Professor Steve Ceccoli was this year’s faculty member selected for induction into the Omnicron Delta Kappa student honor society.  He also continued preparations to take another group of students to Tianjin, China where they will spend six weeks studying Chinese language, politics, and culture this summer.  In March he delivered a guest lecture on the role of China in the modern world to a group of Rhodes alumni and friends at the Trezevant Manor senior center in Memphis.  He also spent time reviewing manuscripts for various academic journals and preparing a few of his own manuscripts for submission.

Professor John F. Copper’s article on Taiwan’s president was published in Asian Affairs.  He also gave an interview with Media Corp on the political situation in Taiwan. In February Dr. Copper was invited to be a Research Associate (consulting scholar) at the East Asian Institute. In March, he went to Taiwan as an election observer where he saw a week of campaigning and observed the balloting and assessment of the results. While in Taiwan he spoke at the National Taiwan University, Taiwan’s leading institution of higher learning, and at Tamkang University. He was interviewed by Media Corp and the Washington Observer at this time on the election results. From Taipei, Prof. Copper went to Beijing where he met with a vice-minister of the State Council (similar to our cabinet), the head of the Taiwan Research Institute at the Academy of Social Sciences, and spent a half-day with academics at Qinghua University, one of China’s leading universities. From Beijing he went to Shanghai where he had a private dinner with the president of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies (and China’s Foreign Minister’s brother), academics specializing in Taiwan and Sino-U.S. relations, and gave a lecture to students. In May, Professor Copper addressed a meeting of the World Affairs Council in Corpus Christi, Texas. In early June, Dr. Copper finished the revisions and updates for the fifth edition of his book Taiwan: Nation-State or Province? It will be published in December. John’s wife and son, Lindsay and Royce, traveled to China where Lindsay attended some meetings and both had a little vacation. Royce again wanted to see the concentration camp where his mother was born during the Mao era, but did not succeed.

Professor Nuray Ibryamova presented a paper titled “European Intelligence Cooperation: A Security Regime in the Making?” at the annual International Studies Association convention in San Francisco.  A revised version of the paper is under consideration for publication as a book chapter.  This summer she is headed to Madrid to participate in a summer program in European integration studies.

Professor Andrew Michta continues to teach at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany.  He continues to lecture in Europe, Eurasia and the United States, including conferences and workshops in London, Tirana, Bucharest, Sofia, Athens, Vilnius, Warsaw, Rome, Palo Alto, and Washington, DC. This month Dr. Michta has accepted an invitation to serve on the Advisory Council of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), a think-tank in Washington, DC.  Dr. Michta′s most recent US publications include an article on US strategy and military forces, published in the January-February 2008 issue of The National Interest, and an article on the impact of sovereign wealth funds on US security, published in February by The American Conservative.  He is currently working on a new book on US security policy and transatlantic relations after the Bush administration.  

Professor Michta′s wife Cristina continues to volunteer in the local community in Garmisch as well as teaching part time at US and international schools in the area; his daugther Chelsea is a junior in the International Baccalaureate program at Munich International School.  Dr. Michta will return to Rhodes for the fall semester 2009.

Professor Shadrack Nasong’o completed work on his edited volume entitled The African Search for Stable Forms of Statehood: Essays in Political Criticism, which was recently published by The Edwin Mellen Press. The book evaluates the nature and implications of political change and continuity in nine African countries including: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Cameroon, and Nigeria. Contributors to the volume are drawn from academic and research institutions in the U.S., Canada, Kenya, Cameroon, and Sweden.  Prof. Nasong’o also attended the National Conference of Black Political Scientists where he presented a paper entitled "Stereotyping as a Cultural Border-Guard and Political Resource: Ethnicity and Electoral Politics in Kenya" and served as a moderator in one plenary session and discussant in one panel session.

He has also been interviewed numerous times by Radio Jamaica on issues of the post-election crisis and political developments in both Kenya and Zimbabwe.  Prof. Nasong’o also spoke at the Idlewild Presbyterian Church on the Sudanese conflict.   Senior Emma O’Hagan, president of the Rhodes STAND chapter, joined him to discuss STAND activities on refugee issues at Rhodes and within the refugee community in Memphis.

Professor Amy Risley recently completed a review essay, “Putting People First:  Globalization and Human Security,” for International Studies Review.  In March, she participated in the International Studies Association Conference with a paper entitled “Trafficking and Hegemonic Projects: Perspectives on the Global Sex Trade.”  In addition to her work on human trafficking, gender issues, and human rights, Professor Risley continues to research civil society organizations, social movements, and policy advocacy in Latin America.  On campus, she is involved in the Latin American Studies program and the Rhodes College Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, among other initiatives.

Professor David Romano wrote book reviews for the Middle East Journal, the International Journal of Middle East Studies, and the Journal of Conflict Studies.  He also published articles with the Eurasia Daily Monitor ("PKK Triumphant as Turkey Retreats from Northern Iraq," March 3, 2008) and Terrorism Focus ("The Reaction of Iraqi Kurdistan to the Turkish Incursion," March 18, 2008).  He consulted for the U.S. army in January.  In February, he gave a class at the Meeman Center for Lifelong Learning on "The Impact of Iraq on the U.S. Elections and the Impact of the U.S. Elections on Iraq" and in March he judged the "Mr. Shamrock Fashion Show" at Rhodes, but was disappointed that no one tried to buy him off.  Also in March, he gave a talk at Florida Atlantic University on the future of Kurdish nationalism in Iraq.  Dr. Romano is also pleased to report that his “leadership of the I.S. paintball corps continued, with a crushing defeat of the heathens in the economics department” in early April.  This summer Dr. Romano will be taking 5 students to Turkey for a 4-week traveling summer course on "The History and Politics of Identity in Turkey."  He plans on eating a lot of chicken kebab, corba and baklava.

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