Ponds form atop Arctic sea ice as it meltsNASA photograph by Kathryn Hansen
Standing on the sea ice formed on the Arctic OceanPhoto by Chie Sakakibara
Twin Illinizas peaks in highland EcuadorPhoto by Karl Offen
Inupiaq whaling crew in Barrow, AlaskaPhoto by Chie Sakakibara
Andes to the east of PucónPhoto by Karl OffenApril 6–8, 2016
Oberlin College is pleased to host the inaugural Global Issues Symposium, on the theme of Climate Change Consequences: Disruption, Migration, and the Development of Resilient Communities. Through this year’s symposium and related events, we seek to address both the global urgency of climate change and the possibilities of climate resilient action in communities around the world.
About the Global Issues Symposium
Beginning in 2016, Oberlin College hosts the annual Global Issues Symposium, which brings to its campus renowned scholars, policy practitioners and activists to discuss crucial transnational issues with the college and community. Each year features a specific transnational issue, and brings a cohort of speakers from diverse backgrounds to offer equitable representation in dialogues needed to address the most pressing issues of our times.
The symposium series is organized by the International Studies Concentration, and funded through a generous donation from the Isenberg Family Charitable Foundation.
Global Issues Symposia will be held over four years, and constitute a significant starting initiative for a larger Global Scholars Program envisioned to expand student learning beyond the existing curriculum of the International Studies Concentration.
About the International Studies Concentration
The International Studies Concentration prepares students for careers and pursuits spanning national boundaries. It is grounded in the social sciences and focused on contemporary issues to help students develop an understanding of the current dominant modes of international interactions, and the global nature and consequences of those interactions. Interested students may select International Studies as a concentration within their liberal arts education. The concentration can complement many academic majors, building students’ capacities to apply disciplinary knowledge from their major to the challenges of the globalized world.
For the concentration, students choose from more than 100 courses across the Oberlin curriculum on the world’s cultures, regional interactions, and international dynamics, in addition to core politics and economics classes. We expect majors to attain at least a second year of (non-English) language proficiency.
