The Young Initiative invites foreign policy experts and guest speakers to campus to engage in discussions on international relations and the global political economy with students and faculty.

Upcoming Events

United Nations Week

With the William and Elizabeth Kahane United Nations Program, the Young Initiative supports the annual United Nations Week at Occidental College. We are passionate in maintaining students involvement and engagement in sustainable development. Our students choose topics that link Global Political Economy, Social Justice, and Sustainable Development.

UN Week 2020: Climate Change & Economic/Environmental Justice

Keynote speaker, Dr. Steven Were Omamo, Representative and Country Director for the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Ethiopia, provided perspective and insights about the UN's work on Climate Change and Environmental Justice.

UN Week 2019: Gender, Sexuality and Collective Action

The keynote speaker, Ambassador Melanne Verveer spoke to students about gender in the Sustainable Development Goals.

UN Week 2018: The Power of Place

LA Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a new partnership with Oxy to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.

UN Week 2017: Through Refugees Eyes

Michel Gabaudan, President, Refugees International gave a talk on “The Global Refugee and Migration Crisis Under Trump: Where is the US? Where is Europe? What Can We Do About It?”

UN Week 2016: The UN and the US after Obama

Historian and foreign policy expert, Stephen Schlesinger reflected back on the history of the UN and predicted its future trajectory. Honorary Lloyd Axworthy, former Foreign Minister of Canada gave a talk titled: "Resetting the Narrative: Peace, Security, and the UN's Responsibility to Protect."

Young Events

Young speakers give students and faculty an opportunity to expand their understanding of global issues. The Young Initiative sponsors several speakers each academic year highlighting particular aspects of global affairs and the global political economy.  The Young Speakers program is devoted to highlighting the work and success of eminent international affairs experts and Oxy alumni in public service and academia.

 

Steve Erie
L.A. and the World Economy

Steven P. Erie is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California San Diego

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Leo Braudy
Popular Culture

Leo Braudy is among America’s leading cultural historians and film critics

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Pardis
Human Trafficking and Terror: Questioning the Construction of a Global Social Problem

On March 27th, 2018, Dr. Pardis Mahdavi visited her alma mater, Occidental College, and lectured at the McKinnon Center for Global Affairs about Human Trafficking and Terror: Questioning the Construction of a Global Social Problem. She discussed her third book called Gridlock: Labor, Migration, and Human Trafficking in Dubai where she discusses the narratives around sex work and the...

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Shalmali Guttal
Globalisation and the Rise of Populist Authoritarianism in Asia

Shalmali Guttal is the Executive Director of Focus on the Global South, an activist think tank in Asia providing analysis and building alternatives for just social, economic and political change.

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Mary Thompson-Jones
The State of U.S. Diplomacy

Mary Thompson-Jones is the Chair of Women in National Security and Diplomacy at the U.S. Naval War College.

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Diane Amann
Diane Amann: Trump and Human Rights

Diane Amann, chair of the Emily and Ernest Woodruff Chair in International Law at the University of Georgia School of Law, visited Occidental College to deliver a lecture at the McKinnon Center for Global Affairs on January 31, 2018. Amann discussed Trump and the United States’ relationship with human rights and how the importance of human rights has changed at home and abroad.

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Mayor Garcetti announces partnership with Occidental to advance sustainable development goals

Partnership will help City collect data and track progress on broad range of economic, environmental, and other targets adopted by United Nations members.

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Mayor Garcetti announces partnership with Occidental to advance sustainable development goals

Partnership will help City collect data and track progress on broad range of economic, environmental, and other targets adopted by United Nations members.

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Wallander
Trump and Russia

Celeste Wallander is the President and CEO of the non-profit U.S.-Russia Foundation.

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Paul Divakar: Can the SDGs fight against caste discrimination?

Paul Divakar, General Secretary of the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) and a transnational voice for peoples affected by Discrimination based on Work or Descent (DWD) spoke about the struggles faced by these communities and the growing power of international groups that link these communities outside their countries. 

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Contact the John Parke Young Initiative on the Global Political Economy
Johnson Hall

The McKinnon Center for Global Affairs