Join us at the Harkin Institute auditorium for the special screening of the Iowa PBS documentary Citizen Diplomacy, with an introduction by the film’s producer, Dave Miller. Following the screening will be a commentative panel moderated by Dr. David Skidmore, including Iowans featured in the film such as World Food Prize President Emeritus and former U.S. Ambassador Ken Quinn, Roger Engstrom, and Sofia Fernandez.

Film Synopsis (from Iowa PBS): Iowans have been a source for bridging the diplomatic gap between nations for decades. Strong ties between the Soviet Union, Japan and China all started with a handshake that led to greater understanding between people of different nations.

About the Panelists:

Dr. David Skidmore (moderator) received his Ph.D. degree from Stanford University and taught at Hamilton College and the University of Notre Dame before arriving at Drake in 1989. During the 1996-97 academic year, he taught at the Johns Hopkins-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in Nanjing, China. He also served as a Fulbright Scholar based at the University of Hong Kong in 2010-2011. Skidmore served as Director of the Principal Financial Group Center for Global Citizenship (2002-2017) and the Nelson Institute for Diplomacy and International Affairs (2012-2017), both at Drake University. He is past Director of the Drake Curriculum and First Year Seminar programs. His research and teaching interests lie in the areas of international political economy, American foreign policy and international relations theory.

David Miller is the producer of the Iowa PBS film Citizen Diplomacy. He is an Emmy award winning producer, director and videographer who has spent 42 years in media production – 40 of them at Iowa PBS. As a videographer, you could find him everywhere from the West Coast of the United States to the Western half of Ukraine. For most of the last three decades, David has been working for the nationally syndicated journal of rural affairs Market to Market. Over the last 9 years, he has been the executive producer of the program. David is also the executive producer of the Iowa Press program. He is a proud graduate of Drake University, Class of ‘82.

Roger Engstrom’s early experiences with citizen diplomacy included travel to Turkey as a delegate with the 4-H International Farm Youth Exchange and work in India as a Peace Corps volunteer. Over the past three decades, he has served as an agricultural consultant to the governments of Egypt and Tanzania and as a volunteer abroad to fourteen countries on nineteen projects with the United States Agency for International Development’s Farmer to Farmer program.

Sofia Fernandez is a recent graduate of Iowa State University, where she earned a degree in Global Resource Systems and Agricultural Studies and is currently pursuing her M.S. in Agricultural Education. In 2022, Sofia traveled to Uganda, where she conducted research on Food and Nutrition Security Support Groups. She recently returned from coordinating the Next Generation Institute, a development workshop she created and designed, that took place in Uganda for early NGO practitioners to engage in high-impact activities and learn about sustainable rural development project design. Looking forward, Sofia aspires to continue working internationally and make a global impact by reducing hunger through agriculture and acting as a citizen diplomat across the globe.

Dr. Kenneth Quinn, the former American ambassador to Cambodia and President Emeritus of the World Food Prize Foundation, has been involved in citizen diplomacy and sub-national programs and initiatives in Iowa dating from 1979 when he served in the staff of Governor Robert Ray. Included among those experiences were his: participating in multiple efforts on behalf of refugees from Indochina; hosting senior Chinese officials including president Xi Jinping; and promoting “Peace through Agriculture” by welcoming participants from 40 to 50 countries each October at World Food Prize programs, including Israeli and Palestinian and Iranian experts and officials from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

**Registration is encouraged but not required for this event**