

2005/ 1 hr 24 min

Director: Ellen Perry
 

President Alberto Fujimori risked everything to win Peru's war on terror, but in doing so he became an international fugitive, wanted for corruption, kidnapping and murder.

Synopsis

In 1990, an unknown candidate named Alberto Fujimori rode a wave of popular support to become the president of Peru. He fought an all-out war on terror against the guerrilla organization Shining Path, and won. Ten years later, accused of kidnapping, murder and corruption, he fled Peru to his native Japan, where he was in exile for four years. Fujimori has remained virtually silent about the abrupt end of his controversial presidency, until now. He granted an unprecedented, in-depth interview to filmmaker Ellen Perry, who presents an intimate, chilling portrait of this enigmatic leader's rise and fall, interweaving never before seen footage from his regime with Fujimori's own words. As events unfold in his quest to return to Peruvian politics, The Fall of Fujimori offers a cautionary tale about power and corruption in the age of terrorism.

 

For more information, or special accommodations, please contact the Area Studies office, areastudies@gvsu.edu or 331-8110.

Arab World Awakening Revisited: One Year Later

Arab World Awakening Revisited: One Year Later

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

6-8 p.m.

Kirkhof Center, Room 2270

 

Roundtable Discussion:

 Professor Jim Goode, History and Middle East Studies

 Professor Sebastian Maisel, Arabic and Middle East Studies

 Professor Gamal Gasim, Political Science and Middle East Studies

 Professor Thomas Walker, Political Science and International Relations

 Wael Berjaoui, MD, Member of the Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society

 

Chaired by: Professor Heather Tafel, Political Science

 

 Sponsored by 

 Kappa Phi Chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha -

The National Political Science Honor Society

Department of Political Science

 

Open to the public & GVSU faculty, staff and students

Contact information: Dr. Paul Cornish at cornishp@gvsu.edu or 616/331-3502

 

Mlive.com also featured an article on this upcoming event.

 

International Business Career Night

International Business Career Night will be held Thursday, March 22 from 5:30 - 7:30 in the University Club, DeVos Center, Building C, Pew Campus.

Philosophical Society's African-American Philosophy Day

GVSU Philosophical Society's African-American Philosophy Day

Friday February 17 from 11:30-1:00pm
in Mackinac Hall (MAK BLL-132)

“The Africana Question: An introduction to Tommy Curry's 'On Derelict and Method'”

GVSU philosophy and history major Patrick Anderson will lead a discussion of Tommy Curry's article "On Derelict and Method: The Methodological Crisis of African American Philosophy's Study of African-Descended Peoples Under an Integrationist Milieu" (Radical Philosophy Review, Vol. 14, No. 2 (2011), pp. 139-164). To start the discussion, Patrick will give a short presentation on Curry's distinction between "psuedological" critique - which attempts to subsume Africana philosophy into the post-civil rights liberal framework by using Black philosophers to "fix" European thought - and "culturalogical" critique - which urges us to understand Black philosophers as critics of anti-Black racism. Because pseudological critique is the dominant approach of academic philosophy, the decisions regarding which Black philosophers are considered 'properly philosophical' are political, not philosophical. Copies of the essay are available in the Philosophy Department main office on the third floor of Mackinac Hall.

Islamic Awareness Week

Greetings,

Today marks the first day of our annual Islamic Awareness Week. Beginning today, and ending on Friday the 17, each day of this week features a unique, illuminating, educating, and fun speaker or entertainer. We encourage you to attend these events, and to invite your colleagues, students, and family. These events are orchestrated and organized by GVSU's Muslim Students' Association, and co-sponsored by the Padnos International Center, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, and the Women's Center. Please show your support to these organizations and the Grand Valley community by attending these events.  Below is a list of events featured this week.  

These events are free and will include light refreshments.

13th Monday:  A Faith for all Seasons: Islam and Interfaith Dialogue by Professor Sebastian Maisel 4:30- 6:00 pm  (Pere Marquette KC 2204)

14th Tuesday: The Spirituality of Islam by Dr. Halim Naeem 4:30-6:00pm (Cook Dewitt Auditorium) 

15th Wednesday:  Civil Rights and Islam by Lena Masri Esq. 4:30-6:00 pm (Grand River Room KC 2250) 

16th Thursday: Spoken Word Artist and Poet Brother Dash 7:00-9:00pm  (Cook Dewitt Auditorium) 

17th Friday: World Renowned Comedian Ahmed Ahmed 7:00-9:00pm (Loosemore Auditorium- Devos Center Downtown GR)

Thank You,
Muslim Students AssociationGrand Valley State University

 

MLK Week Speakers

The Political Science Department encourages everyone to come to the excellent events GVSU has lined up this week to celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

MLK week

Michelle Alexander and Bakwari Kitwana

Looking Through the Wall: Exploring Immigration on the Border with Students

Looking Through the Wall: Exploring Immigration on the Border with Students   

Date: September 29, 2011 

Time: 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 
Location: Cook-DeWitt Center - Allendale Campus 
More Information: http://www.gvsu.edu/cms3/asset...

Presentation by Professor Bob Neustadt

Bob Neustadt  is Professor of Spanish and Director of Latin American Studies at Northern Arizona University.  He has published two books focusing on performance and experimental art - CADA día: La creación de un arte social. Santiago: Editorial Cuarto Propio, 2001 and (Con) Fusing Signs and Postmodern Positions: Spanish American Performance, Experimental Writing and the Critique of Political Confusion. New York:  Garland Publishing, 1999).  He has published articles in professional journals and/or given presentations in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain and the U.S.  Currently, his research focuses on the political and cultural dimensions of music across different traditions, genres and literatures. He is working on a new book entitled, Reading Music, Listening to Culture and Identity in Spanish America.  As a teacher he strives to facilitate experiential opportunities for students.  Recently, he has started taking classes on field trips to the U.S. / Mexico border where students experience, first hand, the human, environmental and political dimensions of immigration.

 

Moderator: Prof. Medar Serrata [Modern Languages & Literatures]

Sponsors: Latin American Studies, Brooks College, GVSU Art Gallery, Joseph Stevens Freedom Fund - Political Science, International Relations, School of Communications,

Modern Languages & Literatures, Anthropology

If you have questions or need to request special accommodations, please contact Area Studies at: 331-8110 or areastudies@gvsu.edu.

International Law and American Foreign Policy

International Law and American Foreign Policy
Friday, September 30
3:00-4:30
Lake Ontario Hall 174

Jeffrey Morton
Professor of International Law and Diplomacy
Director of Florida Atlantic University's Jack Miller Forum for Civics Education
Florida Atlantic University

U.S. Senator Carl Levin to Speak at GVSU on Tuesday, Sept. 27

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin will visit Grand Valley State University to speak to students on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 4 p.m. in room 132 of Lake Huron Hall on the Allendale Campus. The event is open to GVSU faculty, staff and students.

For more information, contact GVSU News and Information Services at (616) 331-2221, or the GVSU Political Science department at (616) 331-2320 or plsdept@gvsu.edu.