The conference has offered numerous panels on topics like climate, corruption and equality since 2013.
Courtesy of Conference on World Affairs
By Jasmine Jarrett
The 2022 St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs brought professionals from across the globe to discuss current pressing topics in areas like migration, equality, climate and corruption.
Hosted at USF St. Petersburg from Feb. 15 to Feb. 18, the conference included notable speakers such as Paul Farmer, a renowned medical anthropologist and physician who received the $1 million Berggruen Prize in 2020, and Lee Weiner, one of the original members of the Chicago Seven.
The St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs was founded in 2013 by former U.S. Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Douglas McElhaney, and USF political science professor Thomas Smith.
According to the World Affairs Conference website, its mission is to create “a forum for international experts to educate, engage and empower members of our community and beyond, focusing on the fields of international relations, economics, environment, culture, humanity, and health.” It also aims to create a “well-informed citizenry” to maintain “a vibrant democracy.”
According to Diane Seligsohn, president of the St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs, the conference aims to provide attendees with an unbiased, multilayered view into the issues discussed.
“For each of these talks, we hope to provide both global and historical context that will give our community a deeper sense of the issue from all sides,” Seligsohn said.
This year’s “COVID Impacts Part 2: Disrupting Education” discussion, presented by Chance Cook and Smith, offered an alternative perspective on the importance of educational institutions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
The panelists argued that schools are responsible for much more than providing a learning environment for students.
Due to the increased strain placed on schools from the pandemic and the growing importance and relevancy of these facilities, Cook believed that the status of schools and teachers should improve in the near future.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the conference was held in a hybrid modality for the first time — as opposed to being completely virtual last year.
Despite the challenge, the virtual nature of the conference provided an opportunity to expand its audience and include speakers from across the world.
“The virtual format allows us to port in speakers we wouldn’t ordinarily be able to bring,” Smith said last year in an interview with The Crow’s Nest.
As with last year, the conference’s hybrid modality lends itself to viewing accessibility. All panels were recorded and will be uploaded to the World Affairs Conference website, allowing viewers to virtually attend the sessions at any time.
“Being able to record all these sessions of the conference is going to be an unbelievable resource, allowing us to grow our audience exponentially,” Seligsohn said in an announcement last year.
