The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, in partnership with Fulbright Canada and SUNY Plattsburgh, has announced the establishment of a multi-year international conference series addressing critical contemporary social, political and economic issues. The conference series, which will be held each February through 2019 and is partially funded through private donations by the Daniel K. Inouye Institute, furthers the commitment of these universities to collaborate and address the complex challenges facing our world today.
“Our new partnership with Fulbright Canada and SUNY Plattsburgh illustrates the resolve of the UH Mānoa College of Social Sciences to bring together scholars from top universities around the world, such as Yale, King’s College London and Université de Montréal, to focus on consequential topics from diverse fields of study. The college’s unique geographical location allows for substantial exposure to influences from the eastern and western worlds, making it an ideal place to lead a dialog on global and multicultural issues facing society across North America and the Asia Pacific,” said Denise Eby Konan, dean of the College of Social Sciences at UH Mānoa.
“The Fulbright Program, established by the U.S. Congress in 1946 under legislation introduced by then-Senator J. William Fulbright, is dedicated to increasing mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries. It is fitting, then, for the Daniel K. Inouye Institute to partner with us to bring forth this extraordinary opportunity. Senators Fulbright and Inouye worked together for over a decade and shared a commitment to building cross-country understanding for the purpose of peace and reconciliation through scholarly understanding. This international conference series reflects the continuation of this great legacy,” added Michael K. Hawes, CEO of Fulbright Canada.
More on the conferences
Confronting Terror in Canada and the United States: Domestic and International Dimensions was the title for the first conference in the series. Held at the UH Mānoa campus, it examined and evaluated North America’s response to domestic and international challenges posed by increasing incidents of violent extremism.
The second conference, to be held in February 2017, is titled Canada, the United States, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Change and Challenge in the Brave New World of International Economic Cooperation. The colloquium will address the impact of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership on Canada, the U.S. and its foreign economic policies and priorities.
Scholars seeking information about the February 2017 colloquium may contact Ivy Yeung, College of Social Sciences international programs coordinator, at (808) 956-8747 or cssintl@hawaii.edu.
—By Lisa Shirota
