On the 25th and 26th of January the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies had the pleasure to host a number of distinguished scholars and administrators from both the United States and countries throughout the Western Hemisphere for the “Teaching Security and Defense Concepts” conference. The gathering was held as a kick-off event for the Center’s research project “Security and Defense Education in the Americas: Teaching Civilians and the Military” that will undertake the first in-depth comparative study of the civilian and military institutions that teach security and defense throughout the Americas.

The first day of the conference, which featured speakers from institutions such as the National Defense University, Georgetown University, the United States Air Force Academy, and the Latin American Faculty of the Social Sciences, provided a fascinating dialogue on the roles and challenges in teaching security and defense. The second day of the conference focused on using the issues discussed the previous day to help formulate a methodology and standard protocol for the research project. The Center will develop this research project throughout the year and plans to publish the results in an international conference scheduled for September.