Kansas City International Relations Council

Every four years, the World Cup brings together fans from around the globe to celebrate the most widely popular sport in the world: football (or soccer, if you’re American). This year’s tournament broke a number of records, including the most teams ever competing (48) and the first time three countries have co-hosted the event (Mexico, Canada, and the United States). Not only does the major sporting event have a rich and complicated history, but this year’s historic nature introduces brand new impacts for Kansas City as a first-time host city. After six games, guests in the hundreds of thousands, and complicated shifts in politics and infrastructure, Kansas City will end the summer much differently than it was at the start. This program showcases four UMKC professors of various disciplines to discuss the history, cultural shifts, and environmental impacts of the World Cup on Kansas City.

Registration link: https://www.irckc.org/what-we-do/irc-events-calendar/#id=10840&cid=1742&wid=2201&type=Cal

About the Panelists:
Born in Lincolnshire to a military family, Stephen Dilks attended school in Cyprus, worked on farms and in factories, busked for money in the Paris Metro and across Europe, and has traveled to every state in the USA except Hawaii. Dilks has research interests in Irish modernism, discourses of civil rights, and relationships between art, commerce, and politics. He is currently writing a book about coverage of the Irish Independence movement in nineteenth-century Dublin newspapers. Dilks plays indoor soccer and hosts a music trivia night. The first in his family to attend school beyond the age of seventeen, Dilks earned a First Class Honors Degree in English Studies, Psychology, and Philosophy from the University of Stirling, Scotland. He completed his M.A. and Ph.D. in English Language and Literature at Rutgers Graduate School in New Jersey.

David Freeman is an Associate Professor of History and Religious Studies at UMKC. He is a Dutch Atlantic World historian who writes extensively on Dutch merchants trading through Buenos Aires, including his first book, A Silver River in a Silver World: Dutch Trade in the Rio de la Plata, 1648-1678 (Cambridge, 2020). He has also written on Dutch impressions of Spain through late eighteenth-century travel accounts. His other research interests include international soccer and the history of Christianity. At UMKC, Dr. Freeman teaches courses on early modern European history as well as religious history, including early Christianity and the Reformation.

Dr. Jacob A. Wagner is an Associate Professor of Urban Planning + Design, the Director of the Urban Studies Program, and Faculty Director and Co-founder of the UMKC Center for Neighborhoods. Dr. Wagner teaches courses in urban planning and urban studies focused on neighborhood planning, equity and community development in the Department of Architecture, Urban Planning + Design (AUPD). He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Urban Design. Dr. Wagner actively represents Kansas City in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) as a founding member of Kansas City’s City of Music focal point organization – Creative City KC. He served on the Vacant Lot Task Force for the Environmental Management Commission of the City of Kansas City, MO and is the past President of the Board of Cultivate KC.

Dr. Julia Crowley is an Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Design at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She holds a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Dr. Crowley's research interests include disaster debris management planning, plastic waste reduction, social vulnerability and disasters, risk perception, and environmental justice. Her research was heavily inspired by her time in the Philippines as a Peace Corps Volunteer where she served from 2009-2012.

Please note that this program is exclusively for high school & college students.

Culture & Diplomacy: South Korea & The United States
From K-pop and Oscar-winning films to cutting-edge technology, cuisine, fashion, and social media, South Korean culture has become a global phenomenon. At the same time, the partnership between the United States and the Republic of Korea has expanded beyond traditional diplomacy to include education, innovation, entrepreneurship, and people-to-people exchange. Increasingly, culture is not simply a reflection of international relationships—it is helping to shape them.

As one of America's closest allies in the Indo-Pacific, South Korea demonstrates how cultural influence, often described as soft power, can strengthen diplomatic ties, foster mutual understanding, and create new opportunities for collaboration across borders. Millions of Americans engage with Korean culture every day, while educational exchanges, business partnerships, and tourism continue to deepen connections between the two countries.

This interactive discussion invites high school and college students to explore the intersection of culture and foreign affairs. Panelists will examine how music, film, sports, education, technology, and digital media contribute to diplomacy, how cultural exchange influences perceptions of other countries, and why understanding global cultures has become an increasingly valuable skill for the next generation of leaders. Whether students are interested in international relations, business, media, education, or the arts, this conversation will demonstrate how culture serves as a powerful bridge between nations—and how young people can play a role in shaping the future of international engagement.

Registration link: https://www.irckc.org/what-we-do/irc-events-calendar/#id=10846&cid=1742&wid=2201&type=Cal

About the Panelists:
Jim Pershing works on the Department of State;s Korea-Mongolia Desk, where he covers political-military affairs. Previously, he worked in the Department's Operations Center, spent time as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of State, and served at the U.S. Embassies in Islamabad and Beijing. Prior to his diplomatic career, Jim worked as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Georgia, where he taught English and founded an NGO focused on youth development. Jim is from Boston, MA and has degrees from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and the University of Notre Dame.

Lieutenant Colonel Minyoung Ahn serves as the Assistant Defense Attaché and Assistant Military Attaché for the Republic of Korea Army. Throughout his military career, he has held a range of leadership and counterintelligence positions, including assignments with the Republic of Korea Defense Counterintelligence Command, the Defense Security Command, and as Battery Commander of the 662nd Field Artillery Battalion. He earned a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice from the University at Albany, State University of New York, and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the Korea Military Academy. Lt. Col. Ahn has also completed the U.S. Army Field Artillery Captain's Career Course at Fort Sill and served as a Visiting Fellow at the Mansfield Foundation in Washington, D.C. His professional experience spans military leadership, counterintelligence, international security cooperation, and U.S.-Republic of Korea defense relations.

Arius Derr is Director of Communications at the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI) in Washington, DC. Previously he was Managing Editor at Korea Risk Group, where he oversaw the consultancy’s primary publications NK News and NK Pro, as well as Korea Desk Editor at the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research. Arius has also worked as a researcher at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University (ANU), as Editor at KBS, South Korea’s public broadcaster, Research Associate in the Strategy Division of United States Forces Korea, and as Consultant for the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence. His PhD research at the ANU focuses on U.S. nuclear policy. He also holds a MA in International Security from Korea University and a BS in Political Science & International Relations from Boise State University.

Presented in partnership with the Korean Economic Institute as part of the the World Affairs Councils of America Engage America Series

The Korea Economic Institute of America is dedicated to promoting understanding of Korea and strengthening ties between the United States and Korea.

U.S. - Korea Relations and the Future of South Korean Diplomatic Strategy
The United States and the Republic of Korea share one of the most consequential partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. What began as an alliance forged in shared security commitments has matured into a broad strategic relationship spanning technology, trade, advanced manufacturing, energy, and cultural exchange. South Korea's emergence as a global leader in critical industries, democratic governance, and cultural influence has deepened this partnership's significance for both nations.

As strategic competition between the United States and China intensifies, South Korea navigates a distinct set of pressures: maintaining substantial economic ties with China while deepening its security and technology cooperation with the United States. The growing trilateral relationship among the United States, South Korea, and Japan adds another consequential dimension, offering new possibilities for regional stability while requiring careful diplomatic management. This panel brings together distinguished experts to assess the current state of the U.S.–South Korea relationship and its trajectory.

Discussion will address how regional dynamics, including the roles of China, Japan, and North Korea, are shaping the alliance, and where the two countries see the greatest opportunities and challenges ahead in trade, technology, security, and cultural exchange.

Registration link: https://www.irckc.org/what-we-do/irc-events-calendar/#id=10841&cid=1742&wid=2201&type=Cal

About the Panelists:
Jim Pershing works on the Department of State;s Korea-Mongolia Desk, where he covers political-military affairs. Previously, he worked in the Department's Operations Center, spent time as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of State, and served at the U.S. Embassies in Islamabad and Beijing. Prior to his diplomatic career, Jim worked as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Georgia, where he taught English and founded an NGO focused on youth development. Jim is from Boston, MA and has degrees from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and the University of Notre Dame.

Lieutenant Colonel Minyoung Ahn serves as the Assistant Defense Attaché and Assistant Military Attaché for the Republic of Korea Army. Throughout his military career, he has held a range of leadership and counterintelligence positions, including assignments with the Republic of Korea Defense Counterintelligence Command, the Defense Security Command, and as Battery Commander of the 662nd Field Artillery Battalion. He earned a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice from the University at Albany, State University of New York, and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the Korea Military Academy. Lt. Col. Ahn has also completed the U.S. Army Field Artillery Captain's Career Course at Fort Sill and served as a Visiting Fellow at the Mansfield Foundation in Washington, D.C. His professional experience spans military leadership, counterintelligence, international security cooperation, and U.S.-Republic of Korea defense relations.

Arius Derr is Director of Communications at the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI) in Washington, DC. Previously he was Managing Editor at Korea Risk Group, where he oversaw the consultancy’s primary publications NK News and NK Pro, as well as Korea Desk Editor at the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research. Arius has also worked as a researcher at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University (ANU), as Editor at KBS, South Korea’s public broadcaster, Research Associate in the Strategy Division of United States Forces Korea, and as Consultant for the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence. His PhD research at the ANU focuses on U.S. nuclear policy. He also holds a MA in International Security from Korea University and a BS in Political Science & International Relations from Boise State University.

Presented in partnership with the Korean Economic Institute as part of the the World Affairs Councils of America Engage America Series

The Korea Economic Institute of America is dedicated to promoting understanding of Korea and strengthening ties between the United States and Korea.

In countries across the world, LGBTQIA+ rights are backsliding. While significant progress has been made through activist and advocacy networks advancing queer rights and enshrining them in national and international laws and frameworks, there are still over sixty countries that criminalise homosexuality, and many more where transphobia is rampant. This includes countries where queer rights and activism have historically been vibrant – including in the US and the UK – where anti-queer and anti-trans policies have emboldened broader societal discrimination and violence against LGBTQIA+ communities.

These developments are not confined to specific countries but are part of a broader global politics of queerphobia, across authoritarian and liberal democratic societies. In such a context, what then does it mean to ‘queer’ International Relations? In this talk, Dr Caitlin Biddolph (University of Technology Sydney) outlines the necessity of viewing global politics through a queer lens. Queering International Relations centres LGBTQIA+ experiences, but it also challenges violences and assumptions of all kinds, including cisheterosexism, racism, colonialism, militarism, and the intersections between them.

Dr Biddolph shows how queer thinking applies to the contemporary queer rights backlash, questions of international and transitional justice, and the realm of AI and digital politics. In doing so, she outlines the need to not only recognize the ways the international system is deeply gendered and sexual, but also the necessity of finding ways to promote queer rights and dignity in this current volatile context.

Registration link: https://www.irckc.org/what-we-do/irc-events-calendar/#id=10845&cid=1742&wid=2201&type=Cal

About the Moderator:
Maisy Blanton is a rising senior and communications major at UMKC. She has been on staff at UMKC's independent newspaper, Roo News, since her Freshman year. She is excited to finish out her senior year as the paper's community engagement manager. As a race, ethnic, and gender studies minor, she is thankful for the research opportunities UMKC has provided. Her most recent project delves into the intersection of reproductive justice and queering pastoral care in the United States. After working on the project during the Spring semester with Dr. Jessica Gantt-Shafer, she is excited to see where it goes and what other research opportunities await her. She is ecstatic to combine her knowledge of queer studies with her newfound love of international relations in this program with Caitlin Biddolph. Having served as a spring and summer programs intern for the IRC, she is extremely grateful for all of the wonderful people she has connected with, and she can't wait to close out her time at the IRC with such a meaningful program!

About the Speaker
Dr Caitlin Biddolph is a Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia. Her research explores queer, feminist, and decolonial approaches to international law and transitional justice. At UTS, she teaches in the Master of International Relations, where students are encouraged to think critically about global politics from diverse perspectives.

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