An exclusive look at critical information regarding U.S. – Afghanistan relations will be given to students at noon on Sept. 5th.
Laura Dupuy, the executive director of the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy, recently returned from Afghanistan by invitation of the U.S. Department of State and Ambassador Ryan Crocker to assess the relations between the two countries. While there, she spoke with President Hamid Karzai as well as nearly 100 other Afghans.
Dupuy’s lecture, titled “A Citizen Diplomat in Afghanistan”, will address issues, such as the consequences of the U.S. leaving Afghanistan too early and will include a series of photos from her travels.
Ashley Kotter, a freshman from Layton studying psychology, anticipates Dupuy’s arrival because of her interest in global awareness.
“I like to know about the world and be informed, especially because of the election coming up,” Kotter said. “It’s good to know about the world and our international relations.”
Alex Ramsay, a junior from Colorado Springs studying public health said,
“I think it’s good a lot of times to get speakers from outside of the BYU community just because it gives a different perspective — we’re not trapped in our own little bubble but we see stuff going on in the outside world.”
Dupuy’s lecture will take place in room 238 of the Herald R. Clark building and will be hosted by the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies. It is only one of the weekly lectures hosted every Wednesday by the Kennedy center. Every week it hosts a different scholarly speaker free of charge and open to the public.
“I think it’s really cool that we have so many amazing opportunities here at BYU to continue our education, not just through our classes but through extra lectures and through that type of thing,” said Kotter about the lectures “I think it’s just part of the experience that we’re continually seeking for knowledge and to become more well-rounded.”
The Swiss ambassador to the U.S., His Excellency Manuel Sager, will be speaking the following Wednesday at noon in the same location on “Switzerland and the United States, a Partnership for Common Global Challenges”.
