Participate in the LWVDC's Great Decisions discussion group on foreign policy issues. The discussion group meets on eight Thursday mornings in February and March. Download schedule.
Committee chair: Gail Bliss 231-3511 gail3511@gmail.com
Participants:
The League of Women Voters of Dane County will again be sponsoring an eight week discussion series based on the Foreign Policy Association’s Great Decisions program. We will meet from 9-11 AM on Thursdays, beginning February 4, at the Madison West Senior Center 602 Sawyer Terrace. The Senior Center is near the West Madison Post Office behind Hilldale Shopping Center. Sawyer Terrace is a one-way street accessed from Segoe Road.
The discussion topics chosen by the Foreign Policy Association for 2010 are: Preventing genocide, Peacebuilding and conflict resolution, Global crime, U.S.–China security relations, Global financial crisis, Russia and its neighbors, The Persian Gulf, and U.S. special envoys. More information can be found on the Foreign Policy Association’s Web site, www.fpa.org.
Schedule:
| Date | Chapter |
Topic | Presenter | Snack |
| 2/4 | 1 | US special envoys | Gail Bliss | Janice Baldwin |
| 2/11 | 5 | Global financial crisis | Pat Levin | Allie Hammond |
| 2/18 | 4 | US–China security relations | Helen Horn & Ralph Petersen | Lois Bernbeck |
| 2/25 | 2 | Kenya, R2P re: Prevent genocide | Gail Bliss | Priscilla Thain |
| 3/4 | 7 | The Persian Gulf | Barbara Voltz | Barbara Voltz |
| 3/11 | 6 | Russia and its neighbors | Clare McArdle | Colleen McCabe |
| 3/18 | 3 | Global crime* | YOU??? | YOU??? |
| 3/25 | 8 | Peacebuilding and conflict resolution | Lee Brown | Dories Neis |
*At Issue with Ben Merens is following the UW Milwaukee Great Decisions lecture series. The Global Crime topic will be discussed Monday evening March 15 at 5 PM on WHA. That is one reason “Global Crime” has moved to the end of the list. The WPR series is taking some liberties with the topics. For example the Special Envoy’s topic was pretty much ignored in favor of a discussion of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Persian Gulf segment has been turned into a discussion of Iraq, so that program is unlikely to be helpful in preparing for that segment.
Q: Why aren’t we going “in order” through the book?
A: Some presenters aren’t available the week that would be “in order.” The units that still need presenters were moved later in the series to give time to recruit volunteers, and to give those volunteers time to prepare.
The Global Hot Spots Lecture at the Pyle Center Friday 2/19 will address the destructive residue of colonialism in Africa. So the Kenyan Genocide topic has been moved to 2/25.
Q: How much do I need to know about a topic to volunteer to lead the discussion?
A: I knew nothing special about Special Envoys before I read the booklet. We have a 30-minute video segment to supplement the reading materials.