Category Archives: News

Enrich Your Summer with MIIS Custom Language Programs

Whether you are mastering Mandarin for an upcoming career move, brushing up on your French before a summer trip, or diving into Arabic for diplomats, the Monterey Institute is proud to promote our unique and effective Custom Language Programs. Programs are catered to the specific needs of each client and customizable to fit your schedule, budget, and proficiency level.

Learn more about Custom Language Programs at the Monterey Institute campus, and also new Hybrid Learning programs to fit your needs.

For more information on languages and curricula options, please fill out the Inquiry Form or contact the Custom Language Program Office at language@miis.edu

Where in the World are MIIS Students?

Leave a reply

Thailand alumni – all part of the diplomatic corps – and their families gathered for a group photo.

MIIS students work and learn all over the world. They are global movers and shakers, engaged in some of the most critical social change and cultural exchange work of our time. Immersive Learning opportunities at MIIS, as well as an internationally-connected Center for Advising and Career Services contribute to our ever expanding network of MIIS students and alumni.

36 MIIS Students on Immersive Learning and International Professional assignments at organizations like the United Nations, the Nature Conservancy, the International Labour Organization, the World Bank, and the National Renewable Energy Lab.

Trade and Development students spent spring break visiting the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. They met local policy makers, learned from guest lectures by industry professionals and scholars, and explored the impact and policy implications of the Free Trade Zone (FTZ).

Alumni continue to connect across the globe with fellow MIIIS grads, like these alumni who find each other while working at the International Labour Organization, and U.S. Embassies in Turkey, Malaysia, Thailand, and Germany.

MIIS Students Innovate Around Monterey County Water Issues

Leave a reply

Last week, MIIS hosted the Finals of the Monterey Community Innovation Challenge. Close to 40 students from the Monterey Institute and several from California State University Monterey Bay jumped at the opportunity to participate in the first challenge, “Nor Any Drop to Drink,” focused on finding innovative solutions to Monterey County’s water issues.

The winning team consisted of five Monterey Institute students from the International Environmental Policy degree program: Matthew Nichols (MAIEP ’14), Emily Cluff (MAIEP ’14), Nereyda Montaño (MAIEP ’14), Nate Maynard (MAIEP ’14) and Malcolm Johnson (MAIEP ’14). In their view, Monterey County’s water problem, like most fresh water issues, amounts largely to a problem of communication.

The main goal of the group’s proposal is to achieve communication, collaboration, and coordination via the creation of a community-based organization called the Water Science Trust (WST).

Amnesty International USA Executive Director at Human Rights Fair April 11

Leave a reply

Steve W. Hawkins
Executive Director, Amnesty International USA

The Monterey Institute is pleased to welcome the Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, Steve W. Hawkins, to the 4th Annual Human Rights Fair. The Fair is organized and spearheaded by the student-led MIIS Chapter of Amnesty International, and Dr. Jan Knippers-Black, professor, life-long human rights advocate, and Amnesty International Board member since 2011.

Steve W. Hawkins will deliver the keynote address on Friday, April 11 at 6:00 p.m. in the Irvine Auditorium at the Institute’s downtown Monterey Campus. Hawkins’ address, titled “Bringing Human Rights Home,” will be followed by a reception in the lobby of the McCone Building. Both the keynote address and reception are free and open to the public.

Before joining Amnesty International USA as its Executive Director, Steven W. Hawkins was the Executive Vice President and Chief Program Officer of the NAACP. He is a nationally renowned attorney and grassroots advocacy leader at the forefront of social justice issues, including death penalty abolition, criminal justice reform and defending civil liberties. As an attorney, he brought litigation that led to the release of three teenagers wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death row in Tennessee. He was also a law professor in South Africa during apartheid, teaching black lawyers who faced discriminatory treatment in the courts. Steven obtained his undergraduate degree from Harvard College and New York University.

Water Innovation in Monterey County, Student Teams Compete for Prize

Leave a reply

Join us in the Eco-Dome on the MIIS Campus!

Monterey County faces critical fresh water challenges. Some experts argue we are very near absolute limits to growth in agriculture, business, touristic, and domestic use. As the county’s aquifers are tapped, salt water from the ocean infiltrates, contaminating drinking and irrigation supplies. A local problem, yes. But one growing in many localities around the globe.

To foster creative thinking, the Monterey Institute is organizing an Innovation Challenge for Spring 2014. Watch the KION report here! The challenge seeks to illuminate ideas that are:

sustainable across future generations
progressive regarding economic growth
affordable
socially, economically, and politically just, and
compelling to local stakeholders

A panel of external judges will select winners on April 23rd, 2014 at the Final Event of the Innovation Challenge. It is with enthusiasm that we extend an invitation to you to attend the Innovation Challenge Final Presentations, along with a community reception and chance to connect with student presentors, judges, and local stakeholders all interested in tackling Monterey County’s most pressing sustainability issues. The Reception will take place in the Eco-Dome on the MIIS campus – a unique space celebrating Earth Week and brought in by TEDx Monterey. You’ve never experienced hors d’oeuvres like this before!

Student groups brainstorming at MIIS’s Digital Learning Commons (DLC)

Welcome and Happy Hour: 5:00 – 5:45 p.m.
Student Presentations: 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Reception, Eco-Dome Mingle, Winners Announced! : 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Among the judges will be local stakeholders, so the practical value and feasibility of the idea to them will be critical to your success. The winning team will take home a $2,500 prize. The competition aims to encourage students to reach across degree silos, enhance collaboration, capitalize on a variety of classes, and promote interdisciplinarity. MIIS has partnered with with The Sustainability Academy on this event, with co-sponsorship and participation at the event from professionals affiliated with The Big Sur Land Trust, Carmel River Watershed Conservancy, Cal-Am Water, Eco Carmel, Mussey Grade Foundation, the Offset Project, Sustainable Carmel and more.

Visit the Water Challenge Website or go to the MIIS Newsroom to learn more!

TEDx Monterey Tickets on Sale Now!

Leave a reply

As a member of our local TEDxMonterey community, we are excited to let you know that tickets for our April 26, 2014 daylong event, TEDxMonterey “Edges” will go on sale beginning today, March 12, 2014 at noon. Our fifth annual TEDxMonterey event will be held once again in the Irvine Auditorium on the campus of the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

This years event will bring together a diverse line-up of of presenters whose life’s work, stories, research, talent, insight and experience will throw into sharp relief this year’s theme: Edges.

TEDxMonterey is excited to open our ticket sales today, Wednesday, March 12 beginning at 12:00pm (noon) Pacific time.

Preview of Our Speakers & Performers
TEDxMonterey organizers have selected a series of presenters to illuminate this year’s theme and we are happy to share with you some of the speakers and performers we are working with:

Captain Wayne Porter, USN
Blue Whale Scientist and Sr. TED Fellow, Asha de Vos
Biologist and Writer, Sheril Kirshenbaum
Wearable Tech Developers, Kwame Ferreira and Christoph Dressell
Psychologist and Infant Speech Researcher, Anne Fernald
Salinas Youth Poet Laureate, Mikey Frias
Author, Katrina Alcorn
Happy Life Expert, Betty Sproule
Freelance Writer, Brad Herzog
Psychotherapist and Advice Columnist, Carl Alasko
and more to be announced…!

Learn more at tedxmonterey.org, and we hope to see you there!

MIIS Report on US Coastal Economies Lauded by Congressman Farr

Leave a reply

—National Ocean Economics Program Director Dr. Judith Kildow, Congressman Sam Farr, and Center for the Blue Economy Director Dr. Jason Scorse, who also serves as program chair of the Institute‘s International Environmental Policy program.

Presenting the 2014 State of the U.S. Ocean and Coastal Economies report at a press conference in Monterey on Monday, Dr. Judith Kildow, director of the National Ocean Economics Program at the Monterey Institute‘s Center for the Blue Economy, noted the imbalance between the economic importance of coasts and coastal oceans and the federal support for stewardship of these resources. According to the report, coastal states supply over 81 percent of American jobs and contribute $13 trillion to the economy, or 84 percent of GDP.

Rep. Farr lauded the NOEP report and said it was a very important contribution to the policy debate because it placed real economic value to our coastal resources. He said he was particularly happy that this important work was being done at the Monterey Institute, where he “went to study Spanish before joining the Peace Corps and going to Colombia.” Farr said there simply was “no place like MIIS anywhere.”

The press conference was covered by leading local news station KSBW and the Monterey County Weekly, and also mentioned in the Monterey Herald. For more on the the State of the U.S. Ocean and Coastal Economies 2014, visit oceaneconomics.org. The report can be downloaded here.

Donor Pledges $2 million to Immersive Learning for MIIS Students

Leave a reply

—Students in the Monterey Institute’s unique immersive learning programs have the opportunity to work on real-life projects such as local development efforts in Peru.

The Monterey Institute has received a $2 million gift pledge from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous. The gift will be divided equally between support for the Institute’s unique immersive learning programs, which provide real-world professional opportunities for students as part of their academic experience, and the school’s endowment, which provides general support for all Institute activities.

“We are extremely grateful for this generous and visionary gift, which will allow us to expand opportunities for both students and faculty at the Monterey Institute,” commented President Sunder Ramaswamy. “Immersive learning is one of the signature elements of a Monterey Institute education, and this gift will allow us to explore new opportunities for our students to learn in the field as well as the classroom while enrolled here.”

Leading International Trade Official to Join Monterey Institute Faculty

Leave a reply

Ambassador Rufus H. Yerxa, outgoing deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), will join the faculty of the Monterey Institute as a visiting professor beginning in February.

“Ambassador Yerxa brings extensive experience as a policymaker, diplomat, trade negotiator and international lawyer to his new role at the Monterey Institute,” says President Sunder Ramaswamy. “Over the past 30 years he has been a key player in building and promoting the rules and institutions governing world trade. He will be a unique asset to the Institute and to our graduate students in trade and economic diplomacy, and international business.”

Ambassador Yerxa joins the Institute’s faculty after 11 years as deputy director-general at the WTO, where he worked to strengthen the organization by broadening its membership and enhancing its role in dispute settlement, monitoring and enforcement. Earlier in his career, he served as the United States Ambassador to GATT and was subsequently appointed by President Clinton to be the chief deputy U.S. trade representative in Washington. He was a leading figure in the effort to negotiate and secure Congressional approval of both the NAFTA agreement and the Uruguay Round/WTO agreement.

MIIS Professor Sheds New Light on Israel’s Nuclear Decision-Making During Yom Kippur War in New York Times Op-Ed

Leave a reply

Dr. Avner Cohen, professor of nonproliferation studies at the Monterey Institute and a noted scholar of Israel’s nuclear program, released last week several items from his personal research archive that offer fresh new insights into Israel’s decision not to use nuclear weapons during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

A key item in this release is a video interview with the late Azarayahu ‘Sini’ Arnan, former senior advisor in the Israeli government. The interview upends conventional assumptions that Israel was very close to using nuclear weapons in this conflict (or even threatened to use nuclear weapons) and provides unique insight into how the Israeli government came to this decision.

Release of these materials coincides with the 40^th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War on October 6. The New York Times published an op-ed piece authored by Dr. Cohen on this topic on October 3. In addition to his faculty position with the Monterey Institute, Dr. Cohen is a senior fellow and director of the Nonproliferation Education Program at the Institute’s James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.