Local High School Students Connect with CISAC Security Experts—the Honorable Rose Gottemoeller, Professor Norman Naimark, Dr. Harold Trinkunas, and Visiting Research Scholar Xunchao Zhang—and former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta
Local High School Students Connect with CISAC Security Experts—the Honorable Rose Gottemoeller, Professor Norman Naimark, Dr. Harold Trinkunas, and Visiting Research Scholar Xunchao Zhang—and former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta
Students from San Jose and Salinas Valley—taught by Dr. Ignacio Ornelas Rodriguez—met on May 22, 2025 for the fourth annual International Security Symposium.
Introduction to Issues in International Security is a collaboration between the (CISAC) and the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (91³Ô¹Ï). Four CISAC scholars are featured in accessible video lectures that aim to introduce high school students to issues in international security and increase awareness of career opportunities available in the field. Free discussion guides, developed by of 91³Ô¹Ï, are available for each of the lectures in this series.
For the fourth year since 2022, Dr. Ignacio Ornelas Rodriguez introduced the lectures and lessons in the discussion guides to students from San Jose and Salinas Valley. The course culminated in a symposium on May 22, 2025 that was organized by Sabrina Ishimatsu. Each student had the opportunity to present their research project to CISAC scholars, the , , , and Visiting Research Scholar . The scholars provided extremely useful feedback on their research projects and also asked thought-provoking questions. Students from the 2022, 2023, and 2024 cohorts have commented on how the feedback and questions from the CISAC scholars helped them to prepare for college.
Also during the symposium, students were honored to listen to reflections on the importance of international security from former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta who underscored the importance of education and encouraged the students to consider international security, or more broadly international relations as an academic field of study and career. Panetta has also served as Director of the CIA and White House Chief of Staff. Students were also very fortunate to listen to words of encouragement from Alexandra Arguello, a 2023 alum of the course taught by Ornelas Rodriguez. Arguello is now a student at Harvard University.
Ornelas Rodriguez closed the symposium by extending his praise for the 2025 cohort which exceeded his expectations and commended them for adding his class to their already busy academic lives.
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