On April 6-10, speakers from all over the world will come to CU Boulder for the 61st Conference on World Affairs.
According to Perspective 360 Conference on World Affairs pamphlet, students and the public can attend about 200 panels brought by over 110 speakers. All events are free.
Bryan New, a co-coordinator for the Students Perspective Subcommittee and a junior economics major, said that lectures on “everything under the sun” will be present at the conference.
“Politics, science, economics, jobs after school, Obama related—the list can go on forever…a little bit of everything,” he said.
Emily King, the Student Ambassadors Coordinator for the event, agreed.
“It’s the conference on everything conceivable. Engineers, journalists, entertainers, musicians, film-makers, authors, writers [and] astronomists all attend. There are intellectuals in every field,” she said.
Chris Bass, a junior political science major, is excited for the conference next week.
“I went to the conference last year. I heard a man talk about NASA and the space race and another speak about the economy,” he said. “I plan to go again. I’m not sure who I’m seeing but will go see a bunch.”
New also said that Pulitzer Prize winning filmmaker, Roger Ebert, is expected to be the most popular speaker this year.
“Ebert attended [the Conference on World Affairs] for 37 consecutive years. He missed the last two because of cancer,” Bass said. “People are excited to see him here again.”
According to New, other highlights include editor of Time International Michael Elliott, as well as activist and co-founder of the “Enough Project,” John Prendergast, who will be talking about the genocide in Darfur.
Students should come to the conference to discover a “new way of looking at things,” New said.
“There are unique people from every walk of life—a beat boxer, film critic, neuroscientist, breast cancer activist,” New said.
Students at CU played a role in making the conference possible, according to King. King oversaw the ambassadors who were paired up with a couple of participates.
“There are 40 ambassadors representing a bunch of majors. Political science and international affairs majors are popular, but there are engineers and science majors as well,” King said. ”People work from August on the conference and we have worked for a couple of months. Students get to match up with people they have interests with.”
New also said that past participants have included Vice President Joe Biden, Noble Prize winner Paul Krugman and political commentator Rachel Maddow.
On how to get the most from the conference, New said, “Plan your day well. This is the most unique thing around you’ll ever see—from a beat box, to a time machine to Facebook.”
Contact CUIndependent Sara Fruman at sara.fruman@colorado.edu
