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News

CPD is Accepting Applications for Fellows

For application instructions, contact Zermarie Deacon (zermarie@ou.edu) or Firat Demir (fdemir@ou.edu).

Call for Applications: Fall 2023 (pdf)

Events

International Seminar: The China Effect: Rethinking Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

December 3rd, 2025

9:00 AM - 12:50 PM CST

Online Via Zoom

Session 1: 9:10 AM-10:40 AM

Moderator: Firat Demir, Department of Economics, University of Oklahoma & SIC Speakers:

Kevin Gallagher, Boston University and Global Development Policy Center

Celio Hiratuka, State University of Campinas, Brazil

Enrique Dussel Peters, Graduate School of Economics, UNAM and CECHIMEX

Session 2: 10:45 AM-12:30 PM

Moderator: Firat Demir, University of Oklahoma & SIC

Speakers:

Rhys Jenkins, School of Global Development, University of East Anglia

Jorge Carrillo Viveros, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte

Evan Ellis, Latin American Studies, The U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute

Inside Criminalized Governance: How and Why Gangs Rule the Streets of Rio de Janeiro.

Tuesday, October 7th, 2025 12-1:30 pm Zarrow Hall Community Room 145

Dr. Nicholas Barnes

Sponsered by

The Center for the Americas

The Center for Brazil Studies

The Center for Peace and Development

The Socioeconomic US-China-Mexico Relationship

Thursday, Feb 27 2025, 12 pm-1:15 pm

Bizelll Memorial Library

Dr. Enrique Dussel

Held With the Center for the Americas

Reversing Autonomy: Baghdad's Strategy To Roll Back Kurdistan's Development

Wednesday, April 25th. 1-2 P.M. CST 2-3 P.M. EST ZOOM Join the webinar: https://bit.ly/4cpdnni

Speaker: Dr. Yerevan Saeed, Barzani Scholar-in-Residence, School of International Service, American University

Moderator Dr. Firat Demir, L.J. Semrod Presidential Professor of Economics, Co-Director, Center for Peace and Development,

Senior Researcher & Co-Founder, Security in Context Yerevan Saeed is the Barzani Scholar in Residence at American University’s School of International Service and a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Saeed’s research focuses on security, political, and energy issues in the Middle East, including Iraq, Turkey, Iran, the Gulf, and the Levant

For information or accommodations, contact Jennifer Grover at jgrover@ou.edu

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

2:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M. CST

Transforming Lives: Empowering Marginalized Women In Nepal

Dr. Bishnu Maya Pariyar

Dr. Venera Bekteshi

Dr. Zemarie Deacon

Download Event's flyer (pdf)

Democracy, Authoritarian & Neoliberalism

Thursday, April 25, 2PM, Bizzell Memorial Library

Democracy, Authoritarian & Neoliberalism

Dr. Omar S. Dahi

Dr. Bassam Haddad

Dr. Samer Shehata

Download Event Flier (pdf)

China's Rise in the Global South

Thursday, April 25, 12-1:15 PM, Zarrow Hall

China's Rise in the Global South

Dr. Dawn Murphy

Download event flier (pdf)

Sustainable and Inclusive Energy Solutions in Refugee Camps

Tuesday, February 6, 10:00 AM-11:00 AM US CST (11:00 AM- 12:00 PM US EST)

Sustainable and Inclusive Energy Solutions in Refugee Camps

Dr. Sarah Rosenberg-Jansen

Dr. Alison Halford

Nazifa Rafa

Download event flier here (pdf).

Join the webinar at https://oklahoma.zoom.us/j/94120027820

Watch the Video Recording here.

A Talk with Dr. Fiona Shen-Bayh, Assistant Professor of Government and Politics, University of Maryland, College Park. Thursday, November 9, 3-4:30 PM. Zarrow Hall 145 and Zoom. Please register for the Zoom at https://bit.ly/40cw2wj.

A Talk with Dr. Fiano Shen-Bayh

Thursday, November 9 2023

Join "A Talk with Dr. Fiano Shen-Bayh" via Zoom

"A Talk with Dr. Fiano Shen-Bayh" event flier (pdf)

OU AFAM Welcomes Dr. Ife Williams, Thursday, September 28, 2023. Bizzell Memorial Library, Room LL118. 1:30 p.m.-2:45 p.m.

OU AFAM Welcomes Dr. Ife Williams

Thursday, September 28, 2023
1:30 pm.-2:45 p.m.

Bizzell Memorial Library, Room LL118

OU AFAM Welcomes Dr. Ife Williams event flier (pdf)

lets set them ablaze

A talk with Dr. Omolade Adunbi Professor

Join via Zoom at https://oklahoma.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6pJSTWw4S6O4GG9nSRzYtQ

Download event flier here (pdf)

WOMEN'S RIGHTS, GENDER DISCRIMINATION AND POWER IN TURKEY

Thursday, April 13 | 11 AM-NOON CDT | ZOOM

Women's Rights, Gender Discrimination and Power in Turkey

Selin Nakıpoğlu

Register for the webinar at: https://bit.ly/3FMCqkX

Download event flier here (pdf)

#YemenCan'tWait: CIVIL ACTORS AND JUSTICE WORK IN YEMEN

Dr. Stacey Philbrick Yadav

Download event flier here (pdf).

Join the webinar at https://oklahoma.zoom.us/j/98097555128

The Quasi-Inflation of 2021-2022: A Case of Bad Analysis and Worse Policies

Wednesday, March 7, 10:00 AM-11:30 AM US CST (11:00 AM - 12:30 PM US EST)

A talk with Dr. James Galbraith

Download event flier here (pdf).

Join the webinar at https://bit.ly/3GHLF5K

Watch the video recording here.

Drinking as a site of consumptive political fantasying. Alcohol, Conflict, and Development in Ethiopia. A talk with Dr. Christina Tekle Collins, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Indiana University.

Monday, March 23, 3:00-4:00 pm CST via Zoom

Dr. Christina Tekie Collins

Download the event flier here (pdf).

Join at https://bit.ly/3R01Obm

Tuesday Tea with Dr. Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe

a special Tuesday Tea as we welcome guest Dr. Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe.

For questions or accommodation on the basis of disability contact Wendy Walker at wmwalker@ou.edu.

Download event flier here (pdf)

The Women's Movement and the Challange of Political Islam in Turkey

Wednesday, February 8, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM US CST (12:00 - 1:00 PM US EST)

The Women's Movement and the Challange of Political Islam in Turkey

Dr. Yesim Arat

Download event flier here (pdf).

Join the webinar at https://bit.ly/3WGSlH6

The Quasi-Inflation of 2021-2022: A Case of Bad Analysis and Worse Policies

Thursday, February 23, 2023, 3:00-4:30 PM, GOULD HALL 345

Building Resilience through Community Practices: Exploring Community-led Efforts to Address Gaps in Relocation and Resettlement Programs

Dr. Santina Contreras

Download event flier here (pdf).

Youth Perspectives on Climate Change - an online symposium. Wednesday, April 20, 10:00-11:45 AM CST (11 AM EST) via Zoom. Speakers: Gabrielle Alves, political activist from Brasilia, Brazil; Nafha Asim, marine biologist and environmental conservationist from Male' City, Maldives; Helena Gualinga, environmental and human rights activist from the Indigenous community of Sarayaku, Ecuador; Asa Samuels, Wildlife conservationist from The Cheyenne and Arapaha Tribes of Oklahoma and descendant of The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; and Efren Nango, Shiwiar Lider, environmental engineer and director of education at Conference of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Organizers: Nayifa Nihad and Felipe Flores.

Wednesday, April 20, 2022, 10:00-11:45 a.m. CST

Youth Perspectives on Climate Change - An online symposium

Register for the webinar here

Read more about the symposium

Download the event flier here (pdf)

September 16-17, 2022, 9:00 am-5 p.m. CST

Landscapes of Insecurity

The inaugural conference by the OU Center for Peace and Development and Security in Context

Download the event flier here (pdf).

Friday, March 4 2022, 3-4 p.m. CST (4-5 p.m. EST)

Poetry, Peace, and Truth: Lessons from Colombian Young People

Dr. Kate Vieira

via Zoom or Facebook @oucis

Join the webinar at

https://bit.ly/3Ga3RTe

Download the event flier here (pdf).

Thursday, April 21, 2022, 1:00-2:00 p.m. CST

Rethinking Internationalism

Dr. Simon Reid-Henry

Join the webinar at: https://oklahoma.zoom.us/j/96079161837

Download the event flier here (pdf)

Landmine Clearance, Rats, and Peacebuilding in Cambodia

Dr. Daniel Mains talks with Dr. Darcie DeAngelo about the relationship between landmine clearance, use of rats to detect landmines, and peacebuilding in Cambodia.

Watch the interview here.

GLOBAL INEQUITIES AND CLIMATE CHANGE What a Feminist Climate Justice Approach Teaches Us. A talk with Dr. Farhana Sultana Professor, Department of Geography and the Environment, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University Moderator: Emma Colven, Assistant Professor of Global Environment, University of Oklahoma. Monday, March 21, 3-4 p.m. CST (4-5 p.m. EST) via Zoom and Facebook @oucis Join the webinar at https://bit.ly/3rFy4pg. Farhana Sultana is an internationally recognized interdisciplinary scholar of political ecology, water governance, climate justice, postcolonial development, transnational feminism, and decolonizing academia. Author of several dozen publications, her recent books are The Right to Water: Politics, Governance and Social Struggles (2012), Eating, Drinking: Surviving (2016) and Water Politics: Governance, Justice, and the Right to Water (2020). Dr. Sultana received the Glenda Laws Award from the American Association of Geographers for “outstanding contributions to geographic research on social issues” in 2019. She is Professor at Syracuse University, where she is also Research Director for Environmental Collaboration and Conflicts at the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflicts and Collaboration (PARCC).

Monday, March 21, 3:00-4:00 p.m. CST (4:00-5:00 p.m. EST)

Download event flier here (pdf).

Join the webinar at https://bit.ly/3rFy4pg

via Zoom and Facebook @oucis

Watch the event recording here.

Friday, February 11, 2022, 2:00-3:00 p.m. CST

Dr. Jayati Ghosh

Download the event flier here (pdf)

Watch the event recording here.

Multipolarity, US-China Relations and the Political Economy of Global Insecurity. A talk with Dr. Jeffrey D. Sachs, Columbia University and moderated by Dr. Firat Demir, L.J. Semrod Presidential Professor of Economics, University of Oklahoma. Wednesday, January 26 9-9:30 a.m. CST | via Zoom Join the event at https://oklahoma.zoom.us/j/96400036626. Jeffrey D. Sachs is Professor and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. He is President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and a commissioner of the UN Broadband Commission for Development. Sachs has been advisor to three United Nations Secretaries-General and currently serves as an SDG Advocate under Secretary-General António Guterres. He was twice named among Time’s 100 most influential world leaders and was ranked by the Economist among the top three most influential living economists..

Wednesday, January 26, 2022, 9:00-9:30 a.m. CST

Dr. Jeffrey D. Sachs, Columbia University

Download event flier here (pdf)

Watch the event recording here.

Identifying the Policy Levers that Generated Wage Suppression and Inequality in the U.S. with Dr. Josh Bivens Director of Research, Economic Policy Institute (EPI) Moderated by Dr. Daniele Tavani, Department of Economics, Colorado State University Friday, December 3 1-2 p.m. CST via Zoom and Facebook Live @oucis Join the webinar at https://bit.ly/3vRGvOU. Josh Bivens is the director of research at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). His areas of research include macroeconomics, fiscal and monetary policy, the economics of globalization, social insurance, and public investment. Bivens is the author of Failure by Design: The Story behind America’s Broken Economy (EPI; Cornell University Press) and Everybody Wins Except for Most of Us: What Economics Really Teaches About Globalization (EPI). He is the co-author of The State of Working America, 12th ed. (EPI; Cornell University Press) and co-editor of Good Jobs, Bad Jobs, No Jobs: Labor Markets and Informal Work in Egypt, El Salvador, India, Russia and South Africa (EPI).

Friday, December 3, 2021, 1:00-2:00 p.m. CDT

Dr. Josh Bivens

Director of Research, Economic Policy Institute (EPI)

Download event flier here (pdf).

Watch the event recording here.

Accessibility and Opportunity for All? An Evaluation of Industry Specific Employment Change in New Transit Service Areas with Dr. Joel Mendez, University of Kansas. Monday, November 15, 1:30-3 p.m., via Zoom. Please register for this webinar at https://bit.ly/3uF3Xhr.. Joel Mendez is an assistant professor in the University of Kansas Urban Planning Program. His teaching and research interests lie in the intersection between transportation, economic development, and social justice. His research efforts focus on 1) How cities can best address the needs of low-income, minority communities via investment in transportation alternatives and 2) How to effectively balance the pursuit and attainment of economic and social justice objectives via transportation infrastructure investment. For accommodation on the basis of disability contact stephaniesager@ou.edu..

Monday, November 15, 2021, 1:30-3:00 p.m. CDT

Dr. Joel Mendez

Assistant professor in the University of Kansas Urban Planning Program

Download event flier here (pdf).

Watch the event recording here.

The IMF and How Billions of People Can Benefit from a Simple, Costless Act of Congress (and Why You Should Care) with Dr. Mark Weisbrot Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research. Moderated by Firat Demir, L.J. Semrod Presidential Professor of Economics, University of Oklahoma. Thursday, October 14, 1-2 p.m. CDT via Zoom Join the webinar at https://bit.ly/3zJ4n7u or stream live on Facebook @oucis & @SICincontext.Dr. Mark Weisbrot is Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. He is author of the book Failed: What the “Experts” Got Wrong About the Global Economy (Oxford University Press, 2015), and has written numerous research papers on economic policy. His opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Guardian, and almost every major U.S. newspaper. For accommodation on the basis of disability contact stephaniesager@ou.edu..

Thursday, October 14, 2021, 1:00-2:00 p.m. CDT

The IMF and How Billions of People Can Benefit from a Simple, Costless Act of Congress (and Why You Should Care)

Download event flier here (pdf).

Watch the event recording here.

The OU Center for Peace & Development and Security in Context present Climate Change in an Unequal World The OU Center for Peace & Development and Security in Context present with James K. Boyce Emeritus Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst. Moderated by Firat Demir, L.J. Semrod Presidential Professor of Economics, University of Oklahoma. James K. Boyce is an emeritus professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is also a senior fellow at the Political Economy Research Institute. He isthe recipient of the 2017 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. He isthe author of 18 books, most recently The Casefor Carbon Dividends (2019, Polity Press) and Economics for People and the Planet: Inequality in the Era of Climate Change(2019, Anthem Press). Thursday, November 4 2-3 p.m. CST/3-4 p.m. EST via Zoom and Facebook Live @oucis Join this webinar at https://bit.ly/3kM38ie.For accommodation on the basis of disability contact stephaniesager@ou.edu..

November 4, 2021, 2:00-3:00 PM (CST)

Climate Change in an Unequal World

A discussion with James K. Boyce, Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Download event flier here (pdf).

Watch the event recording here.

Sewers and Social Justice: The OU Center for Peace & Development, OU Regional & City Planning, OU Center for Social Justice, and Security in Context present with Dr. Miriam Solis Assistant Professor of Community and Regional Planning, University of Texas at Austin. Miriam Solis, PhD, MCP, is Assistant Professor of Community and Regional Planning at the University of Texas at Austin. Herresearch focuses on how infrastructure can reinforce racialized inequality. She partners with nonprofit organizations and localgovernment to develop the organizationa l, procedural, and policy strategies that advance social justice. Raised in California’sCentral Valley, Dr. Solis is a first generation college graduate and the proud daughter of working-class Mexican immigrants.

Sewers and Social Justice

October 25, 2021, 1:30-3 PM (CST)

Sewers and Social Justice: Racial Equity and Climate Change Implications of Wastewater Planning in the United States

Download event flier here (pdf).

Watch the event recording here.

CUL TURAL ATTITUDE S ANDVACCINE RESISTANCE: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. CDT via Zoom Join the webinar at https://bit.ly/39p8eM8 In this lecture, coauthors Hsieh and Kramer discuss their recently published book, Rethinking Culture in HealthCommunication: Social Interaction as Intercultural Encounters , and its implications for health access and sustainability.The talk will specifically explain how U.S. cultural attitudes (i.e., perspectival, hypertrophic individualism) is notsustainable in the times of a pandemic before examining how an integral approach to health and culture may providesolutions. Integral approaches may have implications beyond public health and into issues of sustainability and justice.

Cultural Attitudes and Vaccine Resistance

In this lecture, coauthors Dr. Elaine Hsieh and Dr. Eric M. Kramer discuss their recently published book, Rethinking Culture in Health Communication: Social Interaction as Intercultural Encounters, and its implications for health access and sustainability.

Download event flier here (pdf).

Watch the event recording here.

Genocide and Healing A discussion with contributors to the book Art From Trauma. Speakers: Gerise Herndon Professor of English, Nebraska Wesleyan University Rangira (Béa) Gallimore Associate Professor Emerita of French, University of Missouri Margaret Jacobs Chancellor's Professor of History, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Heather Connell Filmmaker, Displaced Yankee Productions Anna Rocca Professor of World Languages and Cultures, Salem State University Genocide and Healing A discussion with contributors to the book Art From Trauma Wednesday, March 10, 1-2:30 p.m. CST Moderated by Kalenda Eaton, Associate Professor of African and African American Studies, University of Oklahoma Join the Zoom webinar at https://oklahoma.zoom.us/j/91422123830 or stream live on Facebook @oucis.

Wednesday, March 10, 2021, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM

Genocide and Healing: A discussion with contributors to the book Art From Trauma

A discussion with contributors to the book Art From Trauma.

Download event flier here (pdf).

Watch the event recording here.

The OU Center for Peace and Development and Security in Context Present Mega Dams and Human Insecurity in East Africa. A discussion with Edward (Jed) Stevenson, PhD MPH Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Durham University. Thursday, March 4 3 - 4:15 p.m. Join via Zoom or stream live on Facebook @oucis. Moderated by Daniel Mains, Associate Professor of Anthropology and African Studies, University of Oklahoma.

Thursday, March 4, 2021, 3:00 PM - 4:15 PM (CST)

Mega Dams and Human Insecurity in East Africa

A discussion with Dr. Edward (Jed) Stevenson, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Durham University.

Download event flier here (pdf).

Watch the event recording here.

The OU Center for Peace and Development and Security in Context Present:Self-Devouring Growth A lecture with Dr. Julie Livingston Silver Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and History at New York University, author of Self-Devouring Growth: A Planetary Parable as Told from Southern Africa (Duke University Press, 2019) Wednesday, February 24, 2-3 p.m. Zoom + Facebook Live @oucis Join Zoom webinar at https://oklahoma.zoom.us/s/92812186338. Moderated by Dr. Daniel Mains, Associate Professor of Anthropology and African Studies, University of Oklahoma. The lecture will be followed by a Q&A. Self-Devouring Growth A lecture with Dr. Julie Livingston Silver Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and History at New York University, author of Self-Devouring Growth: A Planetary Parable as Told from Southern Africa (Duke University Press, 2019) Wednesday, February 24, 2-3 p.m. Zoom + Facebook Live @oucis Join Zoom webinar at https://oklahoma.zoom.us/s/92812186338 The OU Center for Peace and Development and Security in Context Present: For accommodation on the basis of disability contact stephaniesager@ou.edu.

Wednesday, February 24, 2021, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM (CST)

Self-Devouring Growth

A lecture with Dr. Julie Livingston Silver, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and History at New York University.

Download event flier here (pdf).

Watch the event recording here.

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe discusses Women's Empowerment screenshot

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe on Women’s Empowerment in Uganda

Learn more about Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe's discussion

The OU Center for Peace and Development and Security in Context Present: Women, human Rights and Insecurity in Conflict and Post-Conflict Zones. A lecture with Dr. Izabela Steflja: Professional of Practice, Political Science & International development at Tulane University and co-auhor of women as War Criminals: Gender, Agency, and Justice (Stanford University Pressm 2020). Moderated by: Dr. Zermarie Deacon, Associate Professor of Human Relations, University of Oklahoma. The lecture will be followed by a Q&A. Friday, February 5, 2021 | 1-2 PM Zoom + Facebook Live @OUCIS.

Friday, February 5, 2021, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM CDT

Women, Human Rights and Insecurity in Conflict and Post-Conflict Zones

Dr. Izabela Steflja

Download event flier here (pdf).

Watch the event recording here.

Iranian Kurds and Kolberi Smugglers

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Dr. Ahmad Mohammadpou discuss the status of Iranian Kurds, nation states, and the Kolberi people. Hosted by Dr. Firat Demir.

Learn more about the Iranian Kurds and Kolberi Smugglers event