Area Studies Conference at IU

[REEI]

Area Studies in the Future of Higher Education
Indiana University, Bloomington
February 26-28, 2009

 “Area Studies in the Future of Higher Education” asks what area programs that originated in the Cold War era have to offer in an age of globalization and in the context of such developments as the rise of universalist analytical models in the social sciences, the massive retreat of Americans from mastery of foreign languages, and the progressively more instrumentalist approach of the Department of Defense to language training. Area studies programs also increasingly collaborate with professional schools and furnish professionals-in-training with the perspectives of the humanities and social sciences. Accordingly, we ask how such programs can be best aligned or articulated with changing national needs and evolving university structures that emphasize professional specialization and corporate financial models. We also wish to consider how the expertise represented by the area studies programs at IU and elsewhere, which are currently designed primarily for graduate training, can be most effectively applied to the education of our undergraduate students.

Thursday, Feb. 26
5:00 PM - Opening Reception
• Welcoming remarks by Vice President Patrick O’Meara and Provost Karen Hanson
• Unveiling of a portrait of Amb. James Collins and remarks
• Video collage of recent area studies graduates

Friday, Feb. 27
8:30-10:00 - Panel: Balance between Universalist Models and Theories in Social Science and Area Knowledge and Language
10:30-12:00 - Panel: Reshaping Regions for Analytical Coherence
2:00-3:30 - Panel: Area Studies and Legal and Civic Culture
4:00-5:30 - Panel: Shaping the Global Future at IU: Partnering with Area Studies

Saturday, Feb. 28
8:30-10:00 - Panel: Appropriate Role of Area Studies in Contributing to National Security
10:30-12:00 - Panel: Place of Foreign Language Training in Area Studies

ALL SESSIONS WILL BE HELD IN THE IMU GEORGIAN ROOM

To view detailed conference schedule and list of panelists, please visit www.indiana.edu/~reeiweb/2009asc<http://www.indiana.edu/~reeiweb/2009asc>.

This conference is sponsored by the Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hanson, Vice President for International Affairs Patrick O’Meara, Russian and East European Institute, Center for the Study of Global Change, Center for West European Studies, African Studies Program, East Asian Studies Center, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Program, Center for International Business and Research, Center for the Languages of the Central Asian Region, and India Studies Program.

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