Summer Enrollment is Open! Courses begin June 23, 2025.
Beyond the Headlines
POL SCI 747
Osher (50+). This current events lecture series features a different speaker each week. Guest speakers are experts in their field who provide a one-hour lecture followed by a thirty-minute Q&A.
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About this course:
Pulled from today’s headlines, this exclusive speaker series offers an in-depth analysis of significant contemporary issues. Each week, an expert from the political, social, technological, or economic spectrum provides a 1-hour lecture focused on a major global, national, or local issue. Afterwards, students participate in a 30-minute Q&A session with the speaker. A list of speakers for this term will be available online approximately one month before the course begins. This course uses the Hybrid format which allows students to participate remotely and/or in the classroom. Speakers will be in the classroom. This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.
Series Speakers & Topics
Moderator: James Aldinger
DATE | | | LECTURE |
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Jan. 7 | | | An Update on the Status of Iran's Nuclear Program Nader Bagherzadeh, PhD Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, UCI |
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Jan. 14 | | | Big Business and the American Government John Bransetter, PhD Lecturer, Department of Political Science, UCLA |
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Jan. 21 | | | The Past, Present, and Future of the Oceans Jared Diamond, PhD Professor, Department of Geography, UCLA: Pulitzer-prize-winning author of five best-selling books |
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Jan. 28 | | | Misogyny and Authoritarianism: What it means for the US Kyleanne Hunter, PhD Lead, RAND Women, Peace, and Security Initiative; Senior Political Scientist; Professor of Policy Analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School |
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Feb. 4 | | | FBI Los Angeles - Counterterrorism Presentation (working title/not recorded) Amir Ehsaei Special Agent in charge, FBI the Los Angeles Field Office Counterterrorism Division |
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Feb. 11 | | | Prospects for Russian and Chinese Cooperation: A Friendship Without Limits Alexis Blanc, PhD Senior Political Scientist and Professor of Policy Analysis at Pardee RAND Graduate School |
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Feb. 18 | | | Transitioning Research into the Real World in an Effort to Combat Climate Change David Jassby, PhD Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UCLA |
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Feb. 25 | | | Religion and the Supreme Court: A Shifting Balance Chris Soper, PhD Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Pepperdine University |
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DATE | | | LECTURE |
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Apr. 1 | | | The Post-Inauguration Economic Horizon, U.S. & California Jerry Nickelsburg, PhD UCLA Anderson Forecast, UCLA |
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Apr. 8 | | | Taiwan and the South China Sea (not recorded) Yuen-Ching Bellette Lee, PhD Lecturer, Department of Political Science, UCLA |
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Apr. 15 | | | Democratic Elitism: The Founding Myth of American Political Science (not recorded) Natasha Piano, PhD Assistant Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Political Science at UCLA; author, Democratic Elitism: The Founding Myth of American Political Science |
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Apr. 22 | | | California Wildfires: Can Insurance Markets Handle the Risk? Lloyd Dixon, PhD Senior Economist, Director, Kenneth R. Feinberg Center for Catastrophic Risk Management and Compensation, RAND Corporation |
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Apr. 29 | | | 100 Years of American Dreaming Steven Bilakovics, PhD Lecturer, UCI, Pepperdine University School of Public Policy; author, The Anxiety of American Dreaming |
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May 6 | | | Reproductive and LGBTQ+ Rights After the Fall of Roe v. Wade Cary Franklin, DPhil, JD Faculty Director at the Williams Institute and the McDonald-Wright Chair of Law at UCLA School of Law, Professor, School of Law, UCLA |
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May 13 | | | U.S. Health System Performance: Prospects During the Second Trump Administration Thomas Rice, PhD Distinguished Professor of the Department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA |
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May 20 | | | Early Predictors of Cognitive Impairment and the Future of Dementia Péter Hudomiet, PhD Economist at RAND Corporation |
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