On February 23, 2001, the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress held an international symposium on "21st Century Public Policy in the Americas" sponsored by the Tinker Foundation, New York, N.Y. The meeting gathered together twenty of the best minds in the Western Hemisphere to discuss issues ranging from challenges to democracy, sustainable development, the future of the humanities, and the impact of the Information Age. The symposium brought together diplomats, Congressional staff, policy analysts, technocrats, and scholars to ponder the hemispheric context in which public policy is being made and implemented.

PROGRAM

8:30 a.m.
Coffee and registration

9:15 a.m.
Welcome: The Honorable James H. Billington, The Librarian of Congress

9:30-10:45 a.m.
View Panel I Video

Challenges to Democracy in the Americas

Hon. Lloyd Axworthy, Director, Liu Centre, University of British Columbia
Hon. Guillermo Enrique Gonzalez, Ambassador of the Argentine Republic
Hon. Luigi Einaudi, Assistant Secretary, Organization of American States
Susan Kaufman Purcell, Vice President, the Americas Society
Arturo Valenzuela, Director, Center for Latin American Studies, Georgetown University
Chair: Prosser Gifford, Director, Office of Scholarly Programs, Library of Congress

11:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.
View Panel II Video

Sustainable Development in the Americas

David Bray, Chair, Department of International Environmental Studies, Florida International University
Catherine A. Christen, Smithsonian Institution
Thomas Lovejoy, Chief Bio-Diversity Advisor, The World Bank
John R. McNeill, Department of History, Georgetown University
Joseph Tulchin, The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Chair: Ieda Siqueira Wiarda, Specialist in Brazilian Culture, Hispanic Division, Library of Congress

2:15-3:30 p.m.
View Panel III Video

Culture and the Humanities in the Americas

Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria, Sterling Professor of Hispanic and Comparative Literatures, Yale University
Franklin Knight, Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Professor of History, Johns Hopkins University
Dolores Mayano Martin, former editor, Handbook of Latin American Studies
Kenneth Maxwell, Director, Latin American Program, Council on Foreign Relations
Jose Neistein, Director, Brazilian-American Cultural Institute
Chair: Georgette M. Dorn, Chief, Hispanic Division, Library of Congress

3:45-5:00 p.m.
View Panel IV Video

The Information Age in the Western Hemisphere

Miguel Basanez, President, Global Quality Research Corporation
Georgie Anne Geyer, Universal Press Syndicate
Prosser Gifford, Director, Office of Scholarly Programs, Library of Congress
Peter T. Johnson, Director, Iberian and Latin American Collection, Princeton University
Fernando Silva-Pinto, President, Idea Television
Chair: Barbara A. Tenenbaum, Specialist in Mexican Culture, Hispanic Division, Library of Congress

5:00 p.m.
Reception in the Mumford Foyer

The Library of Congress