St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs

As you’ll see from the detailed program information shown below, a broad range of popular topics and speakers are scheduled.

If you are planning on attending, please take a moment to let us know by using our sign up form on our website. Complimentary parking available in the USFSP parking garage.

We look forward to seeing you!

Depending on current events and their continued relevance, we will change or add to the following seminar schedule.

If you have a topic that you would like to submit for consideration, please click here.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017
8:30 AM / Welcome
(Speakers: USFSP Chancellor Sophia Wisniewska, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, Ambassador Douglas McElhaney)
9:00 AM / Here’s a tweet: build that wall and make them pay.
(Speakers: Iglesias, Slattery, Grim, van Keppel; Moderator: Janet Crane)
9:00 AM / Africa: are its states on a firm footing?
(Speakers: Matthews, Mbatu, B. Smith, M. Smith; Moderator: Wesley Wallace)
10:20 AM / Canada and America: are we brothers or distant cousins?
(Speakers: Grim, Morgan, Gallon, McIntosh; Moderator: Michel Amblard)
10:20 AM / Offshore holdings: hiding your hard-earned cash from the tax man.
(Speakers: Fabrega, Casadonte, Princip, Wistocki; Moderator: George Hamilton)
11:30 AM / Cyber meddling: what to do about it?
(Speakers: Sridharan, Garcia, J. Maguire, Lyon; Moderator: Arsenault)
11:30 AM / International education: who wins and who loses?
(Speakers: Casadonte, M. Smith, Gallon, Rowen; Moderator: Diane Seligsohn)
2:00 PM / The Arab Spring: is it now December?
(Speakers: Jawad, King, Clem, Kubicek; Moderator: J. Maguire)
2:00 PM / Trade agreements like NAFTA work to our disadvantage.
(Speakers: Limayem, Hoskinson, Princip, Leskun; Moderator: Kevin McGuire)
3:10 PM / President Trump’s foreign policy: from tweets to reality.
(Speakers: Hoskinson, J. Maguire, Skinner; Moderator: Steve Tauber)
3:10 PM / Enlighten me: how do you bring back jobs to America?
(Speakers: Sundaram, Limayem, K. McGuire, Miniter; Moderator: Tom Cason)

Thursday, February 16, 2017
9:00 AM / After Ukraine, Georgia, and Crimea, where is Putin’s next land grab?
(Speakers: Kubicek, Slider, McCarthy, Clem; Moderator: Edmonds)
9:00 AM / You broke it, you buy it. Chances for progress in Afghanistan and Iraq?
(Speakers: Hogle, Shemanski, Skinner, M. Smith; Moderator: Robert Schaefer)
10:20 AM / Africa: is it finally ready for its close-up?
(Speakers: Biloa, J. Maguire, D. Seligsohn, Rowen; Moderator: Wallace)
10:20 AM / Spying: do you talk with real people or crack internet codes?
(Speakers: Shemanski, Clem, Pope, R. Neuman; Moderator: Ralph Clem)
11:30 AM / The arts: a pillar of civilization or increasingly commercialized commodity?
(Speakers:  Lydecker, Cleary, Lapidus, Yanbukhtin, Moderator: Brincklow)
11:30 AM / Arab-Israeli peace: any bets on near-term progress?
(Speakers: T. Smith, Jimenez-Bacardi, Menasce; Moderator: Biloa)
2:00 PM / Syria: can we find a dog in this fight?
(Speakers: Jawad, Biloa, Skinner, Miniter; Moderator: Sattin)
2:00 PM / “River to the Heart,” a film by Eddy Harris. Followed by Q&A with Mr. Harris.
(Moderator: Diane Seligsohn)
3:10 PM / NATO: your grandfather’s great idea?
(Speakers: Skinner, McCarthy, Pauland, Miniter, Barclay; Moderator: Robert Schaefer)
3:10 PM / Globalization: vaccine against war or a catalyst for nationalist upheaval?
(Speakers: Biloa, R. Neuman, J. Cason, King; Moderator: Tom Cason)

Friday, February 17, 2017
9:00 AM / Is Populism the new normal?
(Speakers: King, Biloa, Pope, Miniter; Moderator: J. Maguire)
9:00 AM / Why is Canada Dudley Do-Right and America GI Joe?
(Speakers: Gallon, Grim, Morgan, Skinner; Moderator: Diane Seligsohn)
10:20 AM / Identity Politics in a Global World
(Speakers: Harris, B. Smith, Acevedo, S. Neuman; Moderator: Scher)
10:20 AM / Music and Art: how their impact overpowers political borders.
(Speakers: Lapidus, Manson, Suggs, Brincklow; Moderator: Paul Wilborn)
11:30 AM / Brexit, Greece, refugees, Italian banks: the end of the EU dream?
(Speakers: Shemanski, Hamilton, Maguire, Barclay; Moderator: Michael Amblard)
11:30 AM / Getting to (re) know you: Cuba and America after 12 months of relations.
(Speakers: Fabrega, J. Cason, Hoskinson, Miniter; Moderator: Joe McClash)
2:00 PM / Like it or lump it, fake news is here to stay.
(Speakers: R. Neuman, Maguire, Hogle, Mantzarlis; Moderator: Leo Seligsohn)
2:00 PM / Off the front page: have our Central-American neighbors turned it around?
(Speakers: Wistocki, J. Cason, van Keppel; Moderator: Morgan)
3:10 PM / What’s it really like being an immigrant?
(Speakers: Harris, Prakash, Slattery, Acevedo; Moderator: Ray Gallon)

The St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs is graciously sponsored in part by:
Raymond James Financial
University of South Florida St. Petersburg • WUSF Public Media • Tampa Bay Times • Duke Energy • Smith & Associates Real Estate • Open Partnership Education Network • The Glackin Group at Morgan Stanley • Wells Fargo • The Sembler Group • Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront Hotel • Abbey Adams Law Firm • Eckerd College Academy of Senior Professionals • Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning