Lecture: Mon Nov 2, 8 p.m. Rosenfield Center 101

International relations expert John Stoessinger ’50 will relate his experiences as a Holocaust survivor in a lecture on campus.

In “From the Holocaust to Grinnell: Reflections of a Holocaust Survivor,” Stoessinger will describe his family’s journey from Czechoslovakia through the Soviet Union and Japan to resettle in Shanghai. A chance encounter with a Grinnell graduate led him to the college via a troop ship at the end of World War II.

A 1950 political science graduate of Grinnell, Stoessinger earned his Ph.D. at Harvard University where Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski were classmates. He served as director of the Peace Corps Training Program in World Affairs at the United Nations, and later as director of its political affairs division during the Vietnam War. His academic career included teaching at Harvard, M.I.T., Princeton, Hunter College, Columbia, Trinity University, and the University of San Diego, where he is the distinguished professor of global diplomacy. Stoessinger is the author of nine books, including Why Nations go to War, used in political science courses across the country.

The Grinnell Magazine published Stoessinger’s story in 2002.

Stoessinger’s talk is co-sponsored by the Rosenfield Program in Public Affairs, International Relations, and Human Rights and the Office of the President.