David M. Kennedy Center lectures Nov. 10-17 cover diverse topics - BYU News Skip to main content
Intellect

David M. Kennedy Center lectures Nov. 10-17 cover diverse topics

Services for the poor, “transformational diplomacy” and NATO will be lecture topics this week at the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies at Brigham Young University.

  • Kristen Proctor Westenskow, a public health instructor at the University of Utah, will present “Our Covenantal Responsibility to the Poor” at the International Field Studies lecture on Friday, Nov. 10 at noon in 238 Herald R. Clark Building. In addition to teaching public health classes, Westenskow is working to create a public health international study program.

    While a student at BYU, she studied at the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies (1996), served a mission to Chihuahua, Mexico (1996–98), completed a field study in Ghana (1999), and served as both the student facilitator and co-director of the Dominican Republic International Volunteer Program (2000–01).

  • John “Dink” Dinkelman, deputy director of the Orientation Division at the Foreign Service Institute, will present “Transformational Diplomacy: The New Face of America Abroad” at a Global Awareness lecture on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at noon in 238 Herald R. Clark Building. He will also present a Foreign Service Career lecture at 3 p.m. in the same location.

    His topic is based on the January 2006 announcement by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who indicated that Foreign Service assignments would undergo a major shift from the U.S. and Europe to global hot spots. Rank advancement will not occur without such an assignment, expertise in at least two regions and fluency in at least two foreign languages—Chinese, Urdu and Arabic were among the examples cited.

    Rice referred to these changes as “transformational diplomacy.”

    A BYU alumnus, Dinkelman joined the orientation division in 2001, where he served as deputy A-100 coordinator until August 2005, when he became the course coordinator.

    His previous postings have been to Ankara as human resources officer (2000–01), The Hague as supervisory GSO (1995–99), Majuro as regional administrative officer for Micronesia (1993–95), London as administrative staff assistant (1991–93) and Belgrade on a CON/GSO rotation (1989–91).

  • "Europe," NATO, and the United States: The New Geopolitics of European Security” will be presented by John A. Agnew, a professor of geography at the University of California, Los Angeles, on Friday, Nov. 17 at 2 p.m. in 238 Herald R. Clark Building. Agnew has expertise in the democratic transformation in Italy, sovereignty and territoriality, hegemony versus empire in global geopolitics and the history of geographical thought.

    He has been the recipient of the Distinguished Scholarship Award from the Association of American Geographers (2006) and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2003–04), and delivered the Hettner Lectures at the University of Heidelberg (2000).

    Most lectures are archived online. For more information on David M. Kennedy Center events, see the calendar online at http://kennedy.byu.edu.

    Writer: Lee Simons

    Related Articles

    data-content-type="article"

    BYU animation, AdLab students shine once again at Student Emmys

    April 08, 2025
    Students take top national honors in animation and commercial categories at the 44th College Television Awards
    overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
    data-content-type="article"

    BYU professional programs land high marks, engineering makes big jump in U.S. News grad ranks

    April 08, 2025
    BYU’s law and business programs remained highly ranked in the 2025 U.S. News Best Graduate School Rankings released today, while BYU’s engineering graduate programs made major jumps over previous marks.
    overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
    data-content-type="article"

    BYU landscaping students dig their way to 10th national championship

    April 03, 2025
    BYU’s landscaping team is the best in the field, literally. While most national championships are won on the court or the gridiron, this one was claimed with pruned shrubs, expertly placed pavers, and top-tier irrigation systems.
    overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
    overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=