Professor Robin Broad

(International Development) was named Activist/Artist of the month by the Culture Works Collective for her recent article, "Like Water for Gold in El Salvador," in The Nation. The article, based on field research, focuses on the epic battle in El Salvador against gold mining and for clean water.

The Culture Works Collective is a network of over 5,000 artists and activists around the world. The organizing committee of the Culture Works Collective includes such icons as singer Pete Seeger and farmworker organizer Baldemar Velasquez, as well as Larry Cohen, president of the Communication Workers of America; Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists; and Gus Speth, former Dean, Yale University, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

In honoring Professor Broad, Culture Works wrote that Robin’s article (written with her husband, John Cavanagh) "tells the story of the ravages of the gold mining industry in Central America, and of the assassination of Marcelo Rivera, an activist and cultural worker who fought to save his community from such mining. Marcelo’s life – and Robin and John’s article – ­ amplifies the true power of the confluence of art and activism."

Professor Carl LeVan

(Comparative and Regional Studies) writes, "Professor Todd Eisenstadt (SPA) and I just got back from our amazing three weeks in Kenya. We were co-leading the American Political Science Association’s Africa Workshop at the University of Nairobi. Our proposal on the theme “Representation Reconsidered” won in a competitive grant competition, funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation. The workshop is a great example of SIS/SPA collaboration, and this semester we will be co-teaching an amazing course based on the workshop’s main themes.

"I included the one with me in front of the water tank because students in my “Civilizations of Africa” class raised money to buy that tank in a rural Masai community. The man in the picture, Joseph Ole Tipanko, is a leader in the community who visits American University every spring to give lectures and meet with students. There is also a picture of me with him, next to a school he is building – our next fundraising project!"

University Professor James Mittelman

(Comparative and Regional Studies), along with renowned philosopher Martha Nussbaum of the University of Chicago Law School and distinguished Finnish philosopher Jaakko Hintikka, has been awarded the title of Honorary Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies. They are the only holders of this position. It entails an ongoing affiliation with the University of Helsinki, including periodic visits.