Behind the Headlines

A lecture series. Prominent authorities will dissect, analyze, and answer questions about front-page topics from world economics to world politics in this course sponsored by the Houston Seminar, a non-profit group, founded in 1977 and dedicated to increasing cultural awareness in Houston.

The series will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. at
The Station Museum of Contemporary Art, 1502 Alabama @ LaBranch,
Individual lectures are $25 each.  The series is $100.

Register by mail or fax with credit card or check. Online registration at www.houstonseminar.org.
Please note: It will not be possible to register at the event.

 
Thursday, October 31
“The End of Normal”
Dr. James K. Galbraith

Dr. Galbraith’s recent research has focused on the measurement and understanding of inequality in the world economy and on the financial crisis. He holds the Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr., Chair of Government/Business Relations at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin and a professorship in government. His most recent book is Inequality and Instability: A Study of the World Economy Just Before the Great Crisis. Author of seven books, Dr. Galbraith holds degrees from Harvard and Yale (Ph.D. in economics).

Thursday, November 7
"The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: The 2014 Election & President Obama's Second Term"
Dr. Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto

Dr. Soto is a fellow at the Center for Politics and Governance at LBJ School for Public Affairs, University of Texas. She is senior analyst for Latino Decisions and a senior fellow at the Bernard Center for Women, Politics, and Public Policy. Dr. Soto, who analyzes how social identities shape political behavior, is also a political analyst for Telemundo and a contributor to MSNBC and NBC.  She is currently working on a book project that looks at the integration of Latinos in the American polity. She was recently named one of the Top 12 Emerging Scholars in the county by Diverse magazine.

Thursday, November 14
“Understanding Sectarianism in the Modern Middle East: A History of the Modern Problem”
Dr. Ussama Makdisi

Dr. Makdisi is a professor of history and the first holder of the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies at Rice. He is author of Faith Misplaced: the Broken Promise of U.S.- Arab Relations, 1820-2001.  In 2009, the Carnegie Corporation named Dr. Makdisi a Carnegie Scholar as part of its effort to promote original scholarship regarding Muslim societies and communities in the United States and abroad. Dr. Makdisi received his Ph.D. from Princeton, and spent last year as a resident fellow at Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.

Thursday, November 21
“The U.S.-Mexico Border: 21st Century Problems and 20th Century Institutions”
Dr. Tony Payan

Dr. Payan, director of newly created Mexico Center at Rice University’s Baker Institute, has been seeing both sides of the border as associate professor of political science at University of Texas, El Paso, and as a member of the graduate faculty at Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez. He is author of The Three U.S.-Mexico Border Wars: Drugs, Immigration and Homeland Security. Dr. Payan has a Ph.D. from Georgetown.

Thursday, December 5
“Global Politics, the Media, and Foreign Policy Decision-Making in North Africa”
Dr. Elizabeth Colton

Dr. Colton has worked in more than 100 countries as a foreign service officer, most recently at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. Before joining the Foreign Service, she was a journalist working in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and Asia. A Fulbright scholar, Dr. Colton has a doctorate in social anthropology from the London School of Economics and Political Science.  She is currently program director and adviser for the American Committee on Foreign Relations.