U.S. drone signature strikes: An often illegal “killing machine”
Legal scholar Kevin Jon Heller examines the legal and evidentiary justifications for U.S. "signature" strikes—drone attacks that target unknown individuals based on a behavioral pattern—and finds that both frequently fail to meet the requirements of international humanitarian law.
Read More »
Obituary: Stanley Dashew, advocate of international education at UCLA
Stanley A. Dashew, the inventor, entrepreneur and philanthropist who, with his wife, Rita, was instrumental in the founding of the Dashew Center for International Students and Scholars at UCLA, died April 25 in Los Angeles. He was 96.
Russia: A country too modern for its politics — A conversation with Daniel Treisman
Interviewed about contemporary Russian politics, UCLA Professor of Political Science Daniel Treisman says that economic modernization has already created classes of people impatient with Putin's paternalistic regime. These groups are not just in the big cities; discontent with the state's failure to deliver basic services is also palpable in the provinces.
Community language schools: A rich and diverse resource flying under the radar
The conference brought together teachers and administrators of community language schools with local faculty and graduate student researchers. Some 10,000 community schools exist in the U.S.
Empowering girls to achieve in Rwanda
A $1 million grant has been awarded to the UCLA African Studies Center (ASC) for a capacity-building partnership with the Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) of Rwanda.
How do you teach the Arab Spring?
A recent course on the Arab Spring taught by CMED Director Steven Spiegel invited specialists from around the country and UCLA to lecture on individual countries—some in person and some via a videoconferencing link.
A Global Student Forum
Global Insights
Perspectives on World Affairs at UCLA
Africa
- Scholar to bring to life migrants’ perilous crossings
This profile of African Studies Center Director Françoise Lionnet looks at her upcoming presentation on historical and present-day migration and draws attention to the current phenomenon of African "boat people" — individuals from northern and western Africa in search of a better life who try to make the dangerous trip between the two continents in small boats. Lionnet delivers UCLA’s 114th Faculty Research Lecture in Schoenberg Hall on April 15, 2013, at 3 pm.
Posted: 4/15/2013 - Empowering girls to achieve in Rwanda
A $1 million grant has been awarded to the UCLA African Studies Center (ASC) for a capacity-building partnership with the Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) of Rwanda.
Posted: 3/25/2013 - Cancelled - Rwandan President Paul Kagame to speak at UCLA
Due to unexpected last minute changes on the United Nations General Assembly program, President Paul Kagame regrets that he is unable to visit UCLA on September 28, 2012, and deliver his planned lecture. His visit to UCLA may take place at a future date, though no further details are available at this point.
Posted: 8/30/2012 - ASC director releases two new books, raises profile of life and literature in Mauritius
With a land mass only about 1.5 times that of Los Angeles, this island nation packs a real punch when it comes to the creation of art, literature, music and culture, says Professor Françoise Lionnet
Posted: 8/24/2012 - 2012 Charles E. Young Humanitarian Awards go to three outstanding UCLA students
International development student among recipients
Posted: 5/3/2012
Asia
- The post-Fukushima world: Interconnected and fragile
Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, former Chairman of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (2011–2012), and Professor Hitoshi Abe, Director of the UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, addressed different aspects of the post-Fukushima world in a symposium on March 22, 2013.
Posted: 3/27/2013 - East meets west in a portrait: A conversation with Korean art scholar Burglind Jungmann
UCLA Professor Burglind Jungmann, a member of the core faculty of the Center for Korean Studies, speaks about her work and Rubens's drawing, "Man in Korean Costume," on exhibit at the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Posted: 3/25/2013 - Moving Forward: Life after the Great East Japan Earthquake - Global Agenda in Post Fukushima & Reconstruction Efforts of Japanese Architects
"Fukushima Nuclear Accident awakened us." -- Come listen to Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa on March 22 as he gives his thought and experiences while acting as the Chair of the Independent Investigation Commission by the National Diet of Japan. Immediately following is a colloquium about the numerous reconstruction efforts of Japanese architects during the past two years.
Posted: 2/14/2013 - METAMORPHOSIS - Film by Jun Hori (Feb. 28 from 2pm)
Documentary about the nuclear situation in the U.S. and Japan
Posted: 2/13/2013 - Accolades for Collected Works of Korean Buddhism
The Jogye Order’s “The Collected Works of Korean Buddhism” series has appeared on a list of “The Best Buddhist Books of 2012” published by The Buddhadharma magazine. Robert Buswell (Irving and Jean Stone Endowed Chair in Humanities, Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies, and Director of the Center for Buddhist Studies) served as chair of the English Editorial Board for the series as well as a translator and editor.
Posted: 1/28/2013
Europe and Eurasia
- Russia: A country too modern for its politics — A conversation with Daniel Treisman
Interviewed about contemporary Russian politics, UCLA Professor of Political Science Daniel Treisman says that economic modernization has already created classes of people impatient with Putin's paternalistic regime. These groups are not just in the big cities; discontent with the state's failure to deliver basic services is also palpable in the provinces.
Posted: 4/23/2013 - Stalin: Meticulous with His Word, Shaper of Faulty Information Systems
Historians Sarah Davies and James Harris spoke about their recent research in Stalin’s personal archive, discussing how the Soviet dictator used words and the way in which he processed incoming information, respectively.
Posted: 4/10/2013 - East meets west in a portrait: A conversation with Korean art scholar Burglind Jungmann
UCLA Professor Burglind Jungmann, a member of the core faculty of the Center for Korean Studies, speaks about her work and Rubens's drawing, "Man in Korean Costume," on exhibit at the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Posted: 3/25/2013 - Stanley Kramer’s political critique of the Nuremberg Trials
Author and scholar Elisabeth Bronfen discusses a chapter from her book Specters of War: Hollywood's Engagement with Military Conflict, explaining how Stanley Kramer uses film to critique the Nuremberg trials.
Posted: 3/14/2013 - Film series builds human rights community at UCLA
Los Angeles is a movie town, so it’s no surprise that it’s filled with film festivals and documentary screenings, but even amidst all the variety the only L.A. film series you’ll find focused on human rights is at UCLA.
Posted: 2/7/2013
Latin America
- Key policy makers and scholars discuss causes and consequences of drug-related violence in Latin America
WATCH: Video footage from two-day conference on organized crime, corruption and drug trafficking in Latin America.
Posted: 4/8/2013 - Cinema According to Nelson Pereira dos Santos
A series of films directed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos
Posted: 3/26/2013 - Reveal the truth, but don’t hit people over the head with it!
Author and Los Angeles Times journalist Hector Tobar discusses immigration and the Latin American experience in his works.
Posted: 3/21/2013 - Culture matters, especially in medicine
A Latin America Institute symposium finds that culture greatly influences how indigenous communities in Mexico, Central and South America experience Western medicine.
Posted: 3/14/2013 - K-12 Teacher Workshop on Mexican Corridos
"Ballads Without Borders: The Mexican Corrido Past & Present" will examine the history, development and significance of one of Mexico's most popular and enduring oral traditions.
Posted: 2/26/2013
Middle East
- People need a platform of rights that cannot be taken away
Journalist, businesswoman and humanitarian Princess Basmah bint Saud spoke about her proposed "Fourth Way" at lecture sponsored by the UCLA Center for Middle East Development.
Posted: 4/23/2013 - A Deal with Iran is Possible, Peace is Not
The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is not irrational—the current regime needs conflict with the United States to perpetuate itself in power, said Professor Mansour Farhang. He advised the United States to reach an implicit understanding with the regime that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons.
Posted: 4/9/2013 - How do you teach the Arab Spring?
A recent course on the Arab Spring taught by CMED Director Steven Spiegel invited specialists from around the country and UCLA to lecture on individual countries—some in person and some via a videoconferencing link.
Posted: 4/1/2013 - Introducing young students to Arabic, Persian and Turkish
The UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies is launching the “Listen to Learn” website to introduce American students to critical Middle Eastern languages.
Posted: 3/27/2013 - Israel in all of its complexity
Israeli journalist Natasha Mozgovaya highlighted Prime Minister Netanyahu’s stinging setback in the January 2013 parliamentary elections and a new political focus on simmering domestic issues.
Posted: 3/14/2013
Global Issues
- U.S. drone signature strikes: An often illegal “killing machine”
Legal scholar Kevin Jon Heller examines the legal and evidentiary justifications for U.S. "signature" strikes—drone attacks that target unknown individuals based on a behavioral pattern—and finds that both frequently fail to meet the requirements of international humanitarian law.
Posted: 4/11/2013 - Introducing young students to Arabic, Persian and Turkish
The UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies is launching the “Listen to Learn” website to introduce American students to critical Middle Eastern languages.
Posted: 3/27/2013 - The post-Fukushima world: Interconnected and fragile
Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, former Chairman of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (2011–2012), and Professor Hitoshi Abe, Director of the UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, addressed different aspects of the post-Fukushima world in a symposium on March 22, 2013.
Posted: 3/27/2013 - UCLA's popularity continues to grow among international students
UCLA's reputation as a top university for international students has been recognized once again with the release of Open Doors, an annual round-up published by the Institute of International Education, the leading not-for-profit educational and cultural exchange organization in the United States.
Posted: 11/16/2012 - Obama’s second term may mean stronger hand in foreign policy: Daily Bruin Op-Ed by Burkle Center Director Kal Raustiala
As in domestic policy, of course, the president does not hold all the foreign policy cards. But areas such as these are largely in the hands of the president, and we can expect Obama, having completed his last electoral campaign, to be more active, more engaged and perhaps more daring in the four years to come.
Posted: 11/8/2012
Arts & Culture
- Community language schools: A rich and diverse resource flying under the radar
The conference brought together teachers and administrators of community language schools with local faculty and graduate student researchers. Some 10,000 community schools exist in the U.S.
Posted: 4/22/2013 - East meets west in a portrait: A conversation with Korean art scholar Burglind Jungmann
UCLA Professor Burglind Jungmann, a member of the core faculty of the Center for Korean Studies, speaks about her work and Rubens's drawing, "Man in Korean Costume," on exhibit at the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Posted: 3/25/2013 - Reveal the truth, but don’t hit people over the head with it!
Author and Los Angeles Times journalist Hector Tobar discusses immigration and the Latin American experience in his works.
Posted: 3/21/2013 - Culture matters, especially in medicine
A Latin America Institute symposium finds that culture greatly influences how indigenous communities in Mexico, Central and South America experience Western medicine.
Posted: 3/14/2013 - Stanley Kramer’s political critique of the Nuremberg Trials
Author and scholar Elisabeth Bronfen discusses a chapter from her book Specters of War: Hollywood's Engagement with Military Conflict, explaining how Stanley Kramer uses film to critique the Nuremberg trials.
Posted: 3/14/2013
Economy & Trade
- Key policy makers and scholars discuss causes and consequences of drug-related violence in Latin America
WATCH: Video footage from two-day conference on organized crime, corruption and drug trafficking in Latin America.
Posted: 4/8/2013 - "A Raft of Asian Issues" op-ed by Senior Fellow Kantathi Suphamongkhon
Senior Fellow Kantathi Suphamongkhon discusses a series of Asian issues in light of President Obama's trip to Southeast Asia following his re-election.
Posted: 11/19/2012 - Tokyo's Mad Men: New UCLA book explores antics of Japanese avant-garde in 1960s
They threw random possessions off rooftops, made printed copies of Japanese currency and perpetrated odd "happenings" in commuter trains that left Tokyo residents scratching their heads.
Posted: 11/16/2012 - James Gelvin to Participate in Istanbul World Forum
Professor James Gelvin has been invited to the First Istanbul World Forum.
Posted: 10/10/2012 - Grad shares insight into how Olympic Games changed a nation
UCLA Center for Korean Studies and The Korea Times-Hankook Ilbo Endowment for Contemporary Korean Studies launches new lecture series that aims to bring prominent speakers to campus to share their expertise on current issues of great interest to both Korean-Americans and non-Koreans.
Posted: 3/19/2012
Education & Outreach
- Community language schools: A rich and diverse resource flying under the radar
The conference brought together teachers and administrators of community language schools with local faculty and graduate student researchers. Some 10,000 community schools exist in the U.S.
Posted: 4/22/2013 - Introducing young students to Arabic, Persian and Turkish
The UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies is launching the “Listen to Learn” website to introduce American students to critical Middle Eastern languages.
Posted: 3/27/2013 - Empowering girls to achieve in Rwanda
A $1 million grant has been awarded to the UCLA African Studies Center (ASC) for a capacity-building partnership with the Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) of Rwanda.
Posted: 3/25/2013 - K-12 Teacher Workshop on Mexican Corridos
"Ballads Without Borders: The Mexican Corrido Past & Present" will examine the history, development and significance of one of Mexico's most popular and enduring oral traditions.
Posted: 2/26/2013 - Students, faculty, staff, and donors come together to celebrate the New Year at the Terasaki Center Annual Shinnenkai
Posted: 1/28/2013
Environment
- The post-Fukushima world: Interconnected and fragile
Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, former Chairman of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (2011–2012), and Professor Hitoshi Abe, Director of the UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, addressed different aspects of the post-Fukushima world in a symposium on March 22, 2013.
Posted: 3/27/2013 - Moving Forward: Life after the Great East Japan Earthquake - Global Agenda in Post Fukushima & Reconstruction Efforts of Japanese Architects
"Fukushima Nuclear Accident awakened us." -- Come listen to Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa on March 22 as he gives his thought and experiences while acting as the Chair of the Independent Investigation Commission by the National Diet of Japan. Immediately following is a colloquium about the numerous reconstruction efforts of Japanese architects during the past two years.
Posted: 2/14/2013 - James Gelvin to Participate in Istanbul World Forum
Professor James Gelvin has been invited to the First Istanbul World Forum.
Posted: 10/10/2012 - Marine biology researchers adapt Billy Joel hit to explain their work
In Billy Joel’s “For the Longest Time,” a once-burned narrator sings about the woman who taught him how to love again. Somehow, a group of UCLA student researchers skillfully managed to turn these “love” lyrics inside out to reflect their own passion — for evolutionary biology and marine biodiversity.
Posted: 9/5/2012 - CERC-LA awarded EcoPartnership by U.S. Department of State
UCLA's Clean Energy Research Center - Los Angeles (CERC-LA) is awarded a U.S.-China EcoPartnership by U.S. Department of State. May 3, 2012
Posted: 5/29/2012
Globalization
- People need a platform of rights that cannot be taken away
Journalist, businesswoman and humanitarian Princess Basmah bint Saud spoke about her proposed "Fourth Way" at lecture sponsored by the UCLA Center for Middle East Development.
Posted: 4/23/2013 - The post-Fukushima world: Interconnected and fragile
Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, former Chairman of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (2011–2012), and Professor Hitoshi Abe, Director of the UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, addressed different aspects of the post-Fukushima world in a symposium on March 22, 2013.
Posted: 3/27/2013 - Moving Forward: Life after the Great East Japan Earthquake - Global Agenda in Post Fukushima & Reconstruction Efforts of Japanese Architects
"Fukushima Nuclear Accident awakened us." -- Come listen to Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa on March 22 as he gives his thought and experiences while acting as the Chair of the Independent Investigation Commission by the National Diet of Japan. Immediately following is a colloquium about the numerous reconstruction efforts of Japanese architects during the past two years.
Posted: 2/14/2013 - Migrant Workers in the Middle East: Calling Awareness to Legalized Abuses of Human Rights
Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, speaks on migrant worker abuse in the Middle East.
Posted: 10/24/2012 - James Gelvin to Participate in Istanbul World Forum
Professor James Gelvin has been invited to the First Istanbul World Forum.
Posted: 10/10/2012
Health
- Culture matters, especially in medicine
A Latin America Institute symposium finds that culture greatly influences how indigenous communities in Mexico, Central and South America experience Western medicine.
Posted: 3/14/2013 - Pioneer in HIV/AIDS research works on a global scale
When he was an undergraduate student at Harvard University in 1958, Roger Detels spent three months as an exchange student in Kanazawa, Japan. As one of the first few Americans in Kanazawa after the war, Detels — today a UCLA distinguished professor of epidemiology and infectious diseases — still recalls with amusement many of his experiences with his Japanese host family.
Posted: 11/8/2012 - James Gelvin to Participate in Istanbul World Forum
Professor James Gelvin has been invited to the First Istanbul World Forum.
Posted: 10/10/2012 - Curbing tobacco use by growing less
UCLA researcher initiates successful crop substitution project in tobacco-rich China
Posted: 8/13/2012 - Young scientists earn summer scholarships to Peking University
Ten-week program offers valuable research opportunities and cultural experiences
Posted: 5/18/2012
History & Society
- Two UCLA faculty awarded Guggenheim Fellowships
Posted: 4/24/2013 - Nile Green, director of the Program on Central Asia, wins second book prize
Posted: 4/22/2013 - Scholar to bring to life migrants’ perilous crossings
This profile of African Studies Center Director Françoise Lionnet looks at her upcoming presentation on historical and present-day migration and draws attention to the current phenomenon of African "boat people" — individuals from northern and western Africa in search of a better life who try to make the dangerous trip between the two continents in small boats. Lionnet delivers UCLA’s 114th Faculty Research Lecture in Schoenberg Hall on April 15, 2013, at 3 pm.
Posted: 4/15/2013 - The Complicated Lives of Gay Men in South Korea
According to anthropologist John Cho, single gay men in South Korea retreated from gay life in the wake of the 1997 Asian banking crisis and began to concentrate on making money, while married gay men became much more active in the gay community.
Posted: 4/10/2013 - Profile of Nile Green
This engaging portrait of UCLA History Professor Nile Green, who is the director of the Program on Central Asia, was published in the Winter 2013 edition of "The UCLA College Report," a publication of the College of Letters and Science.
Posted: 4/5/2013
Politics & International Relations
- People need a platform of rights that cannot be taken away
Journalist, businesswoman and humanitarian Princess Basmah bint Saud spoke about her proposed "Fourth Way" at lecture sponsored by the UCLA Center for Middle East Development.
Posted: 4/23/2013 - Russia: A country too modern for its politics — A conversation with Daniel Treisman
Interviewed about contemporary Russian politics, UCLA Professor of Political Science Daniel Treisman says that economic modernization has already created classes of people impatient with Putin's paternalistic regime. These groups are not just in the big cities; discontent with the state's failure to deliver basic services is also palpable in the provinces.
Posted: 4/23/2013 - U.S. drone signature strikes: An often illegal “killing machine”
Legal scholar Kevin Jon Heller examines the legal and evidentiary justifications for U.S. "signature" strikes—drone attacks that target unknown individuals based on a behavioral pattern—and finds that both frequently fail to meet the requirements of international humanitarian law.
Posted: 4/11/2013 - Stalin: Meticulous with His Word, Shaper of Faulty Information Systems
Historians Sarah Davies and James Harris spoke about their recent research in Stalin’s personal archive, discussing how the Soviet dictator used words and the way in which he processed incoming information, respectively.
Posted: 4/10/2013 - A Deal with Iran is Possible, Peace is Not
The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is not irrational—the current regime needs conflict with the United States to perpetuate itself in power, said Professor Mansour Farhang. He advised the United States to reach an implicit understanding with the regime that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons.
Posted: 4/9/2013
Security
- U.S. drone signature strikes: An often illegal “killing machine”
Legal scholar Kevin Jon Heller examines the legal and evidentiary justifications for U.S. "signature" strikes—drone attacks that target unknown individuals based on a behavioral pattern—and finds that both frequently fail to meet the requirements of international humanitarian law.
Posted: 4/11/2013 - A Deal with Iran is Possible, Peace is Not
The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is not irrational—the current regime needs conflict with the United States to perpetuate itself in power, said Professor Mansour Farhang. He advised the United States to reach an implicit understanding with the regime that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons.
Posted: 4/9/2013 - Key policy makers and scholars discuss causes and consequences of drug-related violence in Latin America
WATCH: Video footage from two-day conference on organized crime, corruption and drug trafficking in Latin America.
Posted: 4/8/2013 - Burkle Center Fellow Tony Camerino lends expertise to NPR's Article "Report On CIA Interrogation Tactics Revives Torture Debate"
Burkle Center Fellow Tony Camerino comments on use and utility of coercive interrogation.
Posted: 12/18/2012 - Burkle Center Director Kal Raustiala discusses a recent border patrol shooting at the Mexican border
Experts say there’s little that can be done to stop the violence, given the delicacies of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the fact that no international law specifically covers such instances.
Posted: 11/14/2012
