In the 2022-2023 academic year, the College of Social Science and Public Policy’s Ruth K. & Shepard Broad International Lecture Series provided multiple opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and the Tallahassee public to learn and interact with distinguished leaders from various countries.
The Series is an integral part of COSSPP’s international programs and features renowned experts on topics pertaining to international affairs and diplomacy. It was endowed by the Shepard Broad Foundation of Miami in honor of Shepard Broad’s (1906-2001) legacy and commitment to international affairs and to higher education in Florida.
In 2022-2023 leaders in various fields came to campus to discuss a range of topics, including education in Uganda, economic development in the Global South, and religion and social change in Southern Africa. The speakers included: Kassaga James Arinaitwe, CEO and Co-founder of Teach For Uganda; Robert Smith, Founder of Midsummer Analytics in Ottawa, Canada; and Musa W. Dube, Ph.D., Professor of New Testament at Emory’s Candler School of Theology.
“We are very fortunate to have the Broad Lecture Series as a campus resource,” said John Mayo, Ph.D., a member of COSSPP’s faculty. “In partnership with departments across campus, including the Center for Global Engagement, the College of Communication and Information’s South Asian Media and Cultural Studies Conference, and the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Religion, we were able to invite leaders from Uganda, Canada, and Botswana to share their expertise and experience with students, faculty, staff, and members of the Tallahassee community.”
Two-time FSU alumnus Kassaga James Arinaitwe earned his bachelor’s degree in Biomathematics (’09) and a Master of Public Health and Policy (’11). He presented his talk, “The Teach For Uganda Story: Mobilizing Young Leaders for Education Reform,” on Thursday, November 17, 2022.
Arinaitwe has more than a decade of professional experience in the international development of education, healthcare, and economics in East Africa, India, and the U.S.
Teach For Uganda was founded in 2016 as the first educational reform organization in East Africa. So far, the organization has hired, trained, and placed over 200 young leaders as teaching fellows across four regions in Uganda. They have been able to reach over 22,000 children in need of quality education and hope to grow to over 250,000 children over the next five years.
Robert Smith’s lecture, “Moving Beyond GDP: Telling the Real Story of National Progress,” took place on February 2, 2023.
Smith explored additional avenues of measures of progress beyond GDP under consideration by various countries. He argued that only one of these avenues – expanded measures of national wealth – has any real hope of displacing GDP during his talk.
Smith is an experienced investigator and consultant, with an international reputation and broad knowledge of the science, policy, and economics related to natural capital, climate change, natural resources, ecosystems, wastes, environmental technologies, and environmental expenditures. He is especially known for his work, developing and promoting the concept of natural capital and its use as a basis for measuring sustainable development.
Musa W. Dube, Ph.D., presented, “Mother Earth, Pandemics, Gender & Religion: Pursuing Social Welfare & Human Rights in Southern Africa,” on Thursday, March 2, 2023.
Dr. Dube is the William Ragsdale Cannon Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Emory’s Candler School of Theology. Prior to 2021, Dr. Dube served as a professor of the New Testament in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Botswana.
Known for her work as a postcolonial feminist theologian, Dr. Dube’s research interests include gender, postcolonialism, translation, and HIV and AIDS studies. She has authored 262 academic works, published in journals, books, encyclopedias, educational modules, and magazines.
For more information about the Ruth K. & Shepard Broad International Lecture Series, click here!
