St. John’s Students Address High-Level Vienna Global Security Conference

St. John’s students grabbed the spotlight recently when they became the first university students ever to present papers at the annual Academic Council on the UN System (ACUNS) Conference.

Held at the University of Vienna from June 3 to 5, the 23rd annual conference explored “New Security Challenges.” The meeting hosted more than 500 worldwide experts in the field, including heads of state, U.N., non-governmental office (NGO) representatives and members of the academic community.

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Five students in St. John’s Master’s Degree Program in International Communication took part in a panel moderated by Basilio Monteiro, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Chair, Division of Mass Communication, Journalism, TV and Film. “I invited them to come and assume a leadership role,” he said. “It really exposed them to the world stage.” The students won praise from the dignitaries at the meeting, including Therese Gastaut, Director of the Women’s International Peace Movement in Geneva, who said “I hope St. John’s will serve as a model inspiring other university and college students to attend our meetings and, even more importantly, make presentations.”

For Sadie Miller, a second-year student in the International Communication Program, this was her first time abroad. She was awed by the conference’s location at one of Europe’s oldest universities. Sadie’s paper, which explored the power of education in eradicating world terrorism, added yet another voice to the conference’s global dialogue. “The whole experience was stimulating academically, culturally and intellectually,” she said.

“Knowing we were going to speak before diplomats and other high-level officials was nerve-wracking,” said Tiffany Vazquez, a second-year student in International Communication. Nevertheless, the audience paid close attention to her presentation on the impact one person or group can make by using Internet technology. “I was thrilled that they welcomed learning about the student perspective on global security,” she said. “I just felt like I was on top of the world.”

Brian Chambers, who is in his first year in the International Communication Program, also attended the conference. “Being able to network with people from around the world and listen to, and in some cases meet, speakers like the President of Slovenia and the former President of Ireland, “exceeded all my expectations,” he said. “This experience reinforced my view that being a graduate student in international communication is opening all kinds of doors for me. If it weren’t for St. John’s and Professor Monteiro, I would never have had this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a participant and a witness to this exciting discussion of pressing issues by global security experts and practioners.” His fellow student attendees enthusiastically echoed this sentiment.