With thousands of academics and hundreds of panels, the annual International Studies Association conference is a goldmine for ideas, connections and collaboration in the field of global affairs.
And while there was a wealth of insights shared at this year’s edition, held last week in Atlanta, Georgia — from the continued relevance of nuclear weapons to the economic shocks caused by the withdrawal of UN missions — it would be near impossible to summarize all topics here. (Though a general search online will reveal the breadth of subject areas.)
Instead, we’ve brought together some of the more pointed — and some comical — comments on the conference and field itself.
1. Even for tech and media experts, PowerPoint remains clunky.
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Journalism in Canada has suffered a devastating decline over the last two decades. Dozens of newspapers and outlets have shuttered. Remaining newsrooms are smaller. Nowhere is this erosion more acute than in the coverage of foreign policy and international news. It’s expensive, and Canadians, oceans away from most international upheavals, pay the outside world comparatively little attention.
At Open Canada, we believe this must change. If anything, the pandemic has taught us we can’t afford to ignore the changing world. What’s more, we believe, most Canadians don’t want to. Many of us, after all, come from somewhere else and have connections that reach around the world.
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