Dear SWAC member,
We hope that you had a pleasant summer and that you are ready for another exciting season of stimulating programs.
Last spring we had an auspicious first session. In February, the Honorable Judge Jon Newman of the second district appellate court of lower Manhattan spoke on “The Federal Courts Face the War on Terrorism.” In April, Ms. Khris Nedam, director of the U.S.-based charity Kids4AfghanKids, described how this very successful program was set up and even expanded in a war-torn country. In May, Ambassador Daniel Hernández Joseph, Consul General of Mexico in Boston, discussed “Function and Dysfunction: How Mexican and U.S. Governments Interact over Migration,” co-sponsored by UnidosNow. And the first session of the Great Decisions program provided stimulating discussions, based on readings from the Foreign Policy Association, for its engaged participants.
Our fall program looks even more exciting. On October 15, Ms. Nola Theiss, Executive Director of the Human Trafficking Awareness Partnerships, Inc., will lead the first of two events on “Building a Regional Coalition to Combat Human Trafficking.” This talk and panel discussion will be followed by a workshop on October 21 for those interested in developing a coalition.
On November 25 our attention will turn to Asia, with Mr. Ronnie Chan, Chairman of the Hang Lung Group, Ltd. and Co-Chairman of the Asia Society, speaking on “The U.S. and China: Developing a Cultural and Economic Partnership.” For this event, we are partnering with the Ringling Museum of Art, and Mr. Fan Jeremy Zhang, Asia curator, will present a preview of exhibits planned for the new Asia wing of the museum.
We will soon be able to announce our lecture program for spring 2015. And when the Foreign Policy Association publishes its 2015 booklet for the Great Decisions Program, we look forward to another session of learning about and discussing some of the major issues affecting our global future.
We hope you will join us for as many of these events as you can and that you will renew your membership when you receive a notice from our Membership group. Memberships help support the important work that SWAC – and all the World Affairs Councils across the country – are doing “to educate, inspire, and engage our community in international affairs and critical global issues.”
Dr. Nat Colletta
President