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Distinguished Speaker Series

Roger F. Noriega
Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
for the U.S. Department of State

The Honorable Roger F. Noriega will address the graduating class of the 16th Summer Seminar in U.S.-Studies.

The Speaker
Ambassador Noriega was nominated by President Bush for Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs in March 2003 and is responsible for managing U.S. foreign policy and promoting U.S. interests in the region. He has served as U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States from 2001 to 2003. Before his appointment to the OAS, Ambassador Noriega was a senior staff member for the Committee on Foreign Relations of the U.S. Senate. From 1994 to 1997 he was a senior staff member for the Committee on International Relations of the U.S. House of Representatives (source: U.S. Department of State website, www.state.gov).

The Summer Seminar, which is organized by the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, UCSD, is an intensive, four-week course on the political, economic, and social systems of the United States and is taught primarily by UCSD faculty from the departments of Political Science, History, Economics, and Sociology, and the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. The Seminar is designed for Latin American social scientists and professionals who want to understand, teach, and do research on the United States and immerses participants in a wide range of topics, including U.S. political and economic history, analysis of the U.S. Constitution and judiciary, the Congress, the presidency, state and local government and politics, political parties and elections, the mass media, the economy, environmental and cultural issues, the role of religion in U.S. society and politics, ethnic and race relations, immigration policymaking and policy outcomes, foreign policymaking, the U.S. role in the global economy, and cross-border cooperation and conflict between the United States and Mexico.

This year’s graduating class features students from several prominent governmental, private sector, and higher education institutions in Mexico, Venezuela, and Cuba. The Seminar has trained 350 young leaders from 19 Latin American countries, helping them clarify common misperceptions about the United States and gain a deeper understanding of political institutions, the logic of public-policy design and implementation, and debates about the U.S. political system.

The Distinguished Speakers Series is designed to bring San Diego community leaders and the Center closer together through programming on current issues in Mexico and U.S.-Mexico relations. Financial support for the Series comes from the Center Circle. The Series is open to all members of the UCSD community as well as to faculty and students form other universities and the general public. Parking permits can be purchased at UCSD’s information booths. Metered parking is available in the Pangea parking structure.

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