Four days, 90 speakers, no charge. St. Pete forum tackles global issues.
This year’s Conference on World Affairs reaches out to include high school students and more conservative voices

By Emily Wunderlich
Tampa Bay Times
Published: Feb 12, 2020

ST. PETERSBURG – Climate change. Infectious disease. Women’s equality. Jazz.

Nothing will be off the table at the eighth annual St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs next week at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, the Palladium Theater and Eckerd College.

With a growing emphasis on art and a larger outreach to the community, organizers say there is something for everyone.

“We want the conference to look like the world looks in terms of the kind of interests and aspirations and problems that people face in their everyday lives,” Smith said.

The conference, which is free and open to the public on a first-come, first-seated basis, will be held Tuesday through Friday. It will feature nearly 90 speakers from government, academia, business, the military, the news media and the arts. Advance registration is encouraged.

Carol Bellamy will deliver the keynote address, “The Rights and Plights of the World’s Children,” at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Palladium Theater, 253 Fifth Ave. N.

Bellamy, a former director of the Peace Corps and former executive director of UNICEF, is chair of a Geneva-based nonprofit that works to strengthen resilience against what it calls “violent extremist agendas” through job creation and empowering women and youth.

Following the keynote will be a concert by a trio led by Cuban piano master Chuchito Valdes. Attendees can get a $10 discount on $25 tickets for Tier B seats when they use the code WORLD at checkout on the Palladium’s website.

This will be the first year the conference expands to Eckerd College. Retired Army Gen. John Nicholson, who recently commanded NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, will deliver the closing address at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21, in Fox Hall on the campus at 4200 54th Ave. S.

Panels will be held Wednesday through Friday at the USF St. Petersburg University Student Center at 600 Sixth Ave. S, while film screenings and book talks will convene at the nearby Kate Tiedemann College of Business.

Among the topics: “International Business in the Tampa Bay Region — Opportunities and Challenges”; “Let’s Get Money Out of Politics. Where to Start?”; “Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Health Care”; “Obesity As a Global Public Health Issue”; and “Should Trump Be Reelected Based on First Term Successes?”

“We have had criticisms from time to time that certain panels were not balanced enough — usually not balanced enough in favor of more conservative voices,” said conference president Diane Seligsohn, a journalist and educator who divides her time between St. Petersburg and Paris.

“We’re aware of that, and we have made an effort to seek out more of those conservative voices.”

This year’s films are Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America, by Tom Shepard; Sweet Home Monteverde, by Robin Truesdale; and Ahead of Time: The Extraordinary Journey of Ruth Gruber, by Bob Richman.

Authors François Savatier, Bruce Eberle, Ann Sussman and Ellen Prager will also discuss their books and serve on panels throughout the week.

To observe what St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman has dubbed “International Week,” the conference will host additional artistic and culinary events at local businesses Sunday through Friday.

Parkshore Grill, The Hangar, 400 Beach and 400 Annex will serve international menus Monday through Friday to guests who mention their attendance at the conference.

Seligsohn said the additions are part of a larger initiative to make the conference more accessible and inclusive.

In November, St. Petersburg in the World hosted a mini-conference on artificial intelligence at the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital Research and Education Building. The featured speaker, Nicholas Sabouret, also spoke to students attending Lakewood High School and Shorecrest Preparatory School.

This year, two conference speakers — Bellamy and Pierre Guerlain, professor emeritus of American Studies at Université Paris-Nanterre, France — will also speak to teachers at Countryside High School in Clearwater on Monday during the school district’s professional development day.

“Because the (conference) events are mostly during the day and during the week, you tend to have an older, retired audience,” Seligsohn said. “If we can’t get the students to the conference, maybe we can bring at least some of the conference to the students.”

Since 2013, when the conference began as a one-day, 10-panel event that drew 200 attendees, it has sought to contextualize international affairs across the political spectrum.

“If we don’t make people at least a little bit uncomfortable, then we’re not doing our job,” Smith said. “What we don’t want to see is people simply coming to the conference, expecting to have their preconceptions reaffirmed.”