International & Global Studies IGST

"20 Days in Mariupol" Film Screening

Free screening of 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL (documentary, dir. Mstyslav Chernov, 2023), sponsored by Middlebury Russian Department and IGS-REES. An AP team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting atrocities of the Russian invasion. As the only international reporters who remain in the city, they capture what later become defining images of the war: dying children, mass graves, the bombing of a maternity hospital, and more.

Twilight Auditorium 101

Open to the Public

Challenges to Sustainable Development: Chinese Investment in Gambia

Over the past two decades, China has increased its investment across the African continent, leading to economic development. As much of this economic development is located, where fragile ecosystems intersect with weak governance, the resultant environmental costs can be high. Mustapha Manneh, West Africa Regional Editor of the China Dialogue Trust, will speak about the social, financial, and environmental impact that Chinese fishing investments are having in The Gambia.

Robert A. Jones '59 Conference Room

Open to the Public

The Oil Machine: Film Screening and Director Chat

Join us for a screening of the much-buzzed about film, “The Oil Machine,” followed by a Q&A with Director, Emma Davie. Facilitated by James Sanchez.

Oil has been an invisible machine at the core of our economy and society. It now faces an uncertain future as activists and investors demand change. Is this the end of oil?

Dana Auditorium (Sunderland Language Center)

Open to the Public

Canceled: Global Indigenous Politics and Environmental Governance

Indigenous nations are, under international law, not considered full legal persons. However, Indigenous nations have been actively engaged in global politics in a variety of issue areas, including environmental and water governance. For example, over the past 2 years, First Nations from around the world, including the Maori, Hopi, and Tohono O’odham, have been participating in the international Meeting of Sacred Waters, through which various Nations advance new understandings of society’s relationship to water and land, and new approaches to sustainable governance.
Open to the Public

Contemporary Russia Through a Diplomat's Eye

Diplomat Thomas Leary served in Russia at two very different periods: 1999-2004 and 2015-2019. His first term there came during the growing decline in U.S.-Russian relations and the difficult aftermath of Russia’s 1998 financial crisis. By the time Mr. Leary returned to St. Petersburg as U.S. Consul General in 2015, the freeze between the two countries was deepening because of Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. Meanwhile at home Russia had become both much more prosperous and more authoritarian.

Robert A. Jones '59 Conference Room

Open to the Public

Queer Anthropology: A Dialogue

Erin Durban and Lucinda Ramberg, two feminist, queer, postcolonial scholars, will have a conversation about queer anthropology: What does it mean to queer anthropology? How can we do anthropology, as well as ethnographic methods more broadly, in a queer way and for queer purposes?

Axinn Center Abernethy Room (221)

Open to the Public

The Sexual Politics of Empire: Postcolonial Homophobia in Haiti

Erin Durban, a scholar of queer anthropology, will discuss their book The Sexual Politics of Empire: Postcolonial Homophobia in Haiti. Evangelical Christians and members of the global LGBTQI human rights movement have vied for influence in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. Each side accuses the other of serving foreign interests. Yet each proposes future foreign interventions on behalf of their respective causes despite the country’s traumatic past with European colonialism and American imperialism. As Durban shows, two discourses dominate discussions of intervention.

Axinn Center Abernethy Room (221)

Open to the Public