SAIS will examine the critical role of water throughout the world as a special substantive theme for the 2008–09 academic year. This natural resource in some way intersects all of the school’s regional and functional areas of study. The “Year of Water” will bring faculty, students and alumni together to explore global water issues as they relate to economics, the environment,technology,development and poverty, security,public health, and conflict and cooperation. “It is difficult to contain the issue of water as a global resource within academic boundaries. But for just that reason, the theme holds the promise of wonderfully diverse and enriching dialogue for the SAIS community — as we explore topics ranging from agricultural efficiency and growth to women in development, from climate change to submarine warfare,” said SAIS Dean Jessica P. Einhorn. The school is planning a variety of related initiatives and events for this academic year. For example, water’s impact on international relations will be the focus of the 2008 issue of SAISPHERE to be published in December. During the spring semester, there are plans to hold a conference on the topic of water and agriculture, as farming activities comprise as much as 70 percent of the world’s water demand. The Bologna Center will start off its academic year with a water-themed event. On September 22, Peter Agre, the 2003 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry and director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, will lecture about his current research on the possibility of treating or preventing malaria through the use of aquaporins, a family of water channel proteins found throughout nature and responsible for numerous physio logical processes in humans. Funded by a Starr Foundation grant, a group of SAIS students will travel to China to explore that country’s rising demands for clean water and the emerging economic and environmental challenges. To stay informed about initiatives and events for the “Year of Water,” go to www.sais-jhu.edu/water.
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