2019 Speakers
Rei Tang is program officer for climate change at the Stanley Foundation, where he oversees the team’s work to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels by advancing international policy and cooperation. He does this through convening policy dialogues, and conducting analysis and outreach, working with policymakers in government and stakeholders in civil society and the private sector. Tang has been a part of advancing initiatives such as the Powering Past Coal Alliance and the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action. Before joining the Stanley Foundation, Tang did his undergraduate studies at American University and worked in Washington, DC, researching US foreign policy institutions.
Economic Topic - Mary M. McCarthy, Associate Professor of Political Science at Drake University, teaches numerous regional courses on the politics and international relations of Japan, China, and East Asia, as well as topical courses in world and comparative politics. She received her B.A. in East Asian studies and her Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. Dr. McCarthy specializes in Japan’s domestic and foreign policies.
Science Topic - Pamela Joslyn, entering her 27th year of teaching, is a science educator at Muscatine Community School District. She received her B.S. in Genetics from Iowa State University and a M.S. in Science Education from Montana State University. Pamela has taught physics, AP Physics I & II, chemistry, earth science, physical science and middle school. Selected as a recipient of the Catherine Miller Explorer Award from the Stanley Foundation, Pamela toured Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa, and she provided outreach opportunities to the community connecting cultures, wildlife and geology. Pamela has developed various engineering activities including a security system (with lasers and photoreceptors), cardboard boat regattas, design of cell phone cases, and car crash tests. She frequently collaborates with local engineers, and with her students. During the spring semester of 2020 Pamela will be developing STEM and entrepreneurial activities at the University of Helsinki in Finland through the Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching.
Political Topic - Rev. Le Anne Clausen de Montes was active in Model UN in high school and studied German, Spanish, and French. Through Wartburg College, study abroad, she spent a month each in Israel/Palestine, Germany, and Greece and also studied six languages. When longer-term study or volunteer abroad opportunities fell through during senior year due to armed conflicts in those countries, Le Anne was worried further international work was over. However, she learned an Arabic-speaking domestic violence shelter in need of a grant-writing volunteer, and agreed to spend a year. One month in, the second Intifada began. Le Anne became involved in citizen journalism and human rights documentation efforts there, and joined the Christian Peacemaker Teams the following year, working with both Israeli and Palestinian peace activists. She also trained hundreds of young volunteers from around the world on human rights documentation, cross-cultural skills, and nonviolent direct action for the International Solidarity Movement. After three years in Israel and Palestine, she worked with CPT in Iraq during the second Iraq War. During this time, she was one of the first investigators to work on what became known as the Abu Ghraib scandal. Le Anne has studied, worked and traveled in over two dozen countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and Lebanon, and the US/ Mexico borderlands, and study at the World Council of Churches. At home in Mason City, she is currently working to build interfaith and ecumenical cooperation in North Iowa and across the state of Iowa.
Social Topic - Andrea Cohen has served as Executive Director of the Iowa United Nations Association and is an Iowa City Human Rights Commissioner. She has a Bachelors in Anthropology from Barnard College and a Masters in Anthropology and Education from the Teacher's College at Columbia University. She also has a Master of Science in Teaching Social Studies and Civics from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.