Conference on World Affairs

Jim Shepard Author. Jim Shepard is the author of six novels and four story collections, including the forthcoming You Think That’s Bad. His third collection, Like You’d Understand, Anyway, was a finalist for the National Book Award and won The Story Prize. Shepard's novel Project X won both the 2005 Library of Congress/Massachusetts Book Award for Fiction and the ALEX Award from the American Library Association. Four of his stories have been chosen for the Best American Short Stories, and one for a Pushcart Prize. His short fiction has appeared in Harper’s, McSweeney’s, The Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, the New Yorker and Playboy, as well as other journals. He was also a film columnist for the magazine The Believer.

STUDENTS-be sure to check out the FREE student-only dinner with Jim Shepard on Thursday, March 15.
For more information and to RSVP email ath@colorado.edu

Past Participants

2011-2012

	Michael Elliott President and CEO, ONE.org. Elliott is an award-winning journalist and editor. Before joining ONE.org, he served as editor of TIME International and deputy managing editor of TIME Magazine. He has held senior executive positions at Newsweek and The Economist, where he founded the “Bagehot” and “Lexington” columns.

2010-2011

	Maria Hinojosa Broadcast journalist. Hinojosa is the host of the PBS series Maria Hinojosa:One-on-One and NPR's Latino USA. She has received numerous honors and awards, including the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, and was named one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine..

	The Yes Men Sociopolitical satirists. The Yes Men attempt to raise awareness of public issues through large scale hoaxes. They have produced two films documenting their work: The Yes Men and The Yes Men Fix the World, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

	Dorian Haarhoff South African storyteller. Haarhoff is a former professor of English at the University of Namibia. His work is strongly influenced by mythology, whole brain theory, Jungian and Eco psychology, creation spirituality and narrative therapy.




	Matt Taibbi Journalist and athlete. Taibbi has written for: The Nation, Playboy, New York Press, The Moscow Times, Rolling Stone, and the New York Sports Express. He has been a regular on Real Time with Bill Maher and The Rachel Maddow Show, while also being one of the first Americans to play professional baseball in Russia.




	Shodekeh Beatboxer and hip hop artist. Shodekeh is the official "hip hop ambassador" of Baltimore, and the founding director of Embody: A Festival & Series of Vocal Arts




 

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2009-2010

	Randy Olson Scientist-turned-filmmaker. Olson has made a number of short films and two feature-length films, Flock Of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circusand SIZZLE: A Global Warming Comedy. Olson spent fifteen years as a Marine Biologist before pursuing a career in film and earning a degree from the U.S.C. Cinema School.

	Joe Cirincione President of Ploughshares Fund and author of Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons. Cirincione teaches at the Georgetown University Graduate School of Foreign Service, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a frequent commentator on nuclear security issues.




	Patricia Elliot and Kathleen Chalfant Tony Award-winning actresses. Elliot (a CU Alum) and Chalfant received favorable reviews for their Off Broadway play Vita and Virginia-—a story of the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West.




Kay Redfield Jamison Clinical psychologist and author. Jamison is an expert on manic depressive illness and is the critically acclaimed author of books such as An Unquiet Mind, Exuberance: A Passion for Life, and her recent memoir Nothing Was the Same. She is professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an honorary professor of English at the University of St Andrews.




	Julia Sweeney Actress, comedian, author and veteran cast member of Saturday Night Live. More recently, she has earned the praise of critics with her successful one-woman shows God Said Ha!, In the Family Way and Letting Go of God.





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2008-2009

	John Cameron Mitchell Golden Globe-nominated filmmaker, writer, actor. Mitchell wrote, directed and starred in the rock musical film Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001), for which he received the Best Director and Audience Awards at the Sundance Film Festival.

	Bill Reinert National Manager of Advanced Technology for Toyota Motor Sales, USA. Reinert coordinates Toyota's various research, development and marketing activities related to alternative-fueled vehicles and emerging technologies. He and his team were responsible for product planning of the current generation Prius.




	Clifford Stoll Astronomer, educator, computer guru, internet critic, cyberspace sleuth, and chief bottle washer, Acme Klein Bottle. Stoll's bestselling book The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage chronicles the true story of how he caught a ring of hackers who were stealing U.S. military secrets and selling them to the KGB.




	Les Blank Critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker. Blank's work provides vivid depictions of a wide range of human appetites, endeavors and obsessions- from music to food and drink. His numerous international awards include Best Feature Documentary from the British Academy for Burden of Dreams, his portrait of director Werner Herzog.

 




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2007-2008

	Jessica Seigel Journalist, commentator, editor and humorist. Seigel's award-winning commentary on popular culture and women's issues has been featured in a variety of media outlets, including The New York Times, NPR, and Glamour.

	Stuart Schoffman Columnist for the Jerusalem Report and board member of Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. Schoffman's work supports religious pluralism and equality of opportunity in Israel.




	Colonel William Andrews Colonel Andrews, whose combat tours include Desert Storm, Southern Watch, and Enduring Freedom, currently teaches at the National Defense University. He is also the author of two books on military strategy.




	Terry Jones Best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team, Terry Jones is a comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director (including Monty Python's Life of Brian and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life), children's author, popular historian, and political commentator.




	Christopher Meloni C.U. alumnus Chris Meloni is an Emmy-nominated actor, with acclaimed credits in both television (NYPD Blue, Law and Order, Oz, Scrubs) and film (Twelve Monkeys, Bound, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle).

 




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2006-2007

	Mark Jonathan Harris Documentary filmmaker, author and professor at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts.

	Don Grusin Jazz musician, composer, producer and arranger. Grusin has recorded 18 solo albums and produced many more, including the Grammy-winning Musican for Ernie Watts. Grusin received a 2005 Grammy nomination for The Hang and is the recipient of the CU Alumni Association's 2006 George Norlin Award for distinguished lifetime achievement.




	Stephen Okazaki Academy Award and Peabody Award winning documentary filmmaker. Okazaki’s film shorts include Days of Waiting and The Mushroom Club.




	Armand "Sheik" Richardson Jazz musician, photographer, and tenth generation New Orleanian, is founder of the Arabi Wrecking Krewe, a band of musician volunteers who offer assistance to hurricane victims.




	Joy Zarembka Executive Director, Break The Chain Campaign, Institute for Policy Studies, an organization working to end modern-day slavery and human trafficking in the United States.

 




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2005-2006

	Charles Burnett MacArthur Award winning filmmaker and writer. Burnett's morally complex films include To Sleep With Anger and Killer of Sheep, which has been declared a national treasure by the Library of Congress.

	Derek Nash World-renowned jazz saxophonist and composer. Nash's original composition "Flatirons Suite" is a tribute to Boulder, inspired by his participation in the Conference on World Affairs.


Shaul Gabbay & Amin Kazak
International Affairs professors of the course "Israel and Palestine: Peace in the Middle East from Two Perspectives."
Gabbay is a former commander in the Israeli Infantry, and Kazak studied for his doctorate as a Palestinian refugee in Beirut.

Simon Deng & Brian Steidle
Former Sudanese slave Deng and former U.S. Marines Captain Steidle raise public awareness about the genocide in Sudan.


 




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Governor George Ryan
Former Illinois Governor who commuted the sentences of 167 death row inmates before leaving office.

Katy Chevigny and Kirsten Johnson
Filmmakers of the documentary Deadline about former Illinois Governor Ryan’s decision to commute the sentences of 167 death row inmates.

Eve Ensler
Creator of the Vagina Monologues; founder of "V-day," a global movement to increase awareness of women's issues through anti-violence organizations.

George Butler
British born documentary film maker of Pumping Iron about body builder Arnold Schwarzenegger and Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry.

Simon Hoggart
Parliamentary sketch writer for The Guardian, London.

Christopher Trumbo
Author of Trumbo: Red, White and Blacklisted about his father's experiences as a Hollywood screenwriter during the McCarthy era.





 

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Godfrey Reggio
Filmmaker of the Qatsi trilogy, including Koyaanisqatsi, Powwaqatsi, and Naqoyqatsi.

Clay Johnson
White House Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Budget and Management;
formerly Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel and Chief of Staff for Governor Bush of Texas.

Sister Helen Prejean
Death penalty activist and author of the Pulitzer Prize nominated book Dead Man Walking, which inspired the Academy Award winning film by the same title.

Giandomenico Picco
An Italian UN diplomat who successfully negotiated crises associated with Afghanistan/Soviet-Russia War, Iran/ Iraq War and the Lebanon hostage crisis.

Adam Hochschild
Writer and founding editor of Mother Jones magazine. Author of:
Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves and King Leopold's Ghost.


 




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Marco Williams & Whitney Dow
Filmmakers of The Two Towns of Jasper, a documentary about the racially motivated killing of James Bird in the town of Jasper, Texas.

Anna & Frances Lappé
Authors of Diet for a Small Planet and Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet.

Sanho Tree
Fellow and Director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC.

Tim Long
Co-Executive Producer and writer for The Simpsons.

Rick Reilly
Author of Who’s Your Caddy, among other titles; columnist for Sports Illustrated.


 




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Daniel C. Dennett
Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University.

Deirdre McCloskey
Professor of Economics, English, and History at the University of Chicago; author of Crossing: A Memoir.

Janet Breslin-Smith
Chair of the National Security Policy Department at the National Defense University.

Margot Adler
National Public Radio Correspondent; author of Drawing Down the Moon.

Gary Hart
Former Senator and co-author of the Hart-Rudman Report on Homeland Security.





 

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Werner Herzog
Internationally renowned documentary and feature filmmaker, including Aguirre: The Wrath of God.

Jed Purdy
Author of For Common Things: Irony, Trust, and Commitment.

Patch Adams
Humanist healer and author of Gesundheit! and founder of the Gesundheit Institute.

Judith Kipper
Director of Middle East Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Charles Clements
Member of Physicians for Human Rights and activist on water and landmine issues.






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Susan Faludi
Author of Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women and Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Male.

Richard Rodriguez
Social commentator and essayist, Lehrer News Hour; author of Brown: The Last Discovery of America.

Peter Copeland
Editor and General Manager of Scripps-Howard News Services.