News & Notables

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.

The World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts presented an Instant Issues event featuring Dr. Gregory White, Mary Huggins Gamble Professor of Government; Chair of Environmental Science and Policy at Smith College. Date: September18, 2023 - Springfield, MA.

While the return to in-person events is exciting, it is also daunting. We're committed to trying our best to make attendees feel as safe as possible. Toward that end we plan to put in place the following protocols.

Journalist  Lisa Napoli  will speak at an Instant Issues Online event Thursday, May 28 from 1:00-1:30 PM on her new book  Up All Night: Ted Turner, CNN, and the Birth of 24-Hour News. This event is free.  Register online here.  In over three decades as a journalist, Lisa Napoli covered presidential campaigns, a hostage standoff,   an outdoor hacker convention   and the culture of technology, all at a wide variety of news outlets (some which no longer exist) including the   New York Times CyberTimes ,   MSNBC, and the public radio show Marketplace. For five years, she also covered arts and culture at   KCRW. Her first book,   Radio Shangri-La  , is about the impact of media culture on the Kingdom of Bhutan, where she was invited to help start a radio station at the dawn of democratic rule.  Ray & Joan  is about the late philanthropist Joan Kroc and her husband, the founding chairman of the McDonald’s corporation. Lisa is the founding board president of the Bhutan Media Service, an all-volunteer news outlet created by Bhutanese refugees in diaspora. Copies of Up All Night are available for purchase here. The Instant Issues series is generously sponsored by    Glenmeadow Greenfield Savings Bank     Wilbraham & Monson Academy Sir Speedy

Our speaker will be financial advisor Charlie Epstein on The Coronavirus Playbook - Where Do We Go From Here .

Dr. Vincent Ferraro, Professor of Politics, Emeritus of Mount Holyoke College, will speak at an Instant Issues brown bag lunchtime discussion series event on America and the Middle East: Will the Wars Ever End?

Enjoy sampling Chinese cuisine with members and friends of the World Affairs Council. Socializing at 6:00 pm Cash bar. Dinner at 6:00 pm Menu coming soon. Parking in municipal lot across from restaurant Seating is limited. Please register quickly.

Dr. Michael T. Klare, Five College professor emeritus of peace and world security studies, and director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies, will speak at an Instant Issues brown bag lunchtime discussion series event on on his new book, All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon's Perspective on Climate Change.

Dr. Sara Newland, Assistant Professor of Government at Smith College , will speak at an Instant Issues brown bag lunchtime discussion series event on ongoing protests in Hong Kong on Thursday, January 30, 2020 at noon in the 3rd Floor Community Room of the MassLive Building at 1350 Main Street, in downtown Springfield.