School News AGS

The first "AGS political talk" was held by Patrick Clairzier on March 16th on the theme "Haiti, Beyond the Headlines". This started off a series of informal lectures on an array of political subjects, for AGS students, alumni and outside guests. Each is followed by a question-and-answer session, and discussion.

The talk and discussion shed light on the larger context of Haiti's earthquake with a "behind the scenes" approach. See on the same theme Patrick Clairzier's article on the AGS website.

Patrick Clairzier (photo) is from Haiti and was raised in the United States. He graduated from AGS and wrote his Master's thesis in 2009 on the topic "Tofu Capitalism: Haiti and the Rise of Neoliberal Hegemony". He now teaches in the AGS-Arcadia undergraduate study abroad program.

The School of International Relations at AGS will hold its 5th Annual International Graduate Student Conference on June 1 and 2, 2010, at AGS in Paris. The theme this year is: Evolving Borders: Identity and Affiliation in a Volatile International Landscape.

This conference is organized every year by AGS graduate students (AGS Graduate Student Conference Committee) and features papers by students and faculty coming from around the world.

This year's conference will discuss how the centrality of the state in world affairs has been put into question and will focus on the relationship between the state and the individual, between hegemonic and peripheral states, and between blocs of states linked together in political superstructures.

See Call for Papers

On Monday, March 8, 2010 President Barack Obama will visit the Philadelphia area and deliver remarks on health insurance reform at Arcadia University, in Glenside. Arcadia University is one of the main partners of the American Graduate School in Paris. The MBA and the M.A. in International Relations at AGS are both affiliated programs of Arcadia.

See news release on the Arcadia University Website.

The latest AGS Wine and Cheese evening held on March 3rd was devoted to introducing potential advisors to the students of the School of International Relations.

The AGS Wine and Cheese evenings are held twice a semester and aimed at bringing students, staff, professors and outside guests together to discuss various themes of international affairs in an informal atmosphere. This all takes place around a fine selection of French cheeses and wines.

During this "Special Advisors" Wine and Cheese evening, potential advisors each introduced to the students their fields of expertise, which ranged from environmental policies to International Security, and included - among others - such fields as extremism, international development, women and violence, social movement theory, international law, and area studies: China and South-East Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan African, Central and South America, European Union.

Guest speakers from three Intergovernmental Organizations came to AGS over the course of October and November to share their experience with International Relations students in Clinton Robinson's International Organizations class.

IEA (International Energy Agency):
Mrs Becky Black, Senior Adviser on Strategic Marketing and Development (October 9)

OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development):
Ms. Sue Kendall-Bilicki, Acting Head of Public Affairs and OECD Forum Manager (October 23)

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation):
Jean-Yves Le Saux, Director, Division of Programme Planning Bureau of Strategic Planning and UNESCO Representative to the U.N. High-Level Committee on Programmes (November 26)

The American Graduate School in Paris was formed out of the partnership of two institutions: the American Graduate School of International Relations and Diplomacy, founded in 1994, and the business school of the European Center for Advanced International Studies, founded in 1999. AGS therefore benefits from the combined experience of both institutions. The school of International relations and the School of Business and Economics remain two branches of the overall AGS structure, that was launched on October 1st.

Alexis Delabre, chairman of the Board of the American Graduate School in Paris, comments:
“We endeavour to provide a global education, by giving future actors in international business a good understanding of the cultural, social and political context of the countries with which they will interact, as well as giving future diplomats and practitioners of international relations a good knowledge of the business component of the international arena.”

Read the news release

Students are participating in the Council on Foreign Relations academic conference call series conducted over the Fall 2009 semester. AGSIRD students in Paris together with students from other academic institutions around the world listen to a speaker presenting from New York City and have a chance to ask questions following the presentation.

The subjects of the conference calls for this semester's series are:

• U.S. nuclear weapons policy and strengthening the non-proliferation regime (October 1)

• The rise of the new Muslim middle class and what it will mean for our world (October 15)

• Enhancing preventative action (November 19)

• Climate change and Copenhagen (December 3)

Council on Foreign Relations

On June 17th, H.E. Samira Hanna-El Daher, Representative of Lebanon to the Executive Board of UNESCO, participated in an in-class Q and A session with the summer program students. Ambassador El Daher is a career diplomat who was the first woman in Lebanon to be named Ambassador, and the first woman worldwide to be an Ambassador in Japan. She also served as Lebanese Ambassador to the USA, China, Australia, Great Britain, the Philippines, Switzerland, and Cyprus.

The yearly graduation ceremony of AGSIRD took place on June 4th in the French Senate. Seventeen students were awarded a Master of Arts degree in International Relations and Diplomacy. Those who had opted for a double-degree program also obtained a European Master in Diplomacy and Strategic Negotiation from Université Paris-Sud XI. Graduating students were from the US, Canada, Haiti and Liberia.

Arcadia University President Dr. Jerry Greiner came to Paris for the occasion. After he and AGSIRD president Dr. Eileen Servidio each addressed the graduating students, the commencement speech was delivered by H.E. Samira Hanna-El Daher, Ambassador, Representative of Lebanon to the Executive Board of UNESCO. Ambassador El Daher is a career diplomat who was the first woman in Lebanon to be named Ambassador, and the first woman worldwide to be an Ambassador in Japan. She also served as Lebanese Ambassador to the USA, China, Australia, Great Britain, the Philippines, Switzerland, and Cyprus.

Thirteen study abroad students joined AGS for a six-week long summer program in Paris, May 28th to July 10th. This program is organized in partnership with Arcadia University's College of Global Studies and focuses on the politics, history and diplomacy of France and the European Union. As part of the program, AGS organizes various field trips and guest lectures.