Annette Zimmer, from the University of Muenster, currently holds the DAAD Distinguished Visiting Professorship in German and European Studies. We are delighted to have her with us. In addition to teaching a course on German Politics in the Department of Political Science, she has already given a well-received series of lectures here and at other universities in North America. She is an expert on the non-profit sector in contemporary Europe, but has a wide range of other interests. Some of these are reflected in events she has planned for the coming months. Note, in particular, the major conference on social democracy to be held in March. Details will be announced separately and on the web.
Suchit Bunbongkarn from Chulalongkorn University
had to postpone taking up the ASEAN Professorship until July 1999.
We look forward to welcoming him then. In the meantime, we were happy
to welcome back for a short visit former DAAD professor Walter Heinz.
Two all-day workshops were held under the auspices of the Program. The first--"Rethinking the Cold War: Lessons and Secrets of Eastern Bloc Archives"--brought in James Herschberg from George Washington University and well-known Cold War historian, Leo Gluchowski. The second--"Threat Assessments and the Role of Intelligence Systems in Contemporary International Relations"--centred on presentations by Tony Campbell and Peter Anderson of the Privy Council Office. Program Director David Welch pulled the troops together and Joan Golding worked hard to keep them in line.
The Centre's first director, Professor Emeritus Robert Spencer of the Department of History, was invested last September with an Honorary Fellowship in Trinity College. In making the award, Provost Tom Delworth, former Bissell professor at CIS, noted that the Centre's foundations go back to a 1965 resolution of the University's Board of Governors. The resolution instituted an International Studies Program under the purview of the President. Trinity took the program under its wing in 1975, and shortly thereafter CIS was constituted as a unit of the School of Graduate Studies, with Spencer as director. The Centre moved around quite a bit after he stepped down nearly a decade later. It is, however, scheduled to come full circle when the Munk Centre opens on Trinity's campus. We are grateful to Provost Delworth for reminding us of our roots and of Professor Spencer's key role in nurturing them.
Last October, CIS co-sponsored a special conference in honour of Gerry Helleiner. Organized by Sue Horton, "Economics as if Developing Countries Mattered" was one to remember.
Also in October, Andrew Price-Smith of the Health and Global Affairs Program and David Zakus of the Faculty of Medicine organized a fascinating, if deeply troubling, conference on "The Social and Political Impact of Emerging Infectious Diseases." Speakers included U of T medicial faculty members Jay Keystone and Kevin Kain, Pulitzer Prize-winner Laurie Garrett (Newsday), Ann Marie Kimball (University of Washington), Ronald St. John (Health Canada), Mark Zacher and Simon Carvalho (UBC). Related publications and CIS-sponsored projects are planned, including a panel at the next International Studies Association convention.
Centre work on the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum continued. We co-sponsored a conference in Penang, Malaysia organized by Johan Saravanamuttu. The conference focused on the social foundations of APEC, an area of study Saravanamuttu pioneered during his time with us as ASEAN professor. John Kirton and Shaun Narine attended. Shortly thereafter, Kirton organized here a well-attended workshop, "From Vancouver to Kuala Lumpur: The Achievements and Challenges of APEC." Thanks to Yuen Pau Woo of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, which co-sponsored.
Rounding out the term's activities were presentations on a broad range of topics by James Der Derian (Brown University), Itamar Rabinovich (Government of Israel), Ton Zuijdwijk (DFAIT), Rainer Bauboeck (Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna), Alan Rugman (now at Oxford University), Robert Wade (Brown University), Vinod Aggarwal (UC Berkeley), Ping-Chun Hsiung, Lawrence Herman (Cassels Brock & Blackwell), and Richard Caine (Government of Ontario). Special thanks to Sylvia Ostry, Gavin Smith, Janice Stein, Grace Skogstad, John Kirton, and Julie Soloway for participating in various events.