Dear Colleagues:

This Friday’s public affairs discussion will give us a chance to learn about a situation that lurks constantly on the edge of the headlines – the situation in Colombia, in which American policy-makers frequently show an interest not only because of the usual set of corporate and ideological concerns but as part of the “drug war” in the United States. Because of drug politics there is little chance that U.S. policy-makers will understand the situation in its own terms, but we have a chance to do better, with help from Marixa Lasso.

Dr. Lasso is Assistant Professor of History at CWRU. A national of Panama, where she earned her BA, she earned her M.A. at the University of Pittsburgh and then her doctorate at the University of Florida in 2002. While pursuing her graduate studies she was awarded both Fulbright/Hays and SSRC fellowships. A historian of nineteenth-century Latin America, Dr. Lasso has published several articles, including one last year in the American Historical Review, and is revising a book manuscript on the relationship between race and republicanism during the Colombian wars of independence. In short, Marixa brings to our campus expertise in Latin America that was sorely needed, and I’m very much looking forward to Friday’s discussion.

Our discussion on Friday, April 13, will be in the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence, Room 9 of Crawford Hall, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.. Hot beverages are kindly provided by the Office of University Communications, and cookies by generous souls.

The final two topics of Spring semester – same time, same place – will be:

April 20: Mark Joseph, Assistant Professor, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, on mixed-income development as an approach to addressing urban poverty, and

April 27: Christine Cano, Associate Professor of French, joined by Vince McHale, Professor of Political Science, on the French elections.

All the best,
Joe White

More About Our Guests

Marixa Lasso is an Assistant Professor of History at Case Western Reserve University. A national of Panama, where she completed her B.A., she received her doctorate at the University of Florida in 2002. A historian of nineteenth-century Latin America, with a focus on Colombia, she has written several articles on Afro-Colombian politics during the independence period and an article about the Cadiz debates over the citizenship rights of people of African descent. She is currently revising her book manuscript “The Harmony of War,” which analyzes the relationship between race and republicanism during the Colombian wars of independence.

Spring Semester Schedule

Beginning on February 2, the Friday Lunch will move back to Crawford Hall, in ROOM 9. Room 9 is within the Inamori Center, on the basement level of Crawford.

It is very kind of Bill Deal, Director of the Inamori Center, to make this room available on a regular basis. Thank you, Bill!

Room 9 seats 35, with a central table and also chairs along the wall. It should be a better setup than Guilford. If we expect a large crowd, we may be able to open a partition and join up with Room 11.

There will, however, be a class in the room until 12:20. Therefore it will not be possible to get there much before the lunch begins. On the other hand, people who are a bit early should be able to hang out in the Tomlinson food court. I believe the underground passage from Tomlinson to Crawford will be restored when construction is finished.

Coffee will be provided from the SAGES Cafe’. Which should mean very good coffee.

The tentative schedule of speakers, so far:

January 26: Phil (Perkins Professor of Physics-Case Western Reserve University) and Sarah Taylor, Wind Power and All of It’s Aspects – Environmental, Energy,  Economic, Aesthetic, and Maybe More.

February 2: Ken Grundy, Marcus Hanna Professor Emeritus of Political Science, on subject to be determined

February 9: Paul Schroeder, Visiting Lecturer in Political Science and from Families of the Fallen for Change, on what to do in Iraq

February 16: Mark Turner, Professor of Cognitive Science, on cognition and politics

February 23: Mel Goldstein, Professor of Anthropology, on why the Chinese are winning in Tibet

March 2: Susan Helper, Professor of Economics, on strategies for American workers within the current global competition.

March 9: Baiju Shah, President, Bioenterprise Corporation, on the new economic prospects in Cleveland.

March 16: Break

March 23: Mike Aronoff of Cuyahoga County on the evaluation of sexual predators for the courts―are they really dangerous, and can we predict if they will reoffend?

March 30: Lewis R. Katz, John C. Hutchins Professor; Director of the Master of Laws in U.S. and Global Legal Studies program at Case Western Reserve University, on the Ups and Downs of Running for Congress.

April 6: Horst von Recum, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Insoo Hyun, Assistant Professor of Bioethics; and Greg Eastwood, Interim President of Case Western Reserve University on Stem Cell Research.

April 13: Marixa Lasso, Assistant Professor of History: Drugs, War, and Coffee in Colombia

April 20: Mark Joseph, Assistant Professor, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences: Mixed-Income Development as an Approach to Addressing Urban Poverty

April 27: Christine Cano, Associate Professor of French, on the French elections (this date falls between the first round and the runoff election)

Parking: Normally 6 parking spaces are reserved in the CWRU visitors lot off of Euclid Avenue for the Friday Public Affairs Discussion Group lunches.