Day: August 24, 2009

MIIS Website Update

websiteThe new MIIS web site is nearing readiness for its official launch. After consultation with the web team at Middlebury, we are planning the formal launch of the new MIIS website for September 15.

Dozens of people have worked very hard all summer to develop a framework  for the site that reflects our mission and vision for the future.  A special thanks to Kristen Byers, Lynn McDonald, and all the members of the web strategy team who have worked to assemble our core content, and our colleagues at Middlebury who have worked tirelessly to translate White Whale’s designs into working templates.

There will be a  “soft” launch (providing members of the community with access to the unpublished site) on September 1, to allow an opportunity to become familiar with the site and identify any errors, bugs or other issues. Please watch MIIS@work for instructions on connecting to the site on September 1, and for ways that you can add your voice to the site in the future.

A web site is a dynamic, ever-changing network of information and interactions, so don’t expect to see a “finished product” on September 1, or at any time in the future.  In fact, we ask for your participation in ensuring that the web site is never “finished” — but that it is alive with an ever-growing  collection of current and engaging stories.

Joshi Attends Summer Workshop on Security Studies

Sharad Joshi, PhD, Research Associate with the Monterey Terrorism Research and Education Program (MonTREP) and Visiting Professor, Graduate School of International Policy & Management, attended the 13th annual three-week Summer Workshop on the Analysis of Military Operations and Strategies (SWAMOS), held at Cornell University in July. The program is for junior scholars in the field of security studies.

Akaha Reports on Scholarly Activities This Summer

Professor Tsuneo Akaha’s “From Soft Power to Hard Power: Japan’s Evolving Security Policy” has been published in the Japanese book Japanese Foreign Policy In The Eyes of Japanese Researchers Abroad (Tokyo: Fujiwara Shoten).

He gave a talk on “Human Security in East Asia” at the Summer Institute, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University, August 3-7, a training program for PhD students from around the world who are interested in Asian regional integration.

He also taught an intensive American Studies course “U.S. Policy in Northeast Asia” at the University of Shimane, Japan, July 25-28.

The most memorable experience of Professor Akaha’s this summer was attending the August 6 A-bomb memorial ceremony in Hiroshima, where virtually every speaker referred favorably to President Obama’s Prague speech on a nuclear-free world.

NOTE: We’d love to share the contributions of other faculty!  If you have achievements you would like to share, please send them to Amy McGill for posting on the blog.