The Conference on World Affairs Top 10 Panels

Written by Isa Jones in Entertainment, Front Page, Uncategorized on Apr 4, 2012 23:47 / comments

The best event of the spring semester is upon us: the Conference of World Affairs.

Bouler native and director of lighting at Pixar studios, Danielle Feinberg speaks at the 2011 CWA, on marriage equality and why it matters. The 2012 CWA lectures will begin next Monday, April 9.(CU Independent/Amy Moore-Shipley)

Hope you’ve saved up a couple of absences, because you will want to skip more than a few classes this coming week. Sorry, professor, but inspiring experts in every field imaginable coming to talk about “everything conceivable” is a lot more intriguing than that lecture on World War I propaganda you had planned. With talks about politics, medicine, humor and everything in between, looking at the schedule of panels for this coming week can be overwhelming.

To help you out, here are 10 talks (two a day) worth skipping a (between class) nap for.

MONDAY

Bots on the Ground: War Without Soldiers
1:00 to 2:20 p.m. UMC Center Ballroom
Panelists:
Sarah Holewinski
Merle Lefkoff
Phillip James Walker
Isaiah (Ike) Wilson III

All a-Twitter: The Fleeting Nature of Digital Communications
3:00 to 4:20 p.m. UMC East Ballroom
Panelists:
Mark Frauenfelder
Ross Haenfler
Andy Ihnatko
Sanho Tree

TUESDAY

How The Jews and Gays Built Hollywood
12:30 to 1:50 p.m. Old Main Chapel
Panelists:
David Bender
Michael Fink
Steve Sauer
Daniel Sladek

DIY: Hipster Economy
2:00 to 3:20 p.m. ATLAS Black Box
Panelists:
Mark Frauenfelder
Tom Preston-Werner
Kiki Sanford
Eric J. Wilhelm

WEDNESDAY

Music: Death by Internet
1:00 to 2:20 p.m. ATLAS Black box
Panelists:
Justo Almario
Charlie Bisharat
Mark Frauenfelder
Jeff Lieberman

Revolting Youth: Arab Spring to Occupy
4:30 to 5:50 p.m. UMC Center Ballroom
Panelists:
Robert A. George
Ross Haenfler
Gigi Ibrahim
Scott Olsen

THURSDAY

Pakistan: The Most Dangerous Country in the World
3:30 to 4:50 p.m. UMC Center Ballroom
Panelists:
Joe Cirincione
Phillip James Walker
Isaiah (Ike) Wilson III

We the Angry People: The Tea Party and Occupy
5:00 to 6:20 p.m. UMC Center Ballroom
Panelists:
Margot Adler
Guy Benson
Matt Howard
Robert G. Kaufman

FRIDAY

Vampires! They Suck!
11:00 to 12:20 p.m. Macky Auditorium
Panelists:
Margot Adler
Jim Emerson
Ross Haenfler
Liz Weir

Sacrificing Culture on the Altar of Development
1:00 to 2:20 p.m. Eaton Humanities 150
Panelists:
Andrew Butcher
Louis Goodman
Donna Morton
Judithe Registre

One of the fun things about CWA is that you never know what directions the talks could take. But when you put four very smart people in a room and give them a broad starting point like “drones” or “vampires,” something interesting, controversial or hopefully inspiring will come of it. If these talks don’t appeal to you, don’t give up; there are many many more. Check out the full schedule here, and if you find time between work and term papers and lectures, go to a panel and learn something new.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Isa Jones at [email protected].

About Isa Jones

This is Isa’s fourth semester at the CUI. She was a news reporter, then a breaking news editor for a year and then left to pursue real world things, but came back because... you can never leave the CUI !!!! (you actually can, but it's hard). Now she randomly writes entertainment stories to avoid doing homework. She is a is a lover of comedy, movies, music and the written word. She has a fear of scurvy, getting trapped in a walk-in freezer and stutters when nervous. But those rarely interfere with her reporting (the stuttering probably more than the other two). She has no idea what she wants to do after college but she hopes it will involve being around cool and creative people and hopes it won't involve cubicles or the phrase "9 to 5." P.S- Never trust a man trying to sell you a monorail. (@theisajones)