In an older S.I.R., in the 1990's, prior to this website, LWV of Weston's webmaster was on the S.I.R. Committee and produced the graphic above for sale at Yale...topic then was "Sub-Sahara Africa."

League of Women Voters of Connecticut Education Fund:  SYMPOSIUM ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (S.I.R.)

S.I.R. events videotaped by LWV of Weston:
2015 Climate Change - VIDEOS
2013 Water

Some previous S.I.R. programs not videotaped by LWV of Weston...





PICTURE STORY:  Keynote Speaker Professor Dan Esty; Scott R. Stephenson and Mark Fulford
LWVCTEF’s 46th Symposium on International Relations:  "Climate Change: What Impact Can We Have Now?”
Luce Hall, MacMillan Center at Yale University.
Free parking was available at the Peabody Museum and metered parking is available on Hillhouse, Sachem and Trumbull Streets.

Post S.I.R. news articles on related topics.

VIDEOS of the 2015 Symposium on International Relations, “Climate Change:  What Impact Can We Have Now,” are presented below in two versions, each in two formats.  The first version is a 12 minute set of excerpts, to whet your interest!  The second version presents the nearly three hour Symposium in its entirety.

 

Windows Media Player format (best viewed on Windows computers via Internet Explorer, which will open Windows Media Player and begin playback without waiting for the entire file to download; other browsers may not begin playback until the entire file has downloaded, which may take several minutes or more depending on the speed of your Internet connection.  Can be viewed on Apple computers if Windows Media Player has been installed):

 

www.lwvweston.org/LWVCTSIR4-10-15Excerpts.wmv   (12 minutes 8 seconds, 25 MegaBytes)

 

www.lwvweston.org/LWVCTSIR4-10-15.wmv  (2 hours 54 minutes 49 seconds, 361 MegaBytes) 

 

Note:  It will be possible to scroll to arbitrary points within the program once the entire file has downloaded, which as indicated above may take a considerable amount of time for the video of the complete Symposium, depending on the speed of your Internet connection.

  

 

MP4 format (viewable on most Windows and Apple computers, but playback may not start until the entire file has downloaded, which may take several minutes or more depending on the speed of your Internet connection):

 

www.lwvweston.org/LWVCTSIR4-10-15Excerpts.mp4  (12 minutes 8 seconds, 52 MegaBytes)

 

www.lwvweston.org/LWVCTSIR4-10-15.mp4  (2 hours 54 minutes 49 seconds; 757 megaBytes)

 

Note:  It will be possible to scroll to arbitrary points within the program once the entire file has downloaded, which as indicated above may take a considerable amount of time for the video of the complete Symposium, depending on the speed of your Internet connection.

PICTURE STORY

Our take on SIR 2015...LOTS of students in the audience...always a good thing!
Excellent event in every way - the title was intriguing and someone actually asked how high sea level was going to rise!  It was the last question, asked by a League member!

  

    
Presenters:
Moderator Nancy Ruther (not shown above - below, right);  Yale well represented by Prof. Dan Esty (l);  the University of Connecticut by geography professor Scott Stephenson (c);  very informative independent farming consultant Mark Fulford. 

We note that the NYTIMES has been running a series of reports on farming.  April 24th's is here:  http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/in-india-profitable-farming-with-fewer-chemicals/?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region&region=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region



GLOBAL WARMING DEBATE?  PROVOCATIVE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS!

Could be, considering what had gone before in the 3 hour program.  There were some interesting reactions to the provocative points the key speaker made:

• Al Gore should have won (if Ralph Nader had bowed out)
• What worked in the 20th century is not what will work in the 21st - in particular, the previous century top-down style;
• The note that the time it will take to either degrade the environment and then to fix it is - our word...eons - beyond our lifetimes many, many times over...
• Prof. Esty now believes that the people themselves, from the bottom up, should control the argument.  Not until we all believe the same thing will we be able to vanquish the climate change threat.  (He had described his efforts on the 1992 Rio agreement which President Bush (HW) signed, and how he thought it was all taken care of!  So he went into teaching.  And now he knows this "top down" approach doesn't work.)
  

Answer to how high sea level could rise:  seven (7) meters or 23 feet (Prof. Stephenson).

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Melting Ice Thaws Relations Between U.S. and Russia
Andrew E. Kramer, The New York Times
May 20, 2015

MOSCOW -- The recent diplomatic thaw between Russia and the United States over the crisis in Ukraine has had little effect there, but it is being felt somewhere else -- in the Arctic Ocean, near the North Pole.

Out on the sea, the polar ice cap has been melting so quickly as global temperatures rise that once improbable ideas for commercial activities, including fishing near the North Pole, are quickly becoming realistic.

The United States, Russia and three other nations with Arctic Ocean coastlines agreed last year to regulate trawling in Arctic waters newly free of ice. But the deep freeze in East-West relations after Russia’s annexation of Crimea delayed the expected signing.

The day after Secretary of State John Kerry met President Vladimir V. Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi last week, Russia announced it would sign the fishing agreement.

“I think the Arctic genuinely is shaping up to be the exception to the rule,” said Scott Highleyman, director of the Arctic Program at The Pew Charitable Trusts. “The U.S. and Russia seem to be trying really hard to keep talking to each other...story in full:  http://www.adn.com/article/20150520/melting-ice-thaws-relations-between-us-and-russia.

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Global Priorities in the Arctic
NEW YORK TIMES
Updated May 19, 2015 11:15 AM

To the dismay of environmentalists, last week, the Obama administration gave Shell conditional approval to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean. The announcement comes on the heels of a meeting last month of the Arctic Council at which the United States took over the rotating two-year chairmanship of the group. At the gathering, Secretary of State John Kerry said the Arctic environment will be a top priority for the United States.

Given the fragile environment of this part of the world and its growing appeal to world leaders, how should the international community balance environmental protection, economic development and social equity in the Arctic?  Link to some opinions below:

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/05/19/global-priorities-in-the-arctic?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=opinion-c-col-right-region&region=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region






League of Women Voters of Connecticut Education Fund Presents:
SYMPOSIUM ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Water, Water Everywhere, But Not A Drop...

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The Symposium began quietly in a slight drizzle - appropriate for this year's topic:

Pre-event displays, secondary school students in attendance and an excellent breakfast at University Commons, Sacred Heart University, in Fairfield.  Did I mention that the air conditioning worked?

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Introduction and welcome from S.I.R. Chair. Carole Fanslow (not pictured).

LWVCT President Cheryl Dunson was pleased with the interest shown in our topic, noting that attendance today was close to 170!

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Moderator Kay Maxwell explained the schedule for this morning...

Kay Maxwell is the former President of both LWVCT and LWVUS.

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The panel of speakers from the private sector and academe:  Joseph Quinlan, Tara Troy, Michael Accorsi and Shimon Anisfeld

After their presentations, which will be shown on the video to come, watch the first question from the Moderator....

First speaker was Joseph Quinlan (close up above, left), who was positive about where we can progress to re: water quantity as well as quality.

Mr. Quinlan "yielded the remainder of his time" - he didn't use all 20 minutes - to the next speaker...

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Tara Troy, PhD, from the Columbia University Earth Institute, had a fresh and professional power point, seemingly designed for this event.

Water usage by country through the years - note:  India not on a self sustaining arc as of now..."plundering its aquifers" might have been a way to describe this usage pattern.

Other speakers mentioned specific reasons for the world water crisis.

UCONN Professor Accorsi emphasized the need for higher education in country, and the final speaker, Shimon Anisfeld of the the Yale School of Forestry, posed the larger question of how society can deal with scarcity, access, and  flooding in the face of the effect of water shortage wars...(he commented that much of what he had planned to say had been covered - so bring on the questions).

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Which left it to Moderator Kay Maxwell to ask questions herself, inspired by the past hour or so of presentation - "priming the pump" for the audience?

Ever seeing the glass half full (no pun intended), Mr. Quinlan responded (catch this on the video!) as did others.  Climate change mentioned, but emphasis seemed to be on local action by many, many communities, and one of the last questioners asked why nobody mentioned the obvious (reducing water used [e.g. one minute showers]).  At right, the very last question!

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After a lengthy question and answer period, all captured on the video...S.I.R. 2013 ended to considerable applause!!!

THANK YOU YALE SCHOOL OF FORESTRY, BANK OF AMERICA, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AND UCONN FACULTY REPRESENTATIVES!
S.I.R. Committee - Carole Fanslow;  Shimon Anisfeld, PhD;   Joseph Quinlan - U.S. Trust/Bank of America;   Tara Troy, PhD;  Professor Michael Accorsi;  Moderator Kay Maxwell and LWVCT President  Cheryl Dunson.   Following is a series of photos of some local leagues and their members who attended (not all).

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ASSORTED PREVIOUS S.I.R. PROGRAMS:
Global Media 2012
Health, Education 2011
Women's Participation in Society & Government 2010
"B.R.I.C." 2009
Poverty, Prosperity & Peace 2006
Perspectives on Nation-Building 2004




Symposium on International Relations 2012
Coming May 14, 2012, Tuesday, at Sacred Heart University
"Globalizing the Media:  Where In The World Is The Truth?"  Click below for program, driving directions and details.

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2011 SIR flyer including details of location and how to get there, as well as registration and cost
SYMPOSIUM ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ("S.I.R.")
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 (8:30am to 12:30pm) NEW LOCATION (see map below)
YALE WEST CAMPUS IN ORANGE, 141 FRONTAGE ROAD, BUILDING B-25 (just below and facing the biggest building ["A-21"])
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF CONNECTICUT EDUCATION FUND, INC.

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LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF CONNECTICUT EDUCATION FUND, INC.

Save the Date:  Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Alumni Hall, Carl Hansen Student Center
Quinnipiac University
275 Mount Carmel Avenue
Hamden, Connecticut

The League of Women Voters of Connecticut Education Fund’s 41st Symposium on International Relations...

Women’s Participation in Society and Government: A Global Perspective - Part I

Speakers:


Moderator:

Nancy Ruther, MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, Yale University

The SIR is sponsored by League of Women Voters of Connecticut Education Fund, Inc., in cooperation with the Albert Schweitzer Institute, Quinnipiac University; and the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, Yale University; and is supported by attendees at the event who purchase tickets and those local Leagues who sponsor students and teachers from area high schools.

General Admission:


Before April 20 please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you want to have your tickets mailed to you.

For further information, contact our office.  Phone: 203-288-7996  Fax: 203-288-7998

1890 Dixwell Avenue, Suite 203, Hamden, CT 06514-3183
Phone (203) 288-7996   Fax (203) 288-7998   e-mail lwvct@lwvct.org   Web site www.lwvct.org

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S y m p o s i u m   o n   I n t e r n a t i o n a l   R e l a t i o n s   ' 0 9

"B.R.I.C." - Brazil, Russia, India and China
http://www.lwvct.org/members/CT%20VOTER/LWVCTFallVoter2008.pdf


Save the date - April 23, 2009
LOCATION:  Quinnipiac University
S.I.R. 2009 - interested?  Call LWVCT office:  203 - 288-7986 or do it online here...
REGISTRATION AND DIRECTIONS

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NEW location - not at Yale University Law School (however, still co-sponsored with Yale Center for International and Area Studies)
S.I.R.2006, Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Click for link to complete LWVCT form, including directions.

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S.I.R. 2004

Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Morris Levinson Auditorium, Yale University Law School
127 Wall Street, New Haven, CT