By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
NGCSU lecture series starts this week
Topics relate to global issues
Placeholder Image

Great Decisions Lecture Series
The eight-week series begins on Feb. 15 and runs through April 7. The Forsyth County events are held on Tuesdays at the Sharon Forks Library, with the Hall County events following on Thursday at the Gainesville Civic Center. Both events are held 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Week 1: Rebuilding Haiti
Week 2: U.S. National Security
Week 3: Horn of Africa
Week 4: Responding to the Financial Crisis
Week 5: Germany Ascendant (held on Monday rather than Tuesday at the Forsyth County location)
Week 6: Sanctions and Nonproliferation
Week 7: The Caucasus
Week 8: Global Governance

Global issues will be given local relevance this week as North Georgia College & State University begins its Great Decisions lecture series.

This is the second year the college will take part in the national event, holding lectures and discussions on eight international topics ranging from instability in the Horn of Africa to the global financial crisis response. Each lecture will be held twice, first in Forsyth County and later in Hall County.

The first event, centering on the rebuilding effort in Haiti, will take place on Tuesday in Cumming and Thursday in Gainesville.

“This is a way for us to extend our mission beyond our campus boundaries into the community and to provide community members access to our faculty members who will be presenting each of the topics,” college spokeswoman Kate Maine said.

The events are split into two 40-minute sections, the first a lecture by the speaker and the second a group discussion.

Chris Jespersen, dean of the school of arts and letters, presented last year and will do so again in this series. He said the audience participation is the most rewarding part of the experience.

“I had audience members say, ‘I remember that. I have some recollection of that.’ And that’s very different than with our college students,” he said.

This year, Jespersen will present on the topic of U.S. National Security. He plans to focus on the last 25 years of national security from the Cold War through Sept. 11, 2001.
In the eight weeks,

Christian Harris, associate professor of political science, will present on the topic of global governance, with the goal of
dispelling the myth that the term is a synonym for world government.

“It refers to a different situation, increasing coordination by the different actors in the international system,” he said.

Maine said all of the events were well attended last year, with 50 to 80 people at each. She expects this year’s events, which were planned more in advance than last year, to have a strong turnout.

“A lot of the people who attended had traveled to other countries or were just interested in world politics and current topics in general,” she said. “They were very receptive to talking with our faculty members and hearing different perspectives on the subjects.”

The lectures are free and open to the public and attendees do not need to take part in every event.