By Mac Weekly Staff

The Institute for Global Citizenship (IGC) will inaugurate its annual spring conference, the Macalester Civic Forum, March 29 to 31. With three sessions that include acclaimed scholars from outside of Macalester, as well as student speakers, the conference will focus on two questions: how should we conceptualize “global citizenship” and what are the key issues pertaining to the theory and practice of global citizenship in the contemporary era?
The three invited speakers are Seyla Benhabib, David Theo Goldberg, and Emmett D. Carson. The speakers will address issues related to global citizenship on three scales: local, national, and transnational. According to the forum program, the goal of the conference is to “catalyze the kind of broad and constructive discussion of global citizenship necessary if we are to sustain and sharpen our efforts to educate our students more purposefully for ethical and effective engagement/leadership in the communities in which they live.”

President Brian Rosenberg, Provost Diane Michelfelder, Dean for the Study of Race and Ethnicity Jane Rhodes, Dean of the IGC Ahmed Samatar, and Chaplain Lucy Forster-Smith, will also share their views on the topic.

In future years, the conference is likely to feature student scholarship honoring the practice of global citizenship.
EMILY HOWLAND