MIIS Spring 2021 WorldViews

The year 2020 was one of gloom on many fronts. Join Middlebury Institute faculty experts to discuss what we’ve learned and how we, together, build a path forward. 
Free to attend. Includes Q&A session. Sponsored by the Gerry Taylor Seminars Endowment Fund. Zoom webinar details will be provided after you register. All times are Pacific (PDT/PST).
Featured Speakers and Dates
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
12:30–1:30 p.m. Pacific Time
“COVID-19 as a Prism to Reexamine the Past and Imagine a New Future” with Professors Netta Avineri and Mahabat Baimyrzaeva

COVID-19 has forced us to reexamine our reality in relation to foundational issues such as democracy, education, and societal inequities. How has the pandemic exaggerated and exposed our limits, illusions, and doubts, and how has it shaped and reshaped our perspectives and actions? Professors Netta Avineri and Mahabat Baimyrzaeva co-taught (with colleagues Fernando DePaolis and Phil Murphy) a fall 2020 course,
COVID-19: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on the Pandemic, which facilitated students’ exploration of the local, broad, and global impact of COVID-19. This WorldViews talk will discuss COVID-19 as a prism to critically view the past and the future, with an eye to leadership, higher education and pedagogy, media, and public discourse.

Wednesday, April 7, 2021
4:00–5:00 p.m. Pacific Time
Freedom and the U.S. Economy: From Trump to Biden
with Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Institute
Jeff Dayton-Johnson

How is the U.S. economy performing? What changes can we expect under the Biden administration? We’ll look at America’s freedom and challenges in the post-pandemic economy.
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Institute Jeff Dayton-Johnson is the Institute’s chief academic officer and works in tandem with the senior leadership team to ensure the overall success and functioning of the Middlebury Institute. As both a student and a practitioner of economic and political development, particularly in Latin America, he offers unique expertise on emerging economies, immigration, poverty, inequality, and natural disasters.