Past Programs
April 11, 2025
Dr. Wiktor Askanas is a distinguished academic and corporate leader with expertise in strategic management, governance, and international business. With a career spanning Canada, Poland, and beyond, he has held leadership positions in academia, government, and corporate boards. Recognized for his contributions to management education and corporate governance, Dr. Askanas continues to shape the field through teaching, research, and advisory roles. This video was recorded on Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
April 2, 2025
Western Massachusetts Refugee Experience: An Update
February 11, 2025
Dr. Sara Newland, Assistant Professor of Government at Smith College, is a scholar of local politics in China and Taiwan, and seeks to understand the behavior of local officials as domestic public servants and as actors in international relations. Her research on local governance and public service provision has been published in China Quarterly and Governance. Her new work focuses on subnational diplomacy, and in particular on the role that state and local officials play in the complicated relationships between the U.S., China and Taiwan. Her work on U.S.-Taiwan subnational engagement has been published in Pacific Review, and she is currently working on a book project (with Kyle Jaros) on U.S.-China subnational diplomacy in an era of rising great power competition. Her talk was given on February 11, 2025 as part of the Instant Issues Series of events.
October 10, 2024
Martha Hodes, Professor of History at New York University. Her talk at the 2024 Annual Meeting and Dinner of the Western Massachusetts World Affairs Council. Date: October 10, 2024.
April 11, 2025
Dr. Wiktor Askanas is a distinguished academic and corporate leader with expertise in strategic management, governance, and international business. With a career spanning Canada, Poland, and beyond, he has held leadership positions in academia, government, and corporate boards. Recognized for his contributions to management education and corporate governance, Dr. Askanas continues to shape the field through teaching, research, and advisory roles. This video was recorded on Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
April 2, 2025
Western Massachusetts Refugee Experience: An Update
February 11, 2025
Dr. Sara Newland, Assistant Professor of Government at Smith College, is a scholar of local politics in China and Taiwan, and seeks to understand the behavior of local officials as domestic public servants and as actors in international relations. Her research on local governance and public service provision has been published in China Quarterly and Governance. Her new work focuses on subnational diplomacy, and in particular on the role that state and local officials play in the complicated relationships between the U.S., China and Taiwan. Her work on U.S.-Taiwan subnational engagement has been published in Pacific Review, and she is currently working on a book project (with Kyle Jaros) on U.S.-China subnational diplomacy in an era of rising great power competition. Her talk was given on February 11, 2025 as part of the Instant Issues Series of events.
October 10, 2024
Martha Hodes, Professor of History at New York University. Her talk at the 2024 Annual Meeting and Dinner of the Western Massachusetts World Affairs Council. Date: October 10, 2024.
September 19, 2024
The World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts presented John Feffer, Director of Foreign Policy in Focus and Global Just Transition at the Institute for Policy Studies, on What Do Voters Want and Will They Get it?, a round-up of recent national elections in France, the United Kingdom, Iran, and elsewhere.
June 27, 2024
World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts Event. A talk by Journalist Mara Kardas-Nelson: We Are Not Able To Live In The Sky: The Seductive Promise of Microfinance. Location: Springfield MA.
March 11, 2024
The World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts Instant Issues Lunchtime discussion event featuring Arthur House, former Chief Cybersecurity Risk Officer for the State of Connecticut, on Foreign Influence on US Elections.
November 30, 2023
An Instant Issues Lunchtime discussion event featuring Dr. Constantine Pleshakov, author and Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at Amherst College, on Putin's Waiting Game.
October 19, 2023
Arthur House is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Connecticut and former Cybersecurity Policy Advisor to Connecticut’s Secretary of the State. He spoke at the 2023 Virtual Annual Meeting of the World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts on October 19th, 2023.
May 12, 2023
Instant Issues: Isidre Sala Queralt, the Head of the Delegation of the Government of Catalonia to the United States and Canada, on Massachusetts & Catalonia, Strengthening a Partnership.
April 27, 2023
The World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts presented Director of the Boston Office of the U.S. Commercial Service James Paul on U.S. Department of Commerce and Assisting Western MA Exporters Go Global on April 27, 2023 in Springfield, MA.
February 9, 2023
The World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts presented the US Representative of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic in Washington, Mouloud Said, in conversation with Nina Nedrebø, on The Rights of the People of Western Sahara: The Human Face of the Conflict. This event took place on February 9, 2023 in Springfield, MA USA.
November 30, 2022
The World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts Instant Issues Program: John Feffer, director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, on "Right Across the World: Italy, Sweden & Brazil".
October 25, 2022
96th Annual Meeting of the World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts featuring an interview with Farah Pandith on How to Win: Soft Power & Fighting Hate. She was interviewed by the President of the World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts, Steve Spelman.
April 20, 2022
Dr. Laura Reed’s talk to the World Affairs Council of Western MA on Avoiding World War III: Nuclear Threats in Europe.
