EPIIC symposium looks at U.S. role in the world

"Dilemmas of Empire and Nation-building: The United States’ Role in the World” is the topic of this year’s Norris and Margery Bendetson EPIIC International Symposium. The program, sponsored by the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts, will be held from February 25-29 on the Medford/ Somerville campus.

U.S. Marines celebrate with the Iraqi people as they enter the center of Baghdad and help topple a statue of Saddam Hussein in 2003. © Ron Haviv

The annual EPIIC (Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship) forums are known for bringing together international experts on a challenging topic and providing a variety of panel discussions that immerse the participants in the subject matter. This year’s symposium is part of a year-long program addressing nation-building that includes a course for undergraduates, a film series and a program for high school students.

Among the speakers at this year’s symposium are Samantha Power, who won the Pulitzer Prize for her book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, and Robert J. Art, currently a professor at Brandeis and a former member of the long range planning staff of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Tufts faculty members addressing the symposium include David Dapice, associate professor of economics; William Moomaw, a professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; and Jeffrey Taliaferro, assistant professor of political science.

Also at the symposium each year, EPIIC presents the Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award, named for the former president of Tufts University. Among this year’s recipients are Allen E. Goodman, president and CEO of the Institute for International Education; Stanley Hoffman, a University Professor at Harvard and chair of the Center for European Studies; and Jessica Tuchman Matthews, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The symposium will address such topics as the relevance of the United Nations; how the United States is viewed by media around the world; the challenges of Afghanistan and Iraq and the role of the United States in Africa. Most of the symposium will take place in ASEAN Auditorium in the Cabot Intercultural Center. A complete schedule will be posted on the website: http://www.epiic. org.

In addition to the symposium, EPIIC is sponsoring an exhibit of essays and photographs by renowned policymakers, authors and photographers through February 29 at the Slater Concourse in the Aidekman Arts Center. The material is from a book called RETHINK, published by de.MO. The book will be launched nationally on Wednesday, February 25, with a panel discussion with contributors to the book, including photojournalist James Nachtwey. The discussion is being co-sponsored by EPIIC, the book’s publisher and the VII photo agency.