research & featured projects
By identifying each center's unique strengths, the GRN is able to support globalization studies programs of a scale that each center alone would be unable to obtain. The GRN's on-going Featured Projects advance interests across the four campuses towards common program goals, foster sustained collaboration among experts, and promote and long-term research and outreach activities. These ongoing projects are concerned with major issues that shape globalization studies, such as global governance in the 21st century, global health risks, security in the post-September 11th world, and the global implications of volatility in financial markets.
Karst Information Portal
The primary focus of the project is the development of a state-of-the-art
database and portal that will serve as a tool for karst researchers and
facilitate the dissemination of informational materials.
The Globalization Research Network supports the creation of the Karst Information
Portal. The project will be hosted at the University of South Florida and
is also supported by the University of New Mexico and the National Karst
and Caves Research Institute.
Karst – a type of terrain that forms underground aquifers – is
a worldwide geological phenomenon with environmental implications that are
compounded by effects of globalization. While much research has been conducted
in karst, the bulk of research is difficult to access. For example,
karst researchers develop large quantities of data, but most of it is never
published. Thus, other researchers do not even know the data exists, let
alone have a way to obtain it. The purpose of the portal is to identify
and collect such data and make it available electronically to researchers
around the world.
Enhanced access to this important research will develop 1) by using metadata
incorporating a thesaurus of relevant “karst-specific” terms;
2) providing access and linkage to relevant data; 3) supporting additional
functionalities that promote a virtual scholarly community centered around
primary scientific references and generates information sharing; and 4)
ensuring that the technical procedures used to design the database functions
and website architecture comport with existing standards and best practices.
Program in Globalization and HIV/AIDS Research, Prevention, and Intervention
As one of our keystone collaborative efforts, the GRN launched its globalization and HIV/AIDS program with a conference entitled "HIV/AIDS Prevention in a Global World," held in Tampa, Florida in April 2003. The magnitude of the HIV/AIDS global pandemic in some areas of the world has turned the disease into a threat to political and economic security. No country is immune, but the most serious aspects of the crisis can be found in the non-western, pre-industrial parts of the world. In Africa, for example, HIV/AIDS has reached staggering proportions, claiming more than 2 million deaths - 80% of all AIDS deaths worldwide - in 2000 alone. More than 12 million children have been orphaned as a result of the disease, and today more than 25 million Africans live with HIV or AIDS. This health issue is also now a significant problem in several other parts of the world, including Southeast Asia, China, Russia, and parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.
For more than a decade, various politicians, scientists, scholars and policymakers have attempted to understand this pandemic, to develop strategies for treating the disease, to deal with its economic, social and political impacts, and to devise approaches to preventing HIV/AIDS. In both scholarly and policy circles debates rage over how to stem the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. Some suggest that the most immediate need is to treat those who are presently inflicted, perhaps with new miracle drugs. Others are concerned with the ethics of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Still others are concerned with understanding the political economy of the disease; or, with strategies for the prevention of HIV/AIDS now and in the future.
The two-day, by-invitation conference welcomed approximately 30 participants to discuss what issues are preventing significant change to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. Dr. Paul Farmer, Co-Director of the Program in Infectious Disease and Social Change in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, opened the event with a keynote address entitled "Integrating HIV Prevention and Care: The Haiti Experience." The participants also used this time to discuss how the GRN and other organizations can best move forward in HIV/AIDS research, prevention, and intervention in ways that could contribute substantially and significantly to the overall policy agenda. More information about this effort will be posted on this web site as it becomes available. Communications may be directed to Nicole Robinson at grn@hawaii.edu or 808-956-9781.
Rethinking Paradigms of Global Human Security
On September 20, 2002 the Globalization Research Network sponsored a conference entitled, "Rethinking Paradigms of Global Human Security," designed to explore various dimensions of the relationship between globalization and human security, and to take first steps in the identification of possible joint interests and projects among the member faculties of the four institutions.
The conference convened leading researchers from across the nation to discuss research and policy concerns that must be addressed in four critical areas: information technology; health; the environment; and conflict, conflict management, and democracy.
The conference report conference report (pdf) identifies participants and summarizes the major discussion points made. These include possible action items for further research that were identified for each session, which can help shape future research agendas, and findings from the plenary session underscoring GRN's commitment to long-term, collaborative work. Parties outside this conference who may be engaged by these questions or topics of interest are encouraged to contact Nicole Robinson at the GRN. Write to grn@hawaii.edu to request hard copies of the report.
Research Archive: 2002-2005 | Education Archive: 2002-2005
These archived descriptions refer to research and projects carried prior to the 2006 website reconstruction.