Crossing Borders Conference
March 2012
Hosted by UB, Crossing Borders 2012 was held on March 22-23, 2012 at the Sheraton at the Falls, Niagara Falls, NY. The opening reception featured a presentation on the "Making of the War of 1812" documentary by WNED, and the keynote speech at the conference luncheon was delivered by Rick Hill, a citizen of the Beaver Clan of the Tuscarora Nation, and was entitled "Choices and Consequences: Haudenosaunee War of 1812 Experiences."
To view the conference program, click here.
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Past Conferences
March 2011
Crossing Borders Student Conference was held in conjunction with ‘Binational Dialogues: Building Binational Communities’, the annual Summit of the Binational Tourism Alliance (BTA). The full program can be found here.
2010
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2009
Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario hosted the Crossing Borders on March 26th and 27th. Please download the program.
Opening reception of Crossing Borders Student Conference at Brock University. UB graduate students, left to right are Jeff Cooper, Nikki Dragonne, Urszula Piasta all from American Studies; Paul Galdenzi and Dylan McLean of Political Science. A total of 12 undergraduate and graduate students from UB presented papers at the conference. |
 Consul General Stephen Brereton, Consulate General of Canada/Buffalo gave the introductions. On the panel from the left are Professor Renée Lafferty of Brock University, Ms. Arlene White of Binational Tourism Alliance, Professor Tom Chambers of Niagara University, Mr. Doug Kohler, Erie County Historian and the panel chair, Professor David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye of Brock University. |
 Consul General John R. Nay, U.S. Consulate General, Toronto, Ontario addressed the audience. |
 Professor Jane Koustas, Director, Humanities Institute at Brock University speaks to the crowd. Along side of her (right to left) include Dr. Liette Vasseur, Vice President, Research at Brock U, and Professor Munroe Eagles, Director, Canadian Studies Academic Program at UB.> |
Award-winning conflict and environmental journalist and author Peter Annin gave the talk "The Great Lakes Water Wars," based on Annin's book of the same name. |
 Mr. Matthew Ingram of St. Bonaventure University delivers his presentation, "Canadian and U.S. Gun Control Policies". |
2008
The 12th year for the Crossing Borders Conference and a first for this year's host, the University at Buffalo, SUNY, in association with the Consulate General of Canada (Buffalo) and the Consulate General of the United States (Toronto). The Conference brings students and faculty together from Southern Ontario, New York State and Western Pennsylvania with a focus on Canada-US, and various cross-border issues.
The opening reception was held at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society and the guest speaker was Lauren Rachlin. Lauren Rachlin, Esq. is a partner in the Buffalo and Toronto offices of Hodgson Russ, LLP. He is a graduate of the University at Buffalo and has a JD from Harvard Law School. His practice focuses on international business law with particular reference to Canada. A long-time leader in the cross-border community in Buffalo, Mr. Rachlin is a founder, officer, and director of the Canada-U.S. BorderNet Alliance, an organization of businesses focused on the development of trade, tourism, and investment in the international region linking Toronto, Hamilton, Buffalo, Niagara, Rochester, and Syracuse. Mr. Rachlin has served as an expert on dispute resolution panels under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He has served as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the U.N. Human Rights Commission and serves by appointment on the U.S. Trade Representative’s International Trade Advisory Committee on Customs and Trade Facilitation. He lectures frequently on international legal matters and has published many articles on these issues.
Below are a few photos from the opening reception.
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Associate Deans Munroe Eagles (UB), |
John B. Simpson, President, |
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Bruce D. McCombe, Dean |
Mr. Nicholas J. Giacobbe, Jr. |
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Guest speaker, Mr. Lauren Rachlin, Esq. |
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The conference was held at the University at Buffalo, Center for Tomorrow.
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A few of the student presentations |
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More photos can be found on the U.S. Consulate Toronto webpage