Middlebury College and Monterey Institute of International Studies collaborate to help faculty worldwide develop course offerings

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. ? From Wednesday through Saturday, June 21-24, Middlebury College and the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) will jointly host the 2006 Teaching Nonproliferation Summer Institute. The conference, titled “Enhancing Global Security Through Education,” is designed to help participants successfully integrate nonproliferation issues into their respective curricula. The event features nonproliferation experts from MIIS, as well as from other colleges and universities, national think tanks, and the United States government. Presented in collaboration with the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at MIIS, the conference will include lectures, group discussions, two documentary films and a curriculum workshop for participants interested in developing academic courses on the proliferation of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction and related nonproliferation policies.

The conference is not open to the public, but the media are invited to attend select lectures and discussions as follows, with more detail included in conference schedule below:

  • “Blogging on WMD”
  • “History and Current Status of the U.S. Nuclear Arsenal”
  • “Biological Warfare Threats and the Soviet Anti-Plague System”
  • “International Biosecurity: From Pandemic Flu to Bioterrorism”

All of these events will take place in McCardell Bicentennial Hall, located on Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125).

Middlebury College Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Dean of Curriculum Bob Cluss, who helped organize the event, said, “The goal of the conference is to provide college and university professors worldwide with an intensive overview of nonproliferation issues to encourage the development of new undergraduate courses on the topics raised.”

In 2002, fewer than 30 percent of major liberal arts colleges offered courses in either arms control or nonproliferation. Deputy Director and Professor of International Policy Studies at the MIIS Center for Nonproliferation Studies Clay Moltz said, “If the proliferation of WMD is in fact the single greatest threat facing the United States today, as the Bush administration and many other political strategists have stated, where is the next generation of leaders who are well-versed in this subject going to come from? This is why we need to train more professors to be able to offer courses in nonproliferation policy.”

More than 35 participants will attend the conference from a range of international organizations including the Institute of Strategic Studies in Pakistan, the Peace Corps for African Renaissance in West Africa, the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C., the University of Leipzig in Germany, the Special Tactics Unit of the Beverly Hills Police Department, the Center for Public Health Preparedness at University of Albany, as well as many colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Lecturers will include experts on a range of topics related to nonproliferation issues, some of whom are: Charles Ferguson, fellow in science and technology at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C.; Gary Bertsch, director of the Center for International Trade and Security at the University of Georgia; Stephen Schwartz, editor and co-author of Atomic Audit and former executive director of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; and Ronald Atlas, graduate dean and co-director for the Deterrence of Biowarfare and Bioterrorism at the University of Louisville.

For more information, visit the institute’s Web site at http://go.middlebury.edu/sni or contact Middlebury College Dean of Curriculum Bob Cluss at rcluss@middlebury.edu or (802) 443-5025.

A schedule of the 2006 Teaching Nonproliferation Summer Institute follows:

2006 Teaching Nonproliferation Summer Institute:
Enhancing Global Security Through Education, June 21-24

Wednesday, June 21
2-6 p.m. Registration

6-7:30 p.m. Welcome Dinner

7:30 p.m. “Why Teach Nonproliferation?”
Speaker: Clay Moltz, deputy director and professor of international policy studies at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies

9 p.m. Refreshments and informal discussion

Thursday, June 22
9-10 a.m. “Biological Weapons: Principles and Deployment”
Speaker: Ronald Atlas, graduate dean and co-director for the Deterrence of Biowarfare and Bioterrorism at the University of Louisville

10-10:30 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. “Nuclear Weapons Technology”
Speaker: Charles Ferguson, fellow in science and technology at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C.

1:30-3 p.m. “Nonproliferation Export Controls, Treaties and Regimes”
Speaker: Gary Bertsch, director of the Center for International Trade and Security at the University of Georgia

7 p.m. “Blogging on WMD” Open to Media
Speaker: Jeff Lewis, executive director of Managing the Atom Project at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
McCardell Bicentennial Hall, located on Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)

8:30 p.m. Film: “Atomic Journeys: Welcome to Ground Zero”
This documentary, narrated by William Shatner and featuring footage of test explosions and top-secret work labs, explores the history of America’s nuclear programs. Interviews with atomic scientists and engineers accompany sights such as “the most bombed place on Earth” in Nevada. The musical score is performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.

Friday, June 23
8:30-9:15 a.m. “Chemical Weapons: Principles and Deployment”
Speaker: Frank Settle, professor of chemistry at Washington and Lee University

9:15-10:45 a.m. “History and Current Status of the U.S. Nuclear Arsenal” Open to Media
Speaker: Stephen Schwartz, editor and co-author of Atomic Audit and former executive director of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
McCardell Bicentennial Hall, located on Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)

10:45-11 a.m. Break

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. “Biological Warfare Threats and the Soviet Anti-Plague System” Open to Media
Speaker: Ray Zilinskas, director of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies
McCardell Bicentennial Hall, located on Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)

1:30-3 p.m. “International Biosecurity: From Pandemic Flu to Bioterrorism” Open to Media
Speaker: Bradley Smith, assistant professor and associate at the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School
McCardell Bicentennial Hall, located on Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)

7 p.m. Film: “Nukes in Space”
This 1999 documentary provides an interesting overview of the development of the military space program of missiles and space-based nuclear weapons testing. A discussion will follow the film.

Saturday, June 24
8:30-10 a.m. “Terrorist Groups and WMD”
Speaker: Jeffrey M. Bale, senior research associate in the Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism Research Program (WMDTRP) at the MIIS Center for Nonproliferation Studies

10-10:30 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. “U.S. Preparedness for Terrorist Attacks”
Speaker: Craig Hooper, postdoctoral fellow, Chemical and Biological Nonproliferation Project, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies

1:30 p.m. Curriculum Development workshop with breakout groups
Facilitators: Maria Rublee, assistant professor of government and world affairs at University of Tampa, and Bob Cluss, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and dean of curriculum at Middlebury College

For more information, visit the institute’s Web site at http://go.middlebury.edu/sni or contact Middlebury College Dean of Curriculum Bob Cluss at rcluss@middlebury.edu or (802) 443-5025.