Strauss Center News

Updates from the Strauss Center and our affiliated distinguished scholars and fellows

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Our October Update

Oct 6, 2020 |

It is a fall semester unlike any we have seen before, as it continues to be a difficult time in the life of our state, our nation, and the world.  Read on to get a sense of how our students and faculty are staying engaged, and be sure to check out our homepage too.

RECENT AND UPCOMING ONLINE EVENTS

9/22: Dr. Jonathan Welburn on Deterrence Through Accountability in Cyberspace

10/1: Michele Malvesti, PhD and Dr. Julie Schafer on the U.S. Government’s COVID-19 Response with Clements Center

10/8: Steven Dudley on MS-13 with LLILAS

10/14: Dr. Erum Haider on the Politics of Privatization in South Asia 

10/15: Peter Baker on his new biography of former Secretary of State James Baker with Clements Center

10/19: Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins on Arms Control and Cold War-era Treaties

10/28: Dr. Diane Howard of the DOC’s Office of Space Commerce (see strausscenter.org/events soon for more details)

APPLY NOW TO OUR CYBER FELLOWS PROGRAM (FOR UT STUDENTS)

What: Our Cyber Fellows Program encourages full-time graduate students from all departments who have an interest in cybersecurity to take an array of relevant courses, including courses from outside their home department. The application process for the program is open on a rolling basis.

Why it matters: The program embodies UT’s commitment to pioneering interdisciplinary education relating to cybersecurity (for more on that, check out Strauss Center Director Bobby Chesney’s free interdisciplinary eCasebook).  It provides Fellows with a curriculum, mentoring, priority participation in cybersecurity events hosted by the Center (including our partnership with the Atlantic Council’s cybersecurity policy competition program), and opportunities for financial support for cyber-related research, conference attendance, and the like. Apply Here.

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND: STRAUSS STUDENTS BRING SPACE DOWN TO EARTH 

What’s new: Under the guidance of Dr. Moriba Jah, who leads Strauss’s Space Security and Safety Program, UT students have rolled out a new online feature in which they provide educational videos and news summaries relating to space issues.  This exciting new venture takes place in partnership with our friends at the University of Arizona’s SpaceWatch and UT Law’s Texas Space Law & Policy Society.

What’s upcoming: Mark your calendars for the 7th annual Space Traffic Management Conference (normally held in person on campus but this year to be held virtually), January 26-27, 2021.  The event is co-sponsored with the International Academy of Astronautics. More details forthcoming on this page soon, and meanwhile you can check out last year’s program here.

MORE HIGH-IMPACT RESEARCH FROM THE CENTRAL AMERICA AND MEXICO POLICY INITIATIVE

What: In 2019-20, our CAMPI program led two policy research project courses at the LBJ School of Public Affairs.  First, CAMPI Post-Doctoral Fellow Jake Dizard and his students analyzed the increasing militarization of law enforcement in various Latin American countries, culminating in an interactive website demonstrating the quantitative and qualitative data the students gathered. Check out the results here. Second, CAMPI Director Stephanie Leutert and her students examined three facets of the security issues that migrants face in Mexico and at the U.S./Mexico border. Their findings and policy recommendations can be found in the following reports:

  1. Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Migratory Policy in Mexico (English version/Spanish version)
  2. Migrant Caravans in Mexico (English version/Spanish version)
  3. Migrant Protection Protocols: Implementation and Consequences for Asylum Seekers in Mexico (English version/Spanish version)

NATIONAL SECURITY LAW

What’s new: The Strauss Center has teamed up with the National Security Law Program at Columbia Law School to create “The National Security Law Lectures,” a growing online library of national security law lectures covering topics ranging from War Powers to Surveillance.  Check it out at www.nsllectures.com!

BRUMLEY FELLOWS AND SCHOLARS

What’s new: We are proud to announce the selection of 11 talented graduate students to serve as the 2020 – 2021 class of Brumley Graduate Fellows.  As usual, they hail from across the campus.  For the next year, these outstanding students will work on their own self-directed research projects under the guidance of a UT faculty member, and will host a series of guest speakers for both private career-development sessions and public talks.

We also selected eleven outstanding undergraduate students for the 2020 – 2021 Brumley Undergraduate Scholars program, and they will begin the fall semester with a virtual course taught by Drs. Stephanie Holmsten and Michael Mosser.  This equally-impressive cohort also draws on departments from across the campus, and like their graduate colleagues they are a deeply-impressive group!

Meet everyone here!

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