Fall 2021 – Global issues

Thursday, September 9, 7:00pm
BH 102 (Baldwin Little Theater)
Recording: https://zoom.us/rec/share/8eLs6H-gFIS6c2RnwKLsiLMZn1y7b1at8X_mL51F-DEB1I_FgJXfJbV3v9_0hBfT.dfxmX_swluyhiGa9

John James Quinn, Professor of Political Science, Truman State University
The Resource Curse Undermined: Majority State Ownership of Mining or Oil in Africa

Developing countries with mineral or petroleum exporting sectors have generally featured lower incomes, lower growth, less diversification of their economies, lower levels of democracy, and even more civil strife and war. This is often referred to as “the mineral resource curse.” This project examines the role of majority state ownership of these mining or oil exporting sectors on these outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa from 1966-2000. Using cross section and a matched case study approach, it seems that resource curse outcomes or more prevalent and stronger in countries which had featured majority state ownership of these sectors. This does not suggested that the lack of MSO makes these outcomes completely disappear, but it seems the best performers do not have MSO and the worst performers do, and the averaged data tells a similar story.

Thursday, October 21, 7:00pm
Recording: https://zoom.us/rec/share/SD0QBi2oVmEZfJXTtYEtodGU9VJ_ziynOyjFFhsurdNzQLzO28i0sO-ZhiiAcQDr.xV20IImyAhuMCY5Z

Fibers artist Nazanin Amiri Meers will create an immersive installation for the University Art Gallery open October 19-December 2, 2021. A Million Miles Away contemplates cross-cultural experiences of space. By incorporating elements of Iranian architecture that reflect Islamic beliefs including screens and abstract geometric patterning, her work contemplates the concepts of privacy and quietude often emphasized in Islamic architecture but lacking in American architecture. Her work asks the viewer to examine the distinctions between and value of public and private space. Amiri Meers studied Textile Design and Print in Iran and received her MA in Design Technology in Malaysia in 2009. She immigrated to the United State in 2014 and earned an MFA in Fiber Arts at the University of Kansas. Her visit is co-sponsored with the University Art Gallery. Nazanin Amiri Meers

Thursday, November 11, 7:00pm
MG2001
Recording: https://zoom.us/rec/play/1LyidCt0C6kpnIMfE0kOlccNV5k1TYOSZbnPFmd_2faQHI6E2NK5aW82FkytNJ3WcxzWCYOkm5mTFAGB.uTaYoZQ36bz8Usxc?_x_zm_rhtaid=519&_x_zm_rtaid=VDMgDzReQWmqaZotqerfqw.1636734780976.fea5037efd8a1801366a40b69d6b45bd&autoplay=true&continueMode=true&startTime=1636679051000

Taner Edis
Professor of Physics, Truman State University
Why Rationality Won’t Save the World

With a global pandemic and environmental crisis, slogans like “trust the science” and proposals of rule by experts have become more visible. A better understanding of the facts and rational behavior are our best hopes. Rationality, however, is more complicated and more context-dependent than we often appreciate. Beliefs have associated costs. When we account for these costs, we find that in some common situations, such as nationalist or traditionally religious environments, belief in some falsehoods can become instrumentally rational. Rationality alone is unlikely to promote adequate solutions to global problems.