Welcome to the Alworth Institute Website. Here you will find information about our various programs and activities, as well as resources including the Alworth Institute Weblog and Self Tests. Visit the Memorial Lecture page for a summary of upcoming and past Royal D. Alworth, Jr. Annual Memorial Lectures. The International Lecture section provides information about the Alworth International Lecture Series as well as summarizes recent talks by guest speakers. For information about and a listing of our upcoming noon-time International Brown Bag Lectures, visit our Brown Bag Lecture page.
About the Alworth Institute:
The Royal D. Alworth, Jr. Institute for International Studies (The Alworth Institute) was established in 1987 by the Alworth family to commemorate the life and interests of Royal D. Alworth, Jr. In line with those interests, the Alworth Institute aims to engage students, staff and the wider public in open discussion, for educational, social and democratic purposes, of a wide range of international issues and of their domestic implications.
The objectives of the Alworth Institute are to:
- promote knowledge and understanding of both topical, and enduring, international and global issues amongst students, staff and the community served by UMD;
- provide accessible seminars, public lectures and conferences on international issues in ways likely to promote international understanding, enhance democratic discussion, negotiation and reconciliation;
- articulate international issues and any domestic implications in ways that help further discussion nationally and locally;
- act as a shared community resource, on issues relating to international studies, with the wider community served by UMD.
"The role of the Alworth Institute is to create an academic and social space for the public discussion of a whole range of international issues currently under-reported in the media. We supply the information and the opportunities to discuss; you make up your own mind on where you stand."
Dr. W. Henderson
Director of the Alworth Institute
Latest News :
WorldQuest (an international trivia competition) took place on the night of the February 26, 2009. Thirteen teams registered and took part in the competition. Teams were varied in composition and included members of community groups, the business community, students and international students at UMD, a team from the College of St. Scholastica and a team that traveled from Lakehead University in Ontario, Canada. The event, run in cooperation with the Minnesota International Center, was a great success.
Recent web logs: Dr. Marek Wróblewski (University of Wroclaw, Poland), International Visiting Fellow at the Alworth Institute has posted two guest web logs: "Economic Transformation in Poland: Success or Failure?" and "The Development of the Russian Economy and its Impact on Eastern Europe". These are summaries of his public lectures given recently under the same titles. His lecture on Wednesday 22 on "The Financial Crisis in the EU" will be posted after the lecture. Dr. Henderson has posted, recently,web logs on "Adam Smith"; "G20 Policy Perspectives" and "John Ruskin and the End of Laissez-faire".
Staff Activities:
Dr. Henderson's research paper on the early 19th century French political economist, Charles Ganilh, who was influenced by Adam Smith, was published in the Journal of the History of Economic Thought Volume 30, Number 4, December 2008.
On Wednesday 11th. March, Dr. Henderson joined a Ph.D. jury in Lisbon, Portugal, for his student Luis Francisco Carvalho. The jury was held at the Instituto Superior De Ciencias Trabalho E Da Empresa (ISCTE), a distinguished social science institute. The thesis, on John Ruskin's social and economic thought and social criticism, was succesfully defended in English before a significant committee of dinstinguished Portuguese academics.
On Monday 16th. March, Drs. Henderson and Carvalho gave a well-attended joint seminar at the University of Coimbra (Portugal's oldest University) on John Ruskin's notions of economic and social sustainability.
Fellowship Fund: The highly successful visit by Dr. Elżbieta Stadtmüller of the University of Wroclaw in Poland came to an end on April, 30, 2008. Dr. Stadtmüller was the first International Visiting Fellow at the Alworth Institute. During the one-month visit, Dr. Stadtmüller gave three very-well attended and well-received public lectures (summaries of these lectures are available on the weblog) and made twelve class visits as guest lecturer.
The 2009 Alworth Institute International fellow is Dr. Marek Wróblewski, Deputy Director for International Cooperation and Research Fellow for the Institute of International Studies, International Economic Relations Section, at the University of Wroclaw in Poland. Dr. Wróblewski will give three lectures in April 2009. For more information on Dr. Wróblewski and his lecture series go to www.d.umn.edu/alworth/main/intllecture.php.
A Fellowship Fund to provide ongoing support for the Alworth Institute's International Fellow has been established. If you wish to contribute in order to sustain this program, please contact Adam S. Meyer at 218-726-6708.