Students Welcome New IOP Fellows

Six new Institute of Politics (IOP) fellows introduced the topics of their study groups last night before a crowd of approximately 200 students.

The IOP Study Groups are meant to be discussion forums—generally on current events—geared towards not only undergraduates, but also members of the Harvard community at large.

Director of the IOP Jeanne Shaheen welcomed the presence of such an diverse group of fellows this semester.

“One of the things that distinguishes this group from last semesters’ is that we have a significant international component,” said Shaheen.

The fellows feature former CBS News senior political editor Dotty Lynch, who will be conducting a study group on the 2006 midterm elections, and former Cleveland mayor Jane L. Campbell, who will lead a group called “Voices and Choices,” which will examine race, gender, and economic stress in urban government.

From abroad, the current Iraqi minister of municipalities and public works, Nesreen Barwari—who arrived in the U.S. yesterday—will lead a study group on Iraq’s current state of affairs, security issues, and social, political, and economic challenges. And Peru’s former ambassador to the U.S. Ricardo A. Luna will conduct a group on the five Andean countries—Bolivia, Ecuador, Columbia, Peru, and Venezuela.

In addition, former Boston Globe national editor Kenneth J. Cooper will host a study group entitled “Black and Brown Together Forever? Black Latino Coalition Politics in the 21st century.”

And former 9/11 Commission spokesman Alvin S. Felzenberg will examine “the possibilities of bipartisan cooperation at a time of great political division in our country.”

Although they are excited about conducting their study groups, all the fellows also expressed interest in concurrently taking a variety of classes at the College.

“I’m going to try to take Michael Sandel’s bioethics class and Positive Psych,” said Lynch.

Biological Sciences 60/Government 1093, “Ethics, Biotechnology, and the Future of Human Nature,” taught by political philosopher Sandel and Cabot Professor of Natural Sciences Douglas A. Melton, has attracted more than one follower, with Campbell also expressing interest in the course.

Cooper said that he is interested in studying a topic distinct from the focus of his study group. “I think I need to know more about the Middle East,” Cooper said, and plans to attend a course on the history of the Middle East and one on Caribbean literature.

Students attending the forum expressed excitement about these Fellows and their study groups. Genna A. Ableman ’09 said she was interested in Felzenberg’s bipartisan cooperation group because the topic is “really relevant.”

—Staff writer Emily J. Nelson can be reached at ejnelson@fas.harvard.edu.