The New Hampshire International Seminar (NHIS) is a series of talks organized by the International Affairs Program at UNH to cultivate community-wide dialogue on critical global issues. To achieve this, the program brings leading scholars and practitioners to campus to speak not just to our students but also to the broader community. The NHIS series is meant to engage an undergraduate audience and give some sense of why the presentation is important/useful to understanding some aspects of international affairs. UNH faculty, staff, students, and community members attend.
Ira Helfand, MD is the immediate Past President, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (1985 Nobel Peace Prize) and Member of the International Steering Group for ICAN (2017 Nobel Peace Prize). Dr. Helfand has worked for many years as an emergency room physician and now practices internal medicine at an urgent care center. Dr. Helfand represents IPPNW at the annual World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates. He is also a member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)’s International Steering Committee. Dr. Helfand co-authored PSR’s report, Nuclear Famine: 2 Billion at Risk?, which outlines the global health consequences of regional nuclear war. He was a leading medical voice in ICAN’s campaign for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Dr. Helfand addressed national delegations at international conferences on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in Oslo, Norway, Narayit, Mexico, and Vienna, Austria, during the May 2016 U.N. Open-Ended Working Group on disarmament in Geneva, and throughout the U.N. General Assembly negotiations in 2017.
This event is co-sponsored by the International Affairs Program and the Security Studies Minor in Political Science
