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Fall Conference 2023 Keynote Address: Howard French From Ancient to Modern: Placing Africa at the Center of our History

You're invited to a Keynote Address by Howard W. French! Event Sponsors:  UK College of Communication and InformationUK Graduate SchoolUK International Studies

Spring Break 2023

For the first time since the pandemic, the Patterson School was able to host the Spring Break trip! Students traveled north with Ambassador Carey Cavanaugh. The focus this year centered around the Canadian border - land, sea, and air - looking at immigration, smuggling/drugs, commerce, and environmental issues. Various stops were selected to provide students with a hands-on, practical understanding of how diplomacy, defense, and commerce are implemented.

2023 Summer Reading List

M. E. Sarotte, Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate (2021) Scott Rozelle and Natalie Hell, Invisible China: How the Urban-Rural Divide Threatens China’s Rise (2020) Adam Tooze, Shutdown: How COVID Shook the World’s Economy (2021) Maxine Bédat, Unraveled: The Life and Death of a Garment (2021) Siddharth Kara, Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives (2023)

Meet Ryan Consaul, 2005 Alum

Ryan Consaul is a senior international/defense researcher at RAND. Previously, he served as a subcommittee staff director on the House Homeland Security Committee's Oversight and Management Efficiency Subcommittee where he led the Committee's oversight of the Department of Homeland Security's management activities including acquisition management; information technology; financial systems; human capital; employee integrity; and issues of waste, fraud, and abuse.

Meet Thomas Niles, 1962 Alum

Thomas M.T. Niles is Vice President of the National Defense University. A career Foreign Service Officer, Ambassador Niles joined the Foreign Service in February 1962. He served successively in Belgrade (1963-65), in the Office of Soviet Union Affairs of the Department of State (1965-67), Moscow (1968-71), United States mission to NATO (1971-1973), and again in Moscow as Director of the Commercial Office from 1973 to 1976.

Meet Katie Smith, 2021 Alum

Katie Smith is a 2021 Patterson School graduate that is currently working at the Department of Commerce in the International Trade Administration as an International Trade Compliance Analyst. Her department is responsible for protecting domestic industries from foreign products that can outcompete with American goods.

Meet Blake Laytham, 2017 Alum

Blake Laytham attended the University of Kentucky for his undergraduate studies and then went on to graduate from the Patterson School in 2017. During his time at Patterson, Blake majored in diplomacy and minored in international security. He started his current role at Walmart Headquarters as a Senior Manager on the Risk Intelligence team in April 2024.

Meet Catherine Putz, 2011 Alum

In the decade since I graduated, I moved to DC and worked at a think tank, an international financial institution, and finally landed at The Diplomat, where I am now managing editor. My time at the Patterson School played a crucial role in refining and ultimately achieving this dream position.

Meet Cassidy Pearson, 2015 Alum

Cassidy Pearson graduated from the Patterson School in 2015. While at Patterson, she received a NSEP Boren Fellowship in the Russian Far East. After graduation, she joined the Customs and Border Protection Office of Accountability. While there, she inspected CPB facilities to see if they were compliant with internal policy.

Meet Sarah Graves, 2013 Alum

Sarah Trainor Graves ‘13, is currently the Chief Development Officer at the Louisville Urban League (LUL), where she is the youngest member of the organization’s leadership team. The mission of LUL is to assist African Americans and other marginalized populations in attaining social and economic equality through direct services and advocacy by focusing on jobs, justice, education, health, and housing.

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