News and Events
About CICS Activities and Events
CICS sponsors a number of activities throughout the year and encourages the interest in international and comparative studies. In 2012-2013, CICS brought more than six nationally recognized speakers to campus to discuss current affairs with students, faculty and the Houston community. The Center also orchestrated a conference on oil and gas development in Latin America and brought local and national experts together for the UH and broader Houston community. In 2014, CICS has hosted speakers and experts on international relations between the US and India, Iran, and Russia, along with an expert on Lebanon's Hezbollah movement. CICS also hopes to sponsor research projects on topics including culture and democracy, oil nationalization, and the prediction of state collapse. These projects will involve UH faculty and students at both the graduate and undergraduate level.
Upcoming Events
Mainstream Muharram: Exploring Political, Religious, and Cultural Expressions of Shi'a Islam
Event 1: October 28: 7-8:30 pm
Telling and Retelling Karbalā’: Three Competing Political and Social Attitudes Amongst Shi‘a Muslims in the United States
Presenter: Dr. Cyrus Ali Contractor, Political Science, University of Houston
Location: KIVA Room in Farrish Hall, University of Houston
Event 2: November 4, 6:30-8pm
Charismatic Appeal or Communitas? Visitation to the Shrines of the Imams
Presenter: Dr. Liyakat Takim, Sharjah Chair of Global Islam, Religious Studies, McMaster University
Location: Rockwell Pavilion, Second floor of MD Anderson Library, University of Houston
Event 3: November 11, 6:30-8pm
A Night of Mourning: An Exhibition of Modern and Traditional Shi‘a Elegiac Poetry and Prose
Location: KIVA Room in Farrish Hall, University of Houston
Past Event List for the 2015-2016 Academic Year
Dr. Nasser Hadian-Jazy, Faculty of Law and Political Science at the University of Tehran
Past Event List for the 2014-2015 Academic Year
Egypt’s Turbulent Politics: From ‘Revolution’ to ‘Coup’ to Democracy?
Dr. Samer Shehata, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Oklahoma
Immigration Policy and America's Foreign Relations: A Roundtable Discussion
Panelists: The Honorable Christopher Ashby (Former US Ambassador to Uruguay), Beto Cardenas (Counsel, Vinson & Elkins LLP), The Honorable Marty McVey (USAID, President of McVey and Associates LLC, and Candidate for Mayor of the City of Houston), and Gordon Quan (Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Quan Law Group)
Turkey's Foreign Policy: A Case of Democratic Peace?
Professor Kivanc Ulusoy of Istanbul University
Analyzing Latin American Politics Conference
25 Years after the Berlin Wall: Successes and Failures in the Post-Communist World
Prof. Julia Gray, University of Pennsylvania, Prof. Tanya Bagashka, University of Houston, Prof. Alin Fumurescu, University of Houston, Moderated by Prof. Ryan Kennedy, University of Houston
Past Event List for the 2013-2014 Academic Year
EU Security Policy and Transatlantic Relations
Fran Burwell, Vice President and Director, Transatlantic Relations
Dangerous Liaisons: Organized Crime and Political Finance in Latin America
Dr. Kevin Casas-Zamora, Secretary for Political Affairs, Organization of American States
Implementing Human Rights Treaties: Implications for Corporate Practices
Dr. Corinne Lewis
Matthew Levitt
U.S.-Russia Relations Today: Issues, Challenges and Prospects
David Firestein
US and Iran: Is a Diplomatic Solution Finally Possible?
Trita Parsi
Dr. Tanvi Madan
Past Event List for the 2012-2013 Academic Year
UH Political Economy of the Rule of Law Workshop
First Annual Spring Mini Conference: Reforming Mexico’s Oil Sector
Climate Change and the Obama Administration
The EU Today: Connecting with Europe Workshop
We Need Not Be Enemies: Iran and the U.S. In the 21st Century
Ambassador Terence McCulley: The Future of U.S.-Nigeria Relations
The Role of Diaspora in Conflicts: Dr. Cindy Horst
Ben-Dror Yemini: Israel Through the Eyes of a Journalist
The Rise and Fall of War Crimes Trials: From Charles I to Bush II