2021 Military Writers’ Symposium will focus on Arctic security; four-star U.S. Army general visits Corps of Cadets
Arctic security has riveted Norwich University’s campus in recent months. Undergraduate student researchers studied it last summer (Arctic Triad research project). A special certificate course the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies discussed it in fall 2020. And Wilson Center Senior Fellow Sherri Goodman explored it in a lecture in fall 2019.
Now, the topic will get a further look as the Military Writers’ Symposium returns to campus. The symposium, featuring an appearance by 2021 Colby Award winner Mark Treanor and 2021 Richard S. Schultz ’60 Symposium Fellow Larenz Simpkins, will highlight the week’s campus schedule along with a visit from four-star U.S. Army Gen. Michael X. Garrett, commanding general of United States Army Forces Command, and the Pegasus Players theater troupe’s return to the stage.
HERE COMES THE GENERAL: Garrett will be on campus Tuesday. He’ll participate in early morning physical training with the Corps of Cadets, have lunch in the Wise Campus Center dining hall with the Corps’ cadre and address the full Corps at 1 p.m. in Plumley Armory.
Garrett’s visit comes just two weeks after Gen. Paul E. Funk II, commanding general of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, visited campus to deliver the Defense Department ROTC and Educational Institution Partnership Excellence Award.
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SYMPOSIUM SPOTLIGHT: Events will run Wednesday and Thursday, with many events livestreamed for wider viewing. Presentations focus on the Arctic, which has become a central focus of Chinese and Russian foreign policy. As global warming has quickened ice melt, Russia has built up its Arctic presence; other Arctic nations are responding by increasing their footprint and capabilities.

Wednesday’s schedule will include:
9 to 9:50 a.m., Mack Hall Auditorium
Dr. Whitney Lackenbauer, Trent University, Ontario, Canada.
“Premier Partners: Past, Present, and Future Canada-U.S. Cooperation to Address Threats Through, To, and In the North American Arctic.”
10 to 10:50 a.m., Mack Hall Auditorium
Dr. James Kraska, U.S. Naval War College and Harvard Law School.
“Geostrategy and International Law in the Arctic Ocean.”
11 to 11:50 a.m., Mack Hall Auditorium (Prerecorded)
Dr. Lilian “Doc” Alessa, University of Idaho, George Mason University and Texas A&M University.
“A New Northern Narrative: Operational Arctic Security.”

1 to 1:50 p.m.: Mack Hall Auditorium, Troy Bouffard, University of Alaska Fairbanks Center for Arctic Security and Resilience.
“The Role of the Arctic for Russian National Security and Defense.”
2 to 2:50 p.m., Mack Hall Auditorium
Sam Alexander, Gwich’in Council International | University of Alaska Fairbanks Center for Arctic Security and Resilience.
“The Cost of Arctic Security: An Indigenous Perspective.”
7 to 8:30 p.m., Plumley Armory
Panel discussion. “Global Conflict or Cooperation? Evolving Arctic Security,” moderated by Troy Bouffard.
Thursday’s schedule includes:
9:25 to 10:25 a.m., Mack Hall Auditorium
Colby Award recipient presentation, Mark Treanor.
1 to 2 p.m., Mack Hall Auditorium
Student presentation, Larenz Simpkins ’22, recipient, 2021 Richard S. Schultz ’60 Symposium Fellowship.
On Wednesday and Thursday in Mack Hall’s atrium, Will Helterbran ’22, the 2021 John and Mary Frances Patton Peace & War Center fellow, will share his research project, “Wind Turbine Blade Design for Arctic Region Applications.”
Register to watch the symposium speakers’ presentations.
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— “RUMORS” HAS IT: The Pegasus Players, who were forced to perform virtually during the coronavirus pandemic, will return to the Mack Hall Auditorium stage this weekend to perform Neil Simon’s comedy “Rumors.”

Performances will run at 7:30 Nov. 4 through Nov. 6. Admission is free.
“Rumors” tells the farcical story of well-to-do friends who gather to celebrate a wedding anniversary. Guests arrive to find the hostess missing and the host bleeding from a gunshot wound to the earlobe. Each arrival tries to cover up the crime; their juxtaposed stories create the comedy.
The Pegasus Players will perform the show with few props, relying on Simon’s dialogue and the cast’s delivery to drive the plot.
See a fuller description of “Rumors.”
— LOST IN SPACE: The Sullivan Museum and History Center “Lunch and Learn” program will present a talk on the science-fiction television series “Babylon 5” from noon to 1 p.m.
The series, which ran for five seasons on TNT starting in 1993, takes place on a space station built as a neutral site for global trade and diplomacy after several interspecies wars.
Sullivan Museum and History Center Curator of Education and Public Programs Joseph Cates will lead the discussion with science-fiction enthusiast Glennie Sewell. Cates and Sewell previously delivered Lunch and Learn talks on “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” for the Sullivan Museum.
— FISCAL FITNESS: First Command Financial Services will lead a financial literacy Lunch and Learn focused on credit scores and credit history from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Wise Campus Center dining hall. This session, directed by the Career and Internship Center, is targeted to students but open to all; pizza will be served and a $50 NU bookstore gift card will be raffled.
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See a complete schedule of Norwich University events.
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