Queens University professor to give Great Decisions talk

Margaret Commins, an associate professor in the Political Science and Sociology Department at Queens University, is the second speaker of the 2020 Great Decisions Lecture Series. Her free public presentation is set for 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 29, at UNC Charlotte Center City.

Commins will discuss Michael Shifter and Bruno Binetti’s article from the Foreign Policy Association’s Great Decisions 2020 Briefing Book, “U.S. Relations with the Northern Triangle,” and bring in elements from her research to the presentation.

According to the article, “Combating illegal immigration has become a priority of the Trump administration. The Northern Triangle of Central America, made up of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, is a special target of the administration, which hold the nations responsible for the large flow of migrants from Latin America to the U.S. With funds from the U.S. cut, how can the Northern Triangle countries curtail migration?”

Courses Commins teaches include Latin American politics, U.S.-Latin American relations, international political economy, comparative politics of developing countries and immigration politics.

Her research interests include the political economy of international trade and finance, U.S. policy toward Latin America, immigration and the scholarship of teaching and learning. She has presented and published papers on the political economy of U.S. support for free trade in Latin America and the pedagogy of teaching about immigration.

The Office of International Programs coordinates the annual Great Decisions lecture series for the Charlotte community to discuss foreign policy issues selected as pressing by the Foreign Policy Association. The series is coordinated in collaboration with Charlotte Country Day School, International House of Charlotte and the World Affairs Council of Charlotte.