Join the International Relations Minor for a virtual career information session featuring Cornell alumni working in diplomacy, education, and law. Panelists will reflect on their career paths, share advice on internships, graduate school, and professional transitions, and answer student questions about careers connected to international relations.

Register here.

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Speakers

Eric Andersen is the Political-Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Maputo, Mozambique. Having joined the U.S. State Department in 2009, he previously served as Political Counselor (Acting) in Islamabad, Pakistan. His other assignments have included Cairo, Kyiv, and Khartoum, as well as in Washington, D.C. as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Prior to entering the Foreign Service, he spent four years on Capitol Hill as a Professional Staff Member for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. In his first stint with the U.S. Government, he flew the SH-60B “Seahawk” helicopter as an aviator in the U.S. Navy. He holds an M.A. in Security Policy from the George Washington University, and a A.B. in English Literature from Cornell University (Class of 1996).

Angie Yucht Swenson, M.S.Ed., Ed.M., is the founder and principal tutor of AYS Tutoring and Consulting, a practice she launched after more than a decade working in both private and public schools across New York City. She specializes in supporting elementary through high school students with learning challenges and has worked with families from diverse international backgrounds, including Russia, Israel, and France. Angie graduated from Cornell University in 2010, majoring in Human Development and minoring in International Relations, followed by a master’s in General and Special Education from Hunter College, and a master’s in School Leadership from Bank Street College of Education. She resides in NYC with her husband, two daughters, and a goldendoodle.

Emma Marshak is a commercial litigator in Washington, DC who specializes in judgment enforcement. She has enforced domestic and international judgments, including awards from investor-state arbitration, in federal and state courts across the United States.

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This session is presented by the Einaudi Center for International Studies. The International Relations minor is open to all Cornell undergraduate students interested in learning about the politics, economics, history, languages, and cultures of the world.

Registration Link: https://cvent.me/Qy3NxW

EMC² Distinguished Fellow Series
From BRIC to BRICS+: 25 Years That Reshaped the Global Economy. Fireside Chat Dean Andrew Karolyi and Lord Jim O'Neill

Andrew KarolyiCharles Field Knight Dean, Cornell SC Johnson College of BusinessJim O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of Gatley2026 EMC² Distinguished FellowFormer Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset ManagementFormer Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, United KingdomKnown for coining the term BRICChair of BRICS+ ThinkingOpening by Lourdes Casanova, Gail and Roberto Cañizares Director, Cañizares Center for Emerging Markets

Lord O’Neill of Gatley
Lord O’Neill is a cross bench peer in the House of Lords. He is Chair of Northern Gritstone, and is also Chair and Co-Founder of a new Policy Platform, BRICS+ Thinking. He is Co-President and formerly Chair of, Northern Powerhouse Partnership. He is a member of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Economic Advisory Council and is Chair of the NeoTest AMC working group launched by CGD. His previous roles include, joint head of research at Goldman Sachs (1995–2000), its chief economist (2001–10) and chairman of its asset management division (2010–13); creator of the acronym BRIC; chair of the City Growth Commission (2014); chair of the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance [AMR] (2014-16); commercial secretary to the Treasury (2015-16); chair of Chatham House (2018-2021). He is a board member, and one of the founding trustees of educational charity SHINE.

Lord O’Neill is a Distinguished Fellow at both The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the 2027 Cornell Canizares Center for Emerging Markets (EMC2). He is an honorary professor of economics, University of Manchester, and holds honorary degrees from the University of Sheffield, University of Manchester, University of Hull, University of London, University of Surrey and from City University London. He received his PhD from the University of Surrey and is now a Visiting Professor there.

A reception will be held after the fireside chat.
Please register to attend and keep posted about this event.

Registration Link: https://cvent.me/Qy3NxW

"Chunking in the Second Language: Implications for Language Learning and Teaching"
Serene Wang
Language Scientist and Educator

Many second language learners attain substantial vocabulary and grammatical knowledge and perform well on standardized proficiency tests, yet they continue to experience difficulty in real-time language use despite years of studying. This discrepancy can be understood from a processing-based perspective, emphasizing the role of chunking in real-time language processing.

Chunking refers to the cognitive process by which smaller elements are grouped into larger units, such as from syllables to words, from words to phrases, and beyond. Differences between first (L1) and second language (L2) learning often lead the latter to rely more heavily on word-by-word processing, constraining comprehension and production in the face of rapid speech rates, transient speech signals, and inherent limitations of the human sensory and working memory systems.

Recent empirical findings suggest that chunking facilitates real-time language processing in L1 and L2 speakers alike. These findings invite a reconsideration of common instructional practices that treat language as a system of knowledge to be studied, emphasizing vocabulary words and grammatical structures as categorically distinct areas of instruction. Instead, I argue that a chunk-based language pedagogy that uses multiword units as important building blocks for language may better support real-time processing skills in L2 learners.

Bio: Dr. Serene Wang is a language scientist and educator. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology (Psycholinguistics) from Cornell University, with her dissertation research focusing on the cognitive science of second language learning, chunking, and processing. Outside of the laboratory, she also worked closely with second language learners and speakers in the classroom and language support settings. During her time at Cornell, she taught a reading and writing course for heritage Chinese speakers, two Mandarin Language Across the Curriculum sections attached to Psychology courses, and facilitated English and Mandarin Conversation Hours at the LRC for three years. Dr. Wang is currently working as a local language instructor in Ithaca, teaching ESL at TST BOCES and Mandarin at Raft Education.

This event will be held in person in G25 Stimson and will also be streamed live over Zoom (registration required). Join us at the LRC or on Zoom.

The event is free and open to the public.