Past JWAC events: 2024-2025 season 42
-Bringing the world to Juneau.

Tuesday Travelogue: On the Road in Oman
Tuesday, March 18 | 5:15 - 6:15 | Gold Town Theatre
What happens when a random Alaska Airlines mileage deal takes you halfway around the world to the Omani capital Muscat, a city you've never heard of? Brooke Ivy knows! She offers tales of swimming through wadis, solo desert drives, villages tucked deep into the mountains, famous hospitality, and the dramatic landscapes that make Oman *almost* feel like home. Doors at 5:00 p.m. Donations to the Gold Town gladly accepted.

Tuesday Travelogue: On Safari in Tanzania
Tuesday, February 18 | 5:15 - 6:15 | Gold Town Theatre
Eva Varadi and Tom Bornstein traveled in Tanzania on a bespoke safari in September of 2024, visiting four national parks, spotting an abundance of wildlife, and experiencing outstanding Tanzanian culture. Expect tales of the good, the bad, and the amazing. Oh, and some wildlife photos to boot! Doors at 5:00 p.m. Donations to the Gold Town gladly accepted.

WorldQuest 2025
Saturday, February 1, 2025 | 6:00 | Centennial Hall
WorldQuest is JWAC's largest fundraiser, featuring an international buffet, no-host bar, silent auctions, and our delightfully amusing trivia contest. Click here to read more and get tickets.

Tuesday Travelogue: Panama's San Blas Islands
Tuesday, January 14 | 5:15 - 6:15 | Gold Town Theatre
Mariah Thibodeau shares stories and images from sailing voyages through the San Blas Islands off Panama's Caribbean Coast. Beyond vibrant culture and incredible natural beauty, Mariah also explored the intersection of environmental challenges faced by Panama's Guna people as well as tourism's effects on the region as a whole. Doors at 5:00 p.m. Donations to the Gold Town gladly accepted.

Tuesday Travelogue: Cycling South Korea and Japan
Tuesday, December 3 | 5:15 - 6:15 | Gold Town Theatre
Neil and Kate Slotnick cycled over 1,700 miles across South Korea and Japan and had pictures to show and stories to tell! From back roads to bike paths, they cycled roads less traveled through small towns and visited the major cities of Seoul, Busan, Kyoto, Tokyo, and Sapporo. Doors at 5:00 p.m. Donations to the Gold Town gladly accepted.

Tuurou Hawaiki (Returning to the Origins) with Tipene Pickett
Friday, October 25 | 5:15 | KTOO Studio 1
Tipene Pickett is an Alcohol and Drug counselor from Auckland, New Zealand, contracted by both governmental and non-governmental organizations to provide training and healing for Maori and other Pacific Islander peoples through the practice of Motivational Interviewing (MI). He has a passion for MI's spirit and influence within the context of being Maori, and the practice's relationship to Tikanga -the protocols, worldviews and practices of Maori ancestry. It is a tool he has explored and developed over decades to influence the healing journey of Maori reclaiming their Mana ('inherent influence') and Tapu ('absolute worth').
Tipene's presentation coverd the use of a puuraakau ('traditional narrative of origin') to frame his personal journey of remembering his identity and revitalising his language, and, in doing so, demonstrate the value of Indigenous knowledge in partnership with Western knowledge to help people talk themselves into change.
KTOO 360TV video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2_wSgdRvzM

Fall Forum: Political Authoritarianism on the Rise in the 21st Century
Friday and Saturday, October 18 & 19, | KTOO Studio 1
Click here for schedule, speaker details, and video of each presentation
Two days, Five presentations, Two panel discussions. Experts explored political authoritarianism by examining the role of the politics of memory in post-Soviet Russia; illiberal democracy as a form of authoritarianism in Turkey and Mexico; the role of religion in authoritarian ideology; and an anthropologist's view of authoritarianism. The Forum will concluded with two moderated panel discussions exploring questions on the nature of authoritarianism and how free societies can defend themselves against the attacks of authoritarian movements while maintaining their open and free institutions.

Tuesday Travelogue: Himalayan Trekking in Western Tibet and India
Tuesday, October 15 | 5:15 - 6:15 | Gold Town Theatre
In 2017, Kate Troll, Bill Hanson, and Stephanie Hoag joined 7 friends on a guided trek through the Markha Valley in the Himalayas. Over the course of 10 days, the group crossed passes as high as 17,000 feet, explored the environs of British India's summer capital Shimla, and traversed a rugged landscape of towering mountains and steep gullies. Remote villages, stupas, monasteries, and the prevailing Buddhist culture made for the high altitude adventure of a lifetime. Doors at 5:00 p.m. Donations to the Gold Town gladly accepted.

The Middle East on Edge: Assessing the Prospects for a Regional War with Professor Steven Niva
Wednesday, September 25 | 5:15 | KTOO Studio 1
The ongoing Israel-Gaza war has spilled over into escalating violence on multiple fronts across the Middle East, including such hotspots as Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Yemen. The U.S. military has been actively engaged in most of these areas. There is growing fear of a wider war across the Middle East, but the truth is that a low-level war is already here. Evergreen State College professor Steve Niva went over each of these flashpoints across the region and assessed the prospects for a major escalation into regional war, paying particular attention to U.S. military deployments and policy aims and how regional de-escalation could take place.
Steve Niva is a professor of international politics and Middle East Studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and Middle East Studies from Columbia University and frequently writes and speaks about the dynamics of war and conflict in the Middle East. He was the editor-in-chief of Middle East Report magazine (merip.org) from 2018-2020. He has lived and worked across the Middle East and frequently takes students on study abroad programs to Egypt, Turkey and Morocco.
KTOO 360TV video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofBve0aEgKo

Tuesday Travelogue: Aegean Greece and Turkey
Tuesday, September 10 | 5:15 - 6:15 | Gold Town Theatre
Jo Boehme and Mark Millard independently explored Greece's Aegean Islands, Turkey's West Coast, and Istanbul for 6 weeks in the fall of 2023. By land, sea, and sky, they ventured from Amorous's active monastery and Delos -the birthplace of Apollo- to Turkey's ancient sites at Ephesus and Pamukkale, before continuing on to Cappadocia and finally 'Stanbul (and many places in between). Jo and Mark will share the sights and stories that challenged and delighted their senses of sight, sound, and taste. Doors at 5:00 p.m. Donations gladly accepted.