Research Programs

Program on National Security and Defense (New)

The Tower Center Program on National Security and Defense is designed to stimulate scholarly, student, and public awareness of current and future challenges to U.S. national security and generate fresh thinking about how to safeguard the security interests of the country.  Forums, seminars and conferences that educate the public offer students and the next generation of leaders the opportunity to engage policymakers, analysts and scholars on issues of defense and national security.  Creating a high-level of dialogue, this program will bring together leaders from industry, academia and government.

Please click on this link for a full description of the program.

The Colin Powell American Foreign Policy and Global Order Fellowship

The John G. Tower Center offered for the first time in 1998-99 the Colin Powell Global Order and Foreign Policy Fellowship. This fellowship is open to the members of the SMU faculty whose work broadly bears on issues such as the structure of what former President Bush called the New World order, the role of the United States in this New World Order, and policies and programs the U.S. might pursue in its own interest and that of the world and its people. Both Professor Stephen K. Wegren and Professor Luigi Manzetti of the Political Science Department received a 2006-2007 Powell Fellowship.  Professor Wegren for The Effects of Institutions on Behavioral Patterns during the Post-communist Transition, and Professor Manzetti for The Resurgence of Anti-Americanism in Latin America.

The Sun and Star Japanese Studies Fellowships and Scholarships

Thanks to the Sun and Star Japanese Studies Endowment Fund, the Tower Center offers The Walter F. Mondale Ambassador's Fellowship and the H. Neill McFarland Japanese-American Friendship Fellowship to SMU students studying in Japan. Several summer study abroad scholarships are also offered. The 2008-2009 Walter Mondale Fellow is Lauryn May, a Marketing major, the 2008-2009 H. Neill McFarland Fellow is Robert Smith, a Business major  with an Asian Studies minor major. Both Lauryn and Robert will be studying at Kwansei Gakuin University during the 2008-2009 academic year.

The Tower Center Sun and Star Japanese Studies Faculty Fellowship is awarded to members of the SMU faculty whose work broadly bears on U-S Japanese relations, or the culture, politics, or economy of Japan.  The 2007-2008 recipient is Keiko Schneider of the Foreign Language Department.