Foreign Affairs Symposium

The Foreign Affairs Symposium
Genre Student-run lecture series and forum
Begins February
Ends May
Location(s) The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
Inaugurated 1999
Organized by Executive Directors Bryan Ricciardi, Putt Rodchareon, Samuel Romanoff
Website
web1.johnshopkins.edu/fas

The Foreign Affairs Symposium (FAS) is an entirely student-run lecture series sponsored by The Johns Hopkins University. First launched in 1998, the Symposium has become a hallmark of the University and greater Baltimore community, with attendance reaching up to 1,000 people at some recent events.

The Symposium runs each year over the course of the Spring semester, as a counterpart to the Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium. Bound together by a unique, poignant theme, each year's series typically features 6-7 events, including a Presidential Lecture and the newly launched Anne Smedinghoff Memorial Lecture.

The 2014 Symposium was entitled "Confronting Global Dissonance: The Balance Between Idealism and Realism," and was organized by Rosellen Grant, Nikhil Gupta, and William Szymanski. Plans for the 2015 Symposium are currently underway.


Background

In fall 1997, a group of undergraduate students recognized the need for a forum to discuss and debate global affairs and international issues. Merging the existing Woodrow Wilson International Studies Symposium and International Studies Forum Symposium, students formally created the “Symposium on Foreign Affairs.” Their first series launched in Spring 1998 with ten events, nearly all of which featured foreign ambassadors and Maryland officials. The Symposium quickly expanded over the next few years, hosting notables that include Sonia Gandhi, Shimon Peres, and Noam Chomsky.

In 2002, the name of the series changed permanently from “Symposium on Foreign Affairs” to the “Foreign Affairs Symposium” (FAS for short). The Symposium shifted away from individual speakers, instead hosting panels that covered current, controversial topics ranging from drug wars in Colombia to the war in Iraq. Overtime, the series returned to inviting individual notable leaders to speak and then engage students in discussion. During this time, symposium directors launched the flagship Presidential Lecture in partnership with the President’s Office. This annual event recognizes one speaker for their unique leadership and expertise in their field, and is fully funded by the President’s Office. Since then, the symposium has undergone rapid growth each year, continuing to expand in size and reach.[1]

Mission Statement

The Foreign Affairs Symposium is a student-run, non-profit speaker series that aims to educate the Johns Hopkins and greater Baltimore community on innovative ideas of international significance by:

  1. Establishing a forum for discourse on current issues from diverse fields
  2. Providing students and community members with access to distinguished, knowledgeable speakers
  3. Contextualizing topic areas to make them relatable and approachable for all audiences

Leadership

The forum and organization is entirely run by undergraduate students working to raise financial resources, secure a lineup of notable speakers, manage media relations, and engage the community. Approximately 40 students comprise the organization with Executive and Committee Directors leading four subcommittees that work together to achieve the Foreign Affairs Symposium's success.[2] The Executive Directors for the 2014 Symposium are Rosellen Grant, Nikhil Gupta, and William Szymanski.[3]

Symposium structure

Symposium talks and panels are held on the main Homewood Campus of the Johns Hopkins University, usually in historic Shriver Hall. Each event begins with a keynote address by the featured speaker, followed by an extended question and answer session open to all audience members. Typically, the main speech will last for around a half-hour, followed by a similar time allotment for the Q&A. Ultimately though, each speaker determines the length of each segment of the event per their own preferences.

As is tradition, each event is followed by an open reception, usually hosted in the same venue. Light refreshments and open discussion allow audience members to intimately interact with speakers. The length and structure of the reception changes from event to event, based on the preferences of the speaker, the Symposium staff, and reception co-sponsors. During the 2014 Symposium, for example, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley extended the reception past 10:30pm to ensure that he could speak with all interested attendees.

The Anne Smedinghoff Memorial Series

In April 2013, bright, young alumna Anne Smedinghoff (’09) was killed in a suicide bomb attack in southern Afghanistan while trying to deliver books to underserved school children. A former Executive Director of the Foreign Affairs Symposium, her passing had a profound impact on the organization and the Johns Hopkins University. The Foreign Affairs Symposium seek to commemorate her life and acknowledge those committed to her values: education, development and global harmony.

The Anne Smedinghoff Award is awarded to an individual who embodies Anne's values: education, development and global harmony.

2014 Recipient: Shabana Basij-Rasikh, founder of the School of Leadership, Afghanistan

2015 Recipient: TBD

Themes

2015

Chaos / Catalyst / Clarity

2014

Confronting Global Dissonance: The Balance Between Realism and Idealism

2013

From the Front Line to the Bottom Line

2012

The Paradox of Progress

2011

Global Citizenship: Re-Examining the Role of the Individual in an Evolving World

2010

Re-Engaging the World: The New Global Community

2007

Shifts in the Global Tides

2006

Ideologies in Flux

2001

Interconnections: The Interaction of Developed and Developing Nations

Former Speakers

Past Foreign Affairs Symposium speakers include:[4]

References

  1. ↑ "About Us, The Foreign Affairs Symposium". Johns Hopkins University.
  2. ↑ "Press Release, Foreign Affairs Symposium at Johns Hopkins University". Johns Hopkins University.
  3. ↑ "About Us". Johns Hopkins University.
  4. ↑ "Past Events". Johns Hopkins University.

External links

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