The Conference on World Affairs Week this April will host 100 speakers, including a former NASA administrator, an NFL linebacker and the writer of “Ms. Marvel.”
The conference is a weeklong event that brings speakers from a range of disciplines to the university, where they hold panel discussions on subjects including politics, business, music, the arts, space, climate, food, international affairs, health, media and science. This year, there are panelists from 18 countries, who have expertise in fields including the arts, space travel, politics, science, food and international affairs.
The conference will be held on April 10-14 this year, and the majority of the events will be on the CU campus. Students will be given priority for seating at the events and for asking questions during the Q&A section of panels.
Some panelist highlights include G. Willow Wilson, writer of the Ms. Marvel comic books; Chris Borland, a former player for the San Francisco 49ers; Anita Sarkeesian, creator of the popular “Feminist Frequency: YouTube series; Joe Sexton, a senior editor at ProPublica; Ellie Schafer, director of the White House visitors office under the Obama administration; and Chris Lehnertz, the first female superintendent of the Grand Canyon National Park and a CU alum. The keynote speaker will be Dava Newman, a former Deputy Administrator of NASA and professor at MIT.
The CWA held a preview event at the Dairy Arts Center last Wednesday where they announced the list of speakers and held a brief panel discussion between three of the 2017 speakers: arctic explorer John Huston, writer Florence Williams and multimedia composer Kenji Williams. They discussed issues including climate change, the importance of nature and the connection between the arts and sciences.
At the event, participants said that their favorite thing about CWA Week was how it created a sense of community at CU and how students and faculty from different departments that generally do not interact have a chance to connect.
There are numerous student volunteer positions for the CWA, student volunteer coordinator Tess Rose said. She said that students have the opportunity to help plan programs, drive speakers around Boulder and produce panels. Students can sign up either to volunteer throughout the year or just for CWA week.
Contact CU Independent Copy Editor Carina Julig at carina.julig@colorado.edu.
