Special Event

2023 Aug 28

Weatherhead Orientation 2023–2024

(All day)

Location: 

Weatherhead Center and Around Campus

The Weatherhead Center would like to welcome its incoming and returning affiliates to the 2023–2024 academic year. Please see your program coordinators for events and schedules particular to your group.

2023 Apr 26

Book Talk | States and Nature: The Effects of Climate Change on Security (In Person)

4:00pm to 6:00pm

Location: 

CGIS South, Room S050, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Book cover for States and Nature, Man with his back turned to viewer standing alone in the desertJoshua Busby will talk about his new book States and Nature: The Effects of Climate Change on Security (Cambridge: 2022) and explore why climate change leads to negative security outcomes in some places and not others. He will draw from paired cases in his book, examining why drought led to famine in Somalia but not neighboring Ethiopia in the 2010s, why drought contributed to civil war in Syria but not neighboring Lebanon in the 2000s, and why Myanmar experienced such widespread mortality after exposure to a severe cyclone but neighboring Bangladesh and India did not in recent years. He will explore how state capacity, political inclusion, and foreign aid intersect to lead to different dynamics in different contexts.... Read more about Book Talk | States and Nature: The Effects of Climate Change on Security (In Person)

2023 Mar 23

Nigeria’s 2023 Presidential Elections: What Happened and What's Next? (In Person)

2:00pm to 4:00pm

Location: 

CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street, Belfer Case Study Room (S020)

"Nigeria’s 2023 Presidential Elections: What Happened and What's Next?"

Speakers:

Rita Kiki EdozieInterim Dean, The John W. McCormack School of Policy and Global Studies; Professor of Global Governance, Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance, University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Abiodun BaiyewuCountry Director, Global Rights Nigeria.

Muhammad Ali Pate, Co-Chair and Julio Frank Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Moderators:

Gbemisola AbiolaGraduate Student Associate. PhD Candidate, Department of African and African American Studies and Department of Anthropology, Harvard University.

Destiny Ogedegbe, LLM Candidate, Harvard Law School.

Contact:

Gbemisola Abiola
gabiola@g.harvard.edu

Destiny Ogedegbe
dogedegbe@llm23.law.harvard.edu

... Read more about Nigeria’s 2023 Presidential Elections: What Happened and What's Next? (In Person)

2023 Apr 09

Empire, Nation, Federation: South Asia's Freedom in Global Perspective (In-Person)

10:30am to 3:30pm

Location: 

Cabot Building at Tufts University, 160 Packard Avenue, 7th Floor

"Empire, Nation, Federation: South Asia's Freedom in Global Perspective | Harvard-Tufts Conference on the 75th Anniversary of Independence and Partition"

For conference details, including how to register for the various events that take place over the three days, please visit the conference website

When South Asia won freedom from British colonial rule seventy-five years ago, some of the finest and most far-sighted ideas in the realm of anticolonial thought lost out in the struggle for power at the helm of postcolonial states. Those political and economic ideas have acquired renewed global salience in the twenty-first century at the vortex of the complex and symbiotic relationship between the forces of democracy and authoritarianism. This conference engages in a creative process of historical retrieval of visions for substantive democracy and federal union during the struggle for freedom that remained unrealized during the postcolonial transition. Can a reengagement with those ideas enable us to better face the challenges of authoritarianism in the present and provide the basis for a more equitable and democratic global order? 

Cosponsored by the Asia Center of Harvard University and the Center of South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies, Tufts University.

Contact:

Sarah Banse
sarahbanse@wcfia.harvard.edu... Read more about Empire, Nation, Federation: South Asia's Freedom in Global Perspective (In-Person)

2023 Apr 08

Empire, Nation, Federation: South Asia's Freedom in Global Perspective (In-Person)

9:30am to 4:00pm

Location: 

CGIS South Building, 1730 Cambridge Street, Belfer Case Study Room (S020)

"Empire, Nation, Federation: South Asia's Freedom in Global Perspective | Harvard-Tufts Conference on the 75th Anniversary of Independence and Partition"

For conference details, including how to register for the various events that take place over the three days, please visit the conference website

When South Asia won freedom from British colonial rule seventy-five years ago, some of the finest and most far-sighted ideas in the realm of anticolonial thought lost out in the struggle for power at the helm of postcolonial states. Those political and economic ideas have acquired renewed global salience in the twenty-first century at the vortex of the complex and symbiotic relationship between the forces of democracy and authoritarianism. This conference engages in a creative process of historical retrieval of visions for substantive democracy and federal union during the struggle for freedom that remained unrealized during the postcolonial transition. Can a reengagement with those ideas enable us to better face the challenges of authoritarianism in the present and provide the basis for a more equitable and democratic global order? 

Cosponsored by the Asia Center of Harvard University and the Center of South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies, Tufts University.

Contact:

Sarah Banse
sarahbanse@wcfia.harvard.edu

2023 Apr 07

Empire, Nation, Federation: South Asia's Freedom in Global Perspective (In-Person)

4:00pm to 6:30pm

Location: 

ASEAN Auditorium at Tufts University, 160 Packard Avenue

"Empire, Nation, Federation: South Asia's Freedom in Global Perspective | Harvard-Tufts Conference on the 75th Anniversary of Independence and Partition"

For conference details, including how to register for the various events that take place over the three days, please visit the conference website

When South Asia won freedom from British colonial rule seventy-five years ago, some of the finest and most far-sighted ideas in the realm of anticolonial thought lost out in the struggle for power at the helm of postcolonial states. Those political and economic ideas have acquired renewed global salience in the twenty-first century at the vortex of the complex and symbiotic relationship between the forces of democracy and authoritarianism. This conference engages in a creative process of historical retrieval of visions for substantive democracy and federal union during the struggle for freedom that remained unrealized during the postcolonial transition. Can a reengagement with those ideas enable us to better face the challenges of authoritarianism in the present and provide the basis for a more equitable and democratic global order? 

Cosponsored by the Asia Center of Harvard University and the Center of South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies, Tufts University.

Contact:

Sarah Banse
sarahbanse@wcfia.harvard.edu

... Read more about Empire, Nation, Federation: South Asia's Freedom in Global Perspective (In-Person)

2023 Mar 24

Europe’s Struggle for Relevance, Unity and Value (In Person)

4:00pm to 5:00pm

Location: 

Harvard Kennedy School, 79 Cambridge Street, The John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum

"Europe’s Struggle for Relevance, Unity and Value: A Conversation with Roberta Metsola and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya"

Speakers:

Robert Metsola, President of the European Parliament.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Democratic Opposition Leader of Belarus.

Moderator:

Grzegorz EkiertFaculty Associate; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar. Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Department of Government; Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University.

An event of the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum and the 9thannual student-led European Conference. Co-sponsored by Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Davis Center on Russian and Eurasian Studies, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies and Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

... Read more about Europe’s Struggle for Relevance, Unity and Value (In Person)

2023 Mar 22

HYI Annual Roundtable (In Person)

4:00pm to 6:00pm

Location: 

Boylston Hall, Harvard Yard, Fong Auditorium

"Wealth and Politics in Asia"

How does the recent rise of a super-rich stratum across much of Asia affect the politics of different countries? Are the ultra-affluent more likely to wield influence in democracies or in authoritarian regimes? Through what means and to what ends? An inter-disciplinary panel of experts on China, India and Southeast Asia will share observations and insights on this timely issue.

Panelists:

Yuen Yuen Ang, Alfred Chandler Chair of Political Economy, Johns Hopkins University.

Yasheng Huang, Epoch Foundation Professor of International Management, MIT Sloan School of Management.

Devesh Kapur, Starr Foundation Professor of South Asian Studies, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Pasuk Phongpaichit, Emeritus Professor of Political Economy, Chulalongkorn University.

Bridget Welsh, Honorary Research Associate, University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute Malaysia.

Moderator:

Elizabeth J. Perry, Henry Rosovsky Professor of Government, Harvard University; Director, Harvard-Yenching Institute.

Hosted by the Harvard-Yenching Institute.

2023 Apr 03

Special Event | International Book Blitz (In Person)

4:00pm to 5:30pm

Location: 

CGIS Knafel Building, 1737 Cambridge Street, Fisher Family Commons, 1st Floor

Listen to Weatherhead Center authors present their global books in a café-style setting. A panel of Weatherhead Center Faculty Associates will each give a seven-minute “speed talk” about their recent or forthcoming book, launching us into compelling issues from around the world, featuring stories and research on nuclear disasters, climate transitions, and refugee education, to name a few themes represented in this event. Refreshments will be provided. This event is free and open to the public.... Read more about Special Event | International Book Blitz (In Person)

2023 Mar 01

Harvard Academy Book Launch (In Person)

3:00pm to 4:30pm

Location: 

CGIS South Building, 1730 Cambridge Street, Doris and Ted Lee Gathering Room (S030)

Book Launch: "State-Building as Lawfare: Custom, Sharia, and State Law in Postwar Chechnya"

Book cover for State-Building as Lawfare

State-Building as Lawfare explores the use of state and non-state legal systems by both politicians and ordinary people in postwar Chechnya. The book addresses two interrelated puzzles: why do local rulers tolerate and even promote non-state legal systems at the expense of state law, and why do some members of repressed ethnic minorities choose to resolve their everyday disputes using state legal systems instead of non-state alternatives? The book documents how the rulers of Chechnya promote and reinvent customary law and Sharia in order to borrow legitimacy from tradition and religion, increase autonomy from the metropole, and accommodate communal authorities and former rebels. At the same time, the book shows how prolonged armed conflict disrupted the traditional social hierarchies and pushed some Chechen women to use state law, spurring state formation from below. 

Speaker:

Egor LazarevAcademy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Yale University.

Discussants:

Timothy J. Colton, Chair, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. Morris and Anna Feldberg Professor of Government and Russian Studies, Department of Government, Harvard University.

Alisha HollandChair, Weatherhead Research Cluster on Business and Government. Associate Professor, Department of Government, Harvard University.

Chair:

Steven LevitskyHarvard Academy Senior Scholar. David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies, Department of Government; Director, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University.

Contact: 

Kathleen Hoover
kathleen_hoover@harvard.edu

Cosponsored by The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University.

... Read more about Harvard Academy Book Launch (In Person)

2023 Mar 29

Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture

4:00pm to 6:00pm

Location: 

Memorial Church, 1 Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA 02138

The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
warmly welcomes you to the
Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture

“Helping Bend the Arc at the Hinges of History: A Conversation with Larry Brilliant”

Free and open to the public. No tickets required. Masking is encouraged. This event will be in person and streamed live on our YouTube channel. Please plan on being seated by 3:45 p.m. as the event will start promptly at 4:00 p.m.


American epidemiologist, technologist, philanthropist, and author Larry Brilliant embodies optimism like few others. A hippie doctor in the 1960s, he spent time at an ashram in India to find spirituality during a tumultuous time. As predicted by his guru, he and his team would change the world. Under the auspices of the World Health Organization they made millions of house calls in India with the goal to eradicate smallpox—and they succeeded.... Read more about Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture

2023 Feb 18

Harvard East Asia Society Conference 2023 (In Person)

10:00am to 5:15pm

Location: 

CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street

"Mirrors: Contemplating Asia"

For conference details, including the full schedule, please visit the conference website.

The Harvard East Asia Society (HEAS) Graduate Student Conference is an annual event which provides an interdisciplinary forum for graduate students to exchange ideas and discuss current research on topics related to Asia. The conference allows young scholars to present their research to both their peers and to renowned scholars in relevant fields. All panels will be moderated by Harvard University faculty. The conference will also allow participants to meet others in their research area conducting similar research and to forge new professional relationships.

Contact:

Kent Zheng
kentzheng@g.harvard.edu

Co-sponsored by Harvard's Graduate Student Council, RSEA Program, Asia Center, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Korea Institute, Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. 

2023 Feb 17

Harvard East Asia Society Conference 2023 (In Person)

12:00pm to 6:15pm

Location: 

CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street

"Mirrors: Contemplating Asia"

For conference details, including the full schedule, please visit the conference website.

The Harvard East Asia Society (HEAS) Graduate Student Conference is an annual event which provides an interdisciplinary forum for graduate students to exchange ideas and discuss current research on topics related to Asia. The conference allows young scholars to present their research to both their peers and to renowned scholars in relevant fields. All panels will be moderated by Harvard University faculty. The conference will also allow participants to meet others in their research area conducting similar research and to forge new professional relationships.

Contact:

Kent Zheng
kentzheng@g.harvard.edu

Co-sponsored by Harvard's Graduate Student Council, RSEA Program, Asia Center, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Korea Institute, Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. 

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