About the Program: "The Quad Alliance" As part of the U.S. pivot to Asia, the United States has been in dialogue with Japan, Australia, and India in an effort to contain China. Recently, the Quad countries held joint naval exercises in the South Pacific. How effective will the actions of this alliance be? About the Speakers: Sumitha Kutty Sumitha Narayanan Kutty is a Leverhulme doctoral fellow in the Centre for Grand Strategy (CGS) at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London and an adjunct research associate at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Singapore. She works on issues related to security, foreign policy and rising powers with an empirical focus on South Asia, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.

About the Program: "Industrial Policy" The current discussion of industrial policy in the United States is not simply about whether or not to support specific companies or industries, but about trust or mistrust of the government and its ability to manage the economy and deal with a rising China. The upheaval in supply chains during the pandemic exposed weaknesses in the international economy. What policies can the United States implement to deal with trade and the economy? About the Speaker: Dr. Sameeksha Desai Dr. Sameeksha Desai joined the faculty of the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University in Bloomington in 2010. She specializes in entrepreneurship, competitiveness, and economic development policy. An associate professor, she is Director of the Manufacturing Policy Initiative, and Associate Director, Institute for Development Strategies. Her research explores the conditions that influence entrepreneurship and regional economic outcomes of various types of entrepreneurial activity and opportunity. She has received numerous awards, fellowships, and grants, while her work has been supported by government, nonprofit, and international organizations.

About the Program: "Changing Demographics" The world experienced remarkable demographic changes in the 20th century that continue today and have resulted in far-reaching social, economic, political, and environmental consequences all over the globe. These consequences are creating mounting challenges to development efforts, security, climate, and the environment, as well as the sustainability of human populations About the Speaker: Dr. Keera Allendorf Dr. Keera Allendorf is an Associate Professor of Sociology and International Studies at Indiana University. She is a demographer and sociologist whose research is at the intersections of family, gender, and health. She investigates how and why family behaviors and attitudes vary and change over time and how family behaviors shape well-being. Geographically, she focuses on India and Nepal but also has comparative work on the rest of Asia and the United States. Her work has appeared in the American Journal of Sociology, Demography, Population and Development Review, and Journal of Marriage and Family.

About the Program: "Biden’s Agenda Foreign Policy and the Invasion of Ukraine" The new administration in Washington promised to reverse many of the policies of the past administration, especially in foreign policy. How will issues such as climate, the pandemic, and alliances be treated under the Biden administration? About the Speaker: Dr. Pierre Atlas Dr. Pierre M. Atlas is a Senior Lecturer at the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in their Public Affairs and Criminal Justice and Public Safety programs. He is also a faculty affiliate at the Center for the Study of the Middle East at Indiana University Bloomington and writes a monthly opinion column for the Indianapolis Business Journal. A comparative political scientist by training, Dr. Atlas devoted much of his academic career to studying and writing about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and US foreign policy in the Middle East. More recently, his research has examined the sources of contemporary political differences between the United States and Canada.

About the Program: "The New Space Race " The launch of Sputnik I in October 1957 marked the beginning of the space era and of the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. In the 21st century, there are many more participants in space, including countries such as India and China, and commercial companies such as SpaceX. How will the United States fare in a crowded outer space? About the Speakers: Dr. Joseph Pelton, Dr. Carolin Freuh, and Dr. Ram Jakhu Dr. Joseph Pelton is the Dean Emeritus and former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Space University and is also the Director Emeritus of the Space and Advanced Communications Research Institute (SACRI) at George Washington University. Dr. Carolin Freuh is an Associate Professor at Purdue University, Aeronautics and Astronautics Department, and the chair of the COSPAR Panel on Potentially Environmentally Detrimental Activities in Space. Prof. Ram Jakhu is a Full Professor of Law (and Acting Director of Institute of Air and Space Law), McGill University. He teaches and conducts advanced research in international space law and public international law.

About the Program: "Russia and Disruption" Russia and the United States have many areas of conflict and some possible areas of mutual interest. Arms control, Russian interference in U.S. elections and support of cyberattacks, the status of Ukraine, the fate of opposition politicians in Russia, all continue to be concerning. How will the new administration in Washington approach these issues? About the Speaker: Dr. Sergei Zhuk Dr. Sergie Zhuk is a former Soviet expert in US history, especially in the social and cultural history of colonial British America. Since 1997 he taught American colonial history, Russian/Soviet and Ukrainian History at Ball State University, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, and Columbia University. His research interests are international relations, knowledge production, cultural consumption, religion, popular culture, and identity in the history of imperial Russia, Ukraine, and the Soviet Union. His recent publications include Soviet Americana: The Cultural History of Russian and Ukrainian Americanists (2018) and he completed a book about the KGB operations against the USA and Canada in Soviet Ukraine, 1953-1991.

About the Program: "Drug Policy in Latin America" The issue of migration to the United States from Latin America has overshadowed the war on drugs, which has been underway for decades with little signs of progress. What are the roots and the bureaucratic logic behind today's dominant drug policies in Latin America? Is it time to reconsider punitive drug control policies that disrupt supply chains and punish drug possession. About the Speaker: Dr. Michael Snodgrass Dr. Michael Snodgrass is the Director of the Global and International Studies Program at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, and an Associate Professor of Latin American history. His research is 20th Century Mexico with a focus on migration and U.S- Mexican relations. Among several awards he has received is a Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, and a Fulbright- Garcia-Robles Dissertation Research Fellowship from the U.S. State Department and the Mexican Foreign Ministry. Dr. Snodgrass received his B.A. from the University of Iowa, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.

About the Program: "Economics of Climate Change" The ideological divide in the United States on the subject of climate change has impeded progress in curbing greenhouse emissions. But extreme weather events at both ends of the thermometer have focused attention on the consequences of inaction. What role will the United States play in future negotiations on climate? About the Speaker: Jesse Kharbanda Jesse Kharbanda is the Executive Director of the Hoosier Environmental Council, Indiana’s largest environmental policy organization. Jesse has focused HEC’s initiatives around environmental health & justice, land & water protection, and climate solutions. Jesse’s leadership honors include being named to the “Forty Under 40′′ list by the Indianapolis Business Journal, being recognized as the sole Indianapolis-based community leader in his induction year named to Delta Omega, the national public health honorary, winning the Hulman Health Achievement Award for Public Policy Advocacy.