2020 Honors Symposium to Examine Global Politics

Flathead Valley Community College’s 2020 Honors Symposium opens Thursday, Feb. 20 and will feature a series of thought-provoking lectures that will address this year’s theme of “Global Politics and How We Got Here.” Free and open to the public, all lectures begin at 7 p.m. in the large community room in FVCC’s Arts and Technology Building.

“International trade, global diplomacy and multilateral relations are far-reaching and impact Montanans locally,” Honors Symposium organizer Dr. Gerda Reeb said. “To help us understand these connections and how they have evolved and continue to do so, FVCC has invited distinguished experts to share their research and insights on global affairs in 2020.”

Dr. Terry Weidner, professor emeritus of Chinese politics and former director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center at the University of Montana, will kick off this year’s symposium with his presentation, “China under Xi Jinping: The New Mao.”

Dr. Weidner will assess where China is today, noting the nation’s escalating power but also the serious national challenges that are eroding some of the domestic adulation and obedience accorded Xi Jinping, who has assiduously positioned himself as the “new Mao.”

Subsequent lectures in this year’s Honors Symposium include:
Feb. 27: “Twenty Years in 2020: Reflections on Putin in Power” presented by Dr. Clint Walker, professor of Russian at the University of Montana.

March 5: “U.S. Foreign Policy toward Africa: Why Africa Matters” presented by Ambassador Cindy Courville, first U.S. ambassador to the African Union and former special assistant to the president for African affairs at the National Security Council.

March 12: “Forever Enemies? U.S. Relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran” presented by Dr. Mark Gasiorowski, professor of political science at Tulane University in New Orleans.

March 19: “Brexit, Borders and Markets in a Globalizing World” presented by Dr. Craig Parsons, professor and department head of political science at the University of Oregon.

The 2020 Honors Symposium is funded in part by the Kalispell branch of the American Association of University Women, FVCC Alumni and Friends, and the Theodore Chase Endowment Fund. For more information, visit www.fvcc.edu/honors-symposium or call Reeb at (406)756-3889.