2022 Q1 Quarterly Newsletter – Read all about it!
Welcome to our first quarterly newsletter!
We hope that you will enjoy hearing all about how you have helped to impact this beautiful region throughout the year in a newsletter. We have much to share with you!
Since COVID-19 shut down the world and all in person activities for the World Affairs Council – Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky, we were so thrilled to begin interacting directly with students and international visitors more just this past quarter. Some of the biggest highlights from January, February, and March include:
- Welcoming our new staff member, Ahmed Fahad, International Programs Associate
- Celebrating 2021 impact with our community at our annual meeting
- Our first in person exchange through the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) with a delegation from Pakistan discussing Capacity Building of Social Media Professionals
- Our first in person education program in partnership with NKU’s DreamFest
- Staff attended the first in person conference with our national network, Global Ties U.S.
Thank you for sticking with us during this unprecedented time in our world. We couldn’t do this without you!
Check out some of the details below and read all about it!
Exchange Programs
The World Affairs Council – Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky is the local partner for the U.S. Department of State’s premier exchange program, the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). Before we started hosting in-person IVLP groups, the Council continued its virtual exchange programming and hosted several virtual programs in February and March. The first in-person program occurred this past March, a full 2 years since the last time we hosted in-person exchanges!! Following is a short description to each of those in-person and virtual projects:
- In February, a delegation from across Europe joined us virtually to look deeper at the theme of “Countering Holocaust Distortion and Denial.” Jointly with the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, the meeting focused on opening archival resources and museum programming to maximize public access, exploring the use of multimedia tools, crowdsourcing, and storytelling to present accurate Holocaust history and combat anti-Semitism, with an emphasis on scalable models for organizations of different sizes and budgets. The delegates had the opportunity to meet with Dahlia Fisher from the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage and Sarah Weiss, the executive director of the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust and Humanity Center.
- In early March, the Council jointly with the International Visitors Council of Columbus focused on planning an exchange on the theme of “Transparency and Accountability in Government”. The participants, who represented different countries across South America, discussed topics related to good governance, ethical standards, and accountability at the local, state, and federal levels. Ohio speakers included former Ohio State Rep. Michael Curtin, Cincinnati Public Radio representative and Ohio Ethics Commission / Ohio State Inspector General .
- Also in March, we conducted our third virtual exchange with delegates from Africa and South America on the topic of “Emerging Leaders – Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development”. The participants met with Mr. Jeremy Worley, Client Relations Manager of the Kentucky Tri-County Economic Development Corporation and discussed best practices in promoting and advancing economic development at the regional and state levels through public-private partnerships.
Finally, we went had our first exchange program in-person in our region!!
- In late March, the Council received the first in-person IVLP delegation since March 2020. The project focused on “Capacity Building of Social Media Professionals” with international guests from Pakistan. The visitors were a group of media professionals learning about strategies for creating a safe and responsible digital space, countering disinformation, online extremism and cyber-harassment, as well as strategies for self-branding and building a following on social media. The group met with the Department of Journalism at University of Cincinnati, Together Digital’s NGO chapter of Cincinnati, and the Xavier University’s Communication Department. During the last day, the group attended and observed a class on women and social media at the UC’s Department of Political Science.
Global Education Programs
The Council launched a monthly teacher professional development series in 2022! Following our “Your Future in the World” International Education Summit this past fall, we chose to focus on teachers to help their students develop the global competency skills they will need for a successful future with free, virtual workshops. In the first quarter, the topics for the series were:
- Using Inquiry-Based Learning to Teach Global Topics
- The Power of Storytelling in Communicating Ideas
- Educating for the Global World of Work
These sessions are based on the Asia Society and EdStep’s Global Competency Matrix and Battelle for Kids Framework for 21st Century Learning. We also examined the C3 Framework for Social Studies plus other state and national standards in various academic disciplines. You can read more about it and watch the videos here:
- January: Using Inquiry Learning to Teach Global Topics – WAC held its first teacher professional development session of the year on January 20th, as teachers and university education professionals from over 10 different schools gathered to learn more about using inquiry-based learning methods in the classroom. The goal of the session was to learn more about how inquiry practices can help students “investigate the world” around them, a key domain from the Asia Society’s framework on global competency, and to demystify the process of inquiry, which has become a buzzword in education circles. One attendee commented, “Even though I had little prior knowledge, the presenter assured us that it was ok to be new [and] she met us where we were.” We hope this session encourages teachers to take the next step in their inquiry journeys! You can watch a recording of this session here.
- February: The Power of Storytelling in Communicating Ideas – In February, the Council’s professional development session included a discussion on how to implement student voice and expression into the classroom with special guests: Dr. Kate Carlier Currie of MakeTank Inc. and Spring Starr Pillow of WordPlay Cincinnati. Dr. Currie discussed her Illustrated Memoirs project, which engages newly arrived refugee and immigrant high school students to write and illustrate true stories from their lives. This process in helping students become published authors develops their self-confidence and encourages them to share their stories. Ms. Pillow discussed WordPlay’s numerous programs and workshops that are available to educators and led participants though a mindfulness exercise to demonstrate how she warms up with student sessions and creates a safe environment for students to share their stories. You can watch a recording of this session here.
- March: Educating for the Global World of Work – In March, the Council’s professional development session included a discussion on ways in which to bring career exploration into your subject area and highlight enrichment opportunities available for students to set themselves up for success with special guests: Heather Ackels of INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati, Jeff Brokamp of Junior Achievement, and Cassandra Palsgrove of Ohio Department of Education. Each speaker highlighted opportunities for students to take advantage of to increase their success in working around the world including Ohio Means Jobs and readiness seals. You can watch a recording of this session here.
In addition to the professional development opportunities, the council hosted these global education programs for adult and student learners:
- January: Great Decisions/OLLI: Climate Change – Adult learners from the University of Cincinnati Osher Lifelong Learning Institute met for the first of four foreign policy discussions in partnership with the World Affairs Council of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky and the Foreign Policy Association’s Great Decisions Program. In this month’s focus on climate change policy, Padmakar Niskode’ represented the Council in sharing some eye-opening statistics on the state of climate policy and how it represents a foreign policy consideration for the United States. Oliver Kroner, Sustainability Manager from the City of Cincinnati’s Office of Environment and Sustainability served as the keynote speaker, sharing insights on the city’s climate concerns and how Cincinnati is paving the way for a greener future through initiatives such as 2030 Districts and the Green Cincinnati Plan.
- March: NKU’s Annual DreamFest – On March 8, The Council presented a session for Northern Kentucky University’s annual DreamFest conference for gifted middle school students. Over 30 students from 10 different Northern Kentucky schools participated in our session titled Delegate for a Day: Using Diplomacy to Improve Schools Around the World. Students participated in activities modeled after Model United Nations simulations in order to determine how to remove barriers to a quality education. Students proposed policy changes such as innovative teacher training, access to school lunch, elimination of school fees, and more. We were excited to hear the students’ creative solutions to this global challenge and we look forward to participating in next year’s conference.
Council Events
The World Affairs Council was thrilled to start the year off strong with a series of 5 public events in the first quarter of the year that were attended by 307 community members. These events included our Annual Meeting where we reviewed community successes from 2021 and a few teasers to look forward to in 2022. In February, we continued our series of monthly webinars featuring local and national experts as well as introduced a new partnership event series called “Small World Café” with our colleagues at the Gulf Coast Diplomacy in Florida. Please see below for highlights from these programs:
- Annual Meeting: 2021 was a challenging year, the World Affairs Council continued our virtual learning opportunities for students and teachers; expanded our use of virtual exchanges; and continued to provide webinars with foreign affairs speakers. Having this time to share our impact and continued work in our community is a highlight of our event calendar. Despite the uncertainty, we remain committed to serving our community and helping to diminish boundaries and are looking forward to a year of expanded programming as we begin our return to in-person programming!
- Clear skies at last: Is 2022 the year the aviation industry makes its return? – In this event we explored if the year of the Tiger could be the year the aviation industry makes a roaring comeback? Few industries have had to manage the logistical and health challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought as directly and constantly as Airports and Airlines. With varying international restrictions, remote work changing the nature of business travel, and the pandemic continuing to affect how we travel for leisure and for business, we discussed the outlook for the future of air travel. Our panel of airport experts explored what trends in the airport/airline industry are here to stay, which we might say goodbye to in 2022, and what learning to live with COVID-19 means for travel. We also had a sneak peek at some of the latest innovations happening at two leading U.S. airports.
- Small World Café: Healing our Divides – Partnering with our sister chapter, Gulf Coast Diplomacy, we started a virtual event series to bring our communities together for intimate discussions on global issues. This kick-off event was led by Gulf Coast Diplomacy and featured Allain Brian discussing his new book “How to heal our divides”, to discuss better ways to have conversations and exchanges across boundaries. Keep an eye out for additional Small World Cafe events throughout the year to join in on the conversation.
- Small World Café: Contextualizing the Crisis in Ukraine – After the February 24 Russian invasion of Ukraine the world watched in horror as the situation rapidly escalated into a full-on war and refugee crisis. As Americans struggle to follow this crisis, we cannot begin to understand a possible outcome without a full picture view of the historical events and motivations that have shaped Russia’s actions. To contextualize this criss, Dr. Steven Miner of Ohio University shared with us a history of Russia’s foreign policy aims since the end of the Cold War, Ukraine’s priorities and challenges as a young democracy, and Putin’s nationalistic rhetoric and motivations for pursuing Ukraine.
- The View of Ukraine from Capitol Hill – A Town Hall Discussion with Senator Portman – Continuing our exploration of the war in Ukraine the World Affairs Council hosted a town hall event in March featuring Senator Robert Portman (OH) Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus. Senator Portman shared his perspective as the Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus on the rapidly unfolding war in Ukraine and Senate legislative efforts to address the War in Ukraine. This discussion was followed by an open Q&A session with the community moderated by the World Affairs Council.
Council staff go to Global Ties U.S. Conference
In March, the World Affairs Council staff attended the annual conference with the Council’s national network, Global Ties U.S., in-person for the first time since 2020 in Washington, D.C. With opportunities for both networking and professional development, the conference offered a variety of benefits to improve how the international exchanges run here in the Cincinnati area. Let’s hear from the staff about the experience:
“This is the place to deepen connections with our partners in Washington, D.C. and all 90 chapters of the network across the U.S. It is a time to be inspired by listening to Life Pieces to Masterpieces, Recipient of the 2022 Citizen Diplomat Award, or Lee Satterfield, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State. It is also a time to chat over some tea in between sessions. Those are the moments that were missed and we are so thankful to have been back at the conference this year.” – Michelle Harpenau Glandorf, Executive Director
“Attending the Global Ties conference remains a highlight of our programming year. This opportunity is always invaluable as a place where I can formally and informally learn best practices and modes of programming especially as we’re returning to in-person programming for the first time in two years.” – James McManus, Director of Exchange and Development
“As the new IVLP programmer, the conference offered an ideal context to get to know more about the nature of my work and to get feedback from other programmers’ experience who were attending from across the nation. I gained high level insight on trends related to best practices of implementing the IVLP programs.” – Ahmed Fahad, International Programs Associate
