WACWM News & Notables

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.

Protocols for return to in-person events

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. 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 . Signed copies of Up All Night will be available for purchase online. The Instant Issues series is generously sponsored by Glenmeadow Greenfield Savings Bank Wilbraham & Monson Academy Sir Speedy

We will be presenting our first Instant Issues Online event this Monday, May 11, 2020 from 12:30 to 1:00 PM. Our speaker will be financial advisor Charlie Epstein on The Coronavirus Playbook - Where Do We Go From Here . This is event is free, but you must register online to participate. Charlie Epstein founded Epstein Financial Services in 1981. As The 401k Coach he has been recognized nationally as one of the industry’s most influential individuals. Charlie established the Family Business Center in Amherst. He has appeared on Fox Business and many local media outlets. The Instant Issues series is generously sponsored by Glenmeadow Greenfield Savings Bank Wilbraham & Monson Academy Sir Speedy Special thanks to John Perez, Principal Consilium Opis for hosting this event

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? on Tuesday, March 3, 2020 in the 3rd Floor Community Room of the MassLive Building at 1350 Main Street, in downtown Springfield. The Instant Issues series is generously sponsored by Wilbraham & Monson Academy, Glenmeadow, Greenfield Savings Bank, & Sir Speedy Special thanks to NAI Plotkin

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 on Thursday, February 20, 2020 in the 3rd Floor Community Room of the MassLive Building at 1350 Main Street, in downtown Springfield Michael Klare, Five College professor emeritus of peace and world security studies, and director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies (PAWSS), has written widely on U.S. military policy, international peace and security affairs, the global arms trade, and global resource politics. His books include Resource Wars, Blood and Oil, and The Race for What's Left. His articles have appeared in many journals, including Arms Control Today, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Current History, Foreign Affairs, Harper's, The Nation, Scientific American, and Technology Review. Klare serves on the board of the Arms Control Association and advises other organizations in the field. The Instant Issues series is generously sponsored by Wilbraham & Monson Academy, Glenmeadow, Greenfield Savings Bank, & Sir Speedy Special thanks to NAI Plotkin

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. Sara Newland studies local politics in China and Taiwan. She has conducted research on public goods and services in rural China, collaboration between civil society organizations and the local state, local government responsiveness in Taiwan, ethnic politics and political science pedagogy. She teaches courses on China, East Asia and comparative politics (with a focus on authoritarian regimes and the developing world). She is an associate in research at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard. Previously, she was an assistant professor of political science at Villanova University and a China public policy postdoctoral fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School. The Instant Issues series is generously sponsored by Wilbraham & Monson Academy, Glenmeadow, Greenfield Savings Bank, & Sir Speedy Special thanks to NAI Plotkin

Sue C. Root, longtime Executive Director of the World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts, passed away on November 5th after a battle with Alzheimer's Disease.

The World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts is pleased to announce that Dr. Katherine Brown, President and CEO of Global Ties US , will speak on her new book, Your Country, Our War: The Press and Diplomacy in Afghanistan (Oxford University Press, 2019), at our 93rd Annual Meeting & Dinner or Wednesday, October 2 at the Springfield Sheraton Hotel.

Ambassador Mark G. Hambley , trustee of the Next Century Foundation , will speak at an Instant Issues brown bag lunchtime discussion series event on Monday, March 25, 2019 in the 3rd Floor Community Room of the MassLive Building at 1350 Main Street, in downtown Springfield on Update on Yemen: Is Peace Finally at Hand?

The World Affairs Council will present State Senator Eric Lesser in conversation with Dr. Joshua Weiss , program director for Bay Path’s Master of Science in Leadership and Negotiation, at an Instant Issues After Hours event on Tuesday, January 29, 2019.

Alejandro Velasco is a historian of modern Latin America whose research and teaching interests are in the areas of social movements, urban culture and democratization.