 Greetings Students, Faculty, Staff and Alumni,
Since Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc on the South Florida community last month, we at the Green School have worked closely with our students, faculty and staff to ensure first and foremost that they are safe and secondly that they are ready and able to complete the semester successfully.
We are proud of those on our team who offered their time and service to help those who suffered during the storm and we are especially thankful to FIU’s dynamic Emergency Operations Center, which helped bring the campus back to life after the storm had passed.
Our faculty experts also did their part, answering questions and speaking to local and national media about important aspects of the post-hurricane recovery, including flood insurance and even disaster fatigue, something I think we can all understand.
In spite of this bumpy start, the Fall 2017 semester has already had some excellent moments of pride and accomplishment.
We were honored to host former FIU professor and Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solís, who was awarded the FIU Presidential Gold Medallion by President Mark B. Rosenberg. This is the highest honor the university bestows upon heads of state and the first gold medallion President Rosenberg has conferred since becoming president in 2009. I can think of no better recipient than President Solís, who has distinguished himself in so many ways, as a diplomat and a scholar, including several years as senior researcher for our Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center.
Last week, we were pleased to join the U.S. Department of Justice in hosting a conversation on efforts to curb transnational organized crime in Central America. Tomorrow we will host two former Congressmen, David Jolly and Patrick Murphy, for a conversation on Why Gridlock Rules Washington, D.C. and what can be done about it.
We have a number of exciting new initiatives to tell you about in this month’s newsletter, including the launch of CasaCuba, bringing together all things Cuban at FIU, including of course our Cuban Research Institute, and the creation of FIU’s first-ever Model UN Conference, scheduled for next spring.
We also have a powerful lineup of speakers, events and conferences on the calendar, including our Sixth Geopolitical Summit - Contemporary Global Islam: Confronting Islamophobia in the U.S. and Abroad with Reza Aslan on October 10th.
Please take a moment to review some of the latest accomplishments of our students, faculty and alumni. And as always, thank you for all you do to support the work of the Green School.
Best,
John
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Former FIU Professor and Costa Rican President
Awarded FIU Presidential Gold Medallion
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Spending time at FIU was a homecoming of sorts for Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera. A former researcher for the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC), Solís also worked with the Center for the Administration of Justice – both of which are housed within the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs. Solís visited FIU Sept. 22 to give a talk about his homeland and to receive FIU’s Presidential Gold Medallion – the highest honor the university bestows upon heads of state and other high-ranking public officials. Read more here.
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FIU launches CasaCuba - a home for all things Cuban
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A group of Cuban-American community leaders has stepped forward to support “CasaCuba,” an initiative that brings together all things Cuban at FIU. The initiative will harness FIU’s prestigious scholarly and cultural resources to activate its extensive Cuban collections for scholars and the public, with the eventual goal of constructing a 50,000-square-foot facility on FIU’s campus. Read more here.
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Salokar scholarship helps first generation student pursue law school dream
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First generation college student Constance Lee never imagined her dream of attending law school would ever come true. She always felt her financial struggles would get in the way. Now, the political science graduate can pursue her dream thanks to the Rebecca M. Salokar Scholarship Endowment. Lee will be awarded $2,000 to help pay for her law school tuition at FIU’s College of Law. She is the first recipient of the scholarship.
Read more here.
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Green School creates FIU's first-ever Model United Nations Conference
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FIU's first inaugural collegiate MUN conference is scheduled for March 8-11, 2018 at the university’s Brickell campus in downtown Miami. FIUMUN is expected to attract more than 150 of the top Model UN delegates from as many as 25 colleges and universities around the world. The conference will explore various thematic interpretations of the Rule of Law in a post-WWII society. Learn more here.
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Green School hosts reception for new cohort of MAGA students
The Green School recently welcomed the new Master of Arts in Global Affairs (MAGA) cohort of students, with MAGA hosting an orientation and dinner reception for them. Speakers included Founding Dean of the Green School John F. Stack, Jr. and David Kramer, former senior director for Human Rights and Democracy at the McCain Institute for International Leadership and now a senior fellow for the Green School. Read more here.
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Metropolitan Center awarded grant to improve government accountability
 The Green School’s Metropolitan Center received a $160,000 grant for a multiyear study focused on improving fiscal sustainability in all 50 states. The grant was awarded by the Volcker Alliance, a non-profit organization launched in 2013 by former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul A. Volcker. A team of two professors - David Guo and Howard Frank – and two graduate students has been collecting data on five state governments for this project. Read more.
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VP Pence and Secretary of State Tillerson host Conference on Prosperity at FIU
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This summer, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson joined a diverse group of government and business leaders from Central America and Mexico for the Conference on Prosperity and Security in Central America held at FIU.
Green School Dean John F. Stack, Jr. attended parts of the event, along with Frank Mora, director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center; Eduardo Gamarra, professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations; and Ed Glab, director of the Global Energy Security Forum.
The goal of the conference was to address the economic, security and governance challenges facing the Northern Triangle countries. It was covered extensively in local and national media, including several interviews with two of FIU’s top experts on Latin America, Frank Mora and Eduardo Gamarra. Read more here.
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D.C. intern finds connection between technology and international relations
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International relations major Carolina Ramos interned as a research assistant at the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Emerging Citizen Technology Program. She focused on blockchain technology, helped organize the GSA’s first interagency blockchain forum and got to attend a dinner and reception at Swedish Ambassador Björn Lyrvall’s residence to celebrate his ongoing work on open government. Ramos landed this internship through The Washingotn Center for Academic Seminars and Internships.
Read more here.
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Modern Languages Spanish program in China turns students into standouts
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The Green School's Modern Languages Department has a one-of-a-kind partnership with Qingdao University to offer a dual degree in Spanish. Students take lower-division courses with that university’s teachers and then can apply to take upper-division classes with FIU faculty. Upon graduation, they receive degrees from both institutions. The results have already confirmed the value of the program. Six FIU students earned top scores recently on a standardized Chinese Spanish exam. Read more here.
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Professor Emeritus honored at Cuban Research Insitute conference
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FIU Professor Emeritus of Art History Juan A. Martínez, a leading scholar on Cuban and Cuban-American art, was honored recently at A Moveable Nation: Cuban Art & Cultural Identity in the Perez Art Collection at FIU at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum. Martinez, taught at FIU for more than 20 years and has contributed vastly to the art history field, publishing numerous works and helping curate exhibitions. Read more here.
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Green School Alumna Earns Pickering Fellowship
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Kamila Manzueta, who was a Worlds Ahead Graduate for spring 2017, was selected as one of 30 students across the country – and one of only 20 graduate students – to receive a prestigious Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship. Manzueta, who studied international relations at the Green School, edged out hundreds of applicants from more than 270 higher education institutions to earn the spot. Read more here.
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International Relations Ph.D. student earns UNESCO award
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Thomas Just recently won a “Young Ambassador Award for Peace and the Rapprochement of Cultures.” The honor recognizes a research project Just conducted while participating in the International Summer University for Intercultural Leadership program. Just and his group analyzed the images and branding strategy used by the political extremist movements. Read more here.
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Modern Languages Professor wins national Word Gap Challenge
After successfully completing three rounds of competition with more than 100 entries nationally, FIU Linguist Melissa Baralt won the Bridging the Word Gap Challenge.
The national competition was sponsored by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB).
Baralt will be awarded $75,000 for a project that teaches parents how to maximize their babies’ language development.
Read more here.
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Public administration student interns at D.C. advancing education policy
 Recently, Annie Thomas interned at Partners for Each and Every Child. She helped her colleagues devise a best practices report for the states that submitted ESSA plans to the U.S. Department of Education.
Read more here.
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SIPA Fellow Saif Ishoof named Marshall Fellow
FIU Vice President for Engagement and SIPA Fellow Saif Y. Ishoof was selected to be a member of the Marshall Memorial Fellowship this fall.
The Marshall Memorial Fellowship is the flagship leadership development program of the German Marshall Fund of the United State’s. Created in 1982 to introduce a new generation of European leaders to the United States, it now prepares future leaders for transatlantic relations.
Read more here. |
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Susan Gladstone named director for the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU
 Susan Gladstone brings more than 30 years of executive experience at the national and global levels.
She has served in several prominent leadership positions in the U.S. and abroad, most recently as director of development for the museum and for all of FIU’s Jewish Strategic Initiatives – including the university’s Global Jewish Studies Program, Holocaust Studies and Hillel FIU. Read more here.
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Student learns about international organizations and transparency at D.C. internship
 This summer Jocelyn Woolbright, an international relations major, interned at The Office of Management Policy and Resources in the International Organizations (IO) Bureau for the U.S Department of State.
She worked on congressional reports on international organizations and transparency assessments for organizations like UN Women, UNICEF and UNEP. Read more here.
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Intern at The Washington Center earns professional growth award
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After completing an internship in Washingotn D.C. and taking full advantage of all the learning opportunities she could find, now-alumna Natalia Kolbjornsen was named the professional growth award recipient for spring 2017 at The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. This is the second consecutive semester an FIU student earns the award. Read more about Kolbjornsen's journey here.
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The Kimberly Green and Latin American Center's Haitian Summer Institute celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. As part of its programming, the Institute hosted Pulitzer Prize-winning Miami Herald photojournalist Carl Juste for a talk about the struggles of Haitians experiencing racial, social, political and economic oppression. Read more here.
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LACC Launches fully online bachelor's degree
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LACC is pleased to announce the launch of a fully online Bachelors degree beginning this Fall 2017. The degree joins LACC's nationally recognized undergraduate and graduate degrees, joint degrees, and certificates of specialization. To learn more, click here. |
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Virtual reality course brings Asia to students
Offered through the Asian Studies Program, this course is the first of its kind at FIU. Using materials like virtual reality glasses, smartphones and Youtube videos, students get to experience East Asia like never before.
And they can explore the region without breaking the bank.
Read more here. |
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Summer 2017 Worlds Ahead Graduates
Christa Remington
Ph.D. in Public Affairs
At 15, Christa Remington joined a humanitarian trip to Haiti that would change her life forever. She met children her own age who could not attend school because their families were too poor to afford tuition – including a 12-year-old boy who had only been to kindergarten. She saw children so eager to learn that they would work by candlelight in tents and makeshift houses made of sticks and straw. Unable to get the children’s faces out of her mind, Christa formed a non-profit organization just a few years later when she was 18. Read more.
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Trevor Hansen
Bachelor of Arts in International Relations
It’s better to give than to receive. That is Trevor Hansen’s guiding philosophy. Hansen faced various setbacks earlier in life, being expelled from his middle school and dropping out of high school. After finding his Christian faith, things changed for him. He went back to his studies and received his GED. He earned his associate degree and served twice as student government president at Broward College. At FIU, he found his passion for social work. Read more.
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