Media Advisory: North American Futures conference March 12-13

ATTENTION: Reporters covering international affairs, energy, trade and climate change

WHAT

“North American Futures: Canadian & U.S. Perspectives,” a two-day conference at the University of California, Berkeley, exploring policy and political perspectives on issues influencing the relationships between the United States and Canada and between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Those issues – which also drive cooperative efforts and joint strategies for North American peace and prosperity – include energy, economics and trade, climate change and the Arctic, national security and international affairs, and culture and identity.

WHEN

9 a.m.-5:15 p.m., Friday, March 12
9 a.m.-3:15 p.m., Saturday, March 13

WHERE

Most events will take place in the Tamalpais Room of the David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley. For details about other locations, see the conference Web site at http://igs.berkeley.edu/events/canada2010.html.

WHO

Scholars and practitioners from the public and private sector, including the following panelists:

• Thomas R. Pickering, the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
• Joe Clark, Canada’s 16th prime minister of Canada, who now is a professor at the Centre for Developing-Area Studies at McGill University in Toronto
• Allan Gotlieb, Canada’s ambassador to the United States from 1981 to 1989
• Roberta Jacobson, deputy secretary for Canada, Mexico and NAFTA issues with the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
• Chrystia Freeland, the U.S. managing editor of the Financial Times newspaper
• UC Berkeley’s Jack Citrin, a professor of political science and director of the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS); Henry Brady, a professor of political science and dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy; Bradford J. DeLong, a professor of economics; Dan Kammen, a professor of energy and resources; Steven Weber, a professor of political science; and David Caron, a professor of law and co-director of the Law of the Sea Institute at UC Berkeley’s School of Law.

DETAILS

The conference is free and open to the public, but advance registration is recommended. The event will be Webcast later on webcast.berkeley.edu. To register, send your name and e-mail address to [email protected] and include “Canada 2010 RSVP” in the subject field. To learn more details, visit the conference Web site: http://igs.berkeley.edu/events/canada2010.html.
Sponsors include the IGS, UC Berkeley’s Canadian Studies Program and Institute of International Studies, and the University of British Columbia’s Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions & U.S. Studies Program. The conference is the inaugural event for the Berkeley-British Columbia Symposium on Politics and Public Policy. It is a joint venture between UC Berkeley and the University of British Columbia to advance new research collaborations between Canada and the United States on salient policy issues shaping the North American agenda.