An appearance by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at the LBJ Library today will mark the inaugural event of the School of Public Affairs’ new Master of Global Policy program.
LBJ School Dean James Steinberg said Albright focused on citizen activism throughout her career and embodies the program’s direction. Steinberg met Albright more than 25 years ago when he was working in Sen. Edward Kennedy’s office and Albright was a foreign policy adviser to President Jimmy Carter. Steinberg invited Albright to discuss how the U.S. can promote its national interest in a world where current affairs are increasingly shaped by non-state actors.
“She really, I think, embodies this idea that getting citizens and groups, from what we call civil society, involved is a critical measure and can be far more effective in promoting democracy and human rights [than governmental action],” Steinberg said.
In the talk, which will occur at 6 p.m. in the LBJ Library’s Great Hall, Albright will discuss how her experiences as secretary of state in President Bill Clinton’s administration can contextualize the environmental and political challenges currently facing the United States. Prior to serving as secretary of state, Albright served as president of the Center for National Policy, a non-profit research organization formed in 1981 by government, industry, labor and education officials, according to the <a href="http://www.hhs.gov/"><u/>U.S. State Department’s Web site</u></a>.
The new public affairs graduate program, which has an inaugural class of forty students and will be taught by Steinberg and other LBJ professors, allows students to specialize in fields such as diplomacy, energy and the environment, development and international trade.
Steinberg said traditional public policy education, which places priority on politics and governmental figures, emphasizes an outdated “Cold War” notion that lags behind the changes taking place in the world.
Professor Frank Gavin, who will teach in the program, said he and other program administrators hope to work with academic institutions overseas to enhance their ability to teach issues in a global context. The administrators went to Beijing in January and met with students from both Peking and JinHua universities to create a partnership with the schools.
“In the future, as we move forward, we plan to do things like student exchanges, faculty exchanges, courses over there,” Gavin said. He added that though Albright’s political career ended with the Clinton administration, her work as secretary of state and career outside government demonstrate her ability to adapt
to change.
“She has shown herself, both when she was secretary of state and in the years since, as someone who embraces change, who understands we live in a complex world, and showing her support for [the program], I think, is reflective of that,” Gavin said.
