Events 04/13-04/18
Monday, Apr 13th
The Columbia Academic Symposium in International Relations with Jamie Kirchick: A Critical Response
Monday, April 13, 2015 - 10:30am - 6:00pm
CIRCA Academics held the annual Columbia Academic Symposium in International Relations on the 11th of April this year, hosting accomplished journalist Jamie Kirchick, best known for breaking the story on Texas Senator Ron Paul’s homophobic and racist newsletters, whose work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the New Republic. Currently a Fellow with the Foreign Policy Institute, Kirchick discussed contemporary challenges to American foreign policy and life as an overseas journalist.
Emphasizing that Europe was far from the ideal conglomeration of states it was meant to be, Kirchick advocated for a stronger and more focused foreign policy push towards stability in the region. Warning of Russian aggression on the eastern front, he outlined the implications of such aggressions to the cohesion of NATO should they be targeted against a member state and require the invocation of Article 5. Additionally, he cautioned against the rise of Russian media influence and the distortion of information in Eastern Europe that could lead to an escalation of tensions between Russia and the West.
Speaking on his own experiences as an international correspondent and well-travelled journalist, Kirchick spoke about the necessity of creating a brand image for a journalist and the changing nature of the media industry. Interacting with CIRCA Vice President for Academics Benjamin Rimland, Kirchick also talked about the growing importance of Twitter in the media industry and about the rising importance of opinionated journalism grounded in reporting that was steadily overtaking conventional fact-based reportage.
Kirchick devoted a significant amount of his speech to the rise of religious extremism, especially in Europe, and its ramifications on interreligious relations across the world. However, here Kirchick crossed the line between rational critique of religion and outright disrespectfulness. Drawing contrasts between anti-Semitism and Islamophobia by claiming that Islamophobia did not qualify as racism, Kirchick extended this analysis to speciously claim that the rise of Islam in Europe was far more detrimental to native Jewish populations than the rise of far right, neo-Nazi parties. By implying that racism was the only problem of the 21st century, Kirchick conveniently disregarded the implications of an Islamophobic discourse on the lives of peace loving Muslims, and indeed upon the lives of immigrants as a whole, in countries across the world.
Despite his interesting points on information asymmetries and the necessity for the reprioritization of American foreign policy, Kirchick fell prey to a hyper-sensationalist discourse that affected his audience’s reaction to his analysis. He did succeed, however, in invigorating the audience to debate his conclusions and presented a unique perspective to international relations that is often underrepresented at universities like Columbia today.
The Transformation of Public Management in Brazil and its Impact on Education: A Case Study of Recife and the State of Pernambuco
A talk on: How the application of modern private sector management techniques to Public Administration has improved the delivery of services to the population, especially in education. The adoption of meritocracy and accountability measures to the Public Educational system. The revolution caused by the application of results-based management backed by constant monitoring.
Speaker: Jorge Vieira is currently Secretary of Education of Recife, capital of the state of Pernambuco.
RSVP at tp2450@tc.columbia.edu
South Asia Institute: Munis Faruqui on "Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504-1719"
A talk by Munis Faruqui
Co-sponsored by the Departments of MESAAS and History
For almost 200 years, the Mughal emperors ruled supreme in northern India. How was it possible that a Muslim, ethnically Turkish, Persian-speaking dynasty established itself in the Indian subcontinent to become one of the largest and most dynamic empires in the early-modern period? Using the figure of the Mughal prince, Munis D. Faruqui offers a new interpretive lens through which to comprehend Mughal state formation. In a challenge to previous scholarship, Prof. Faruquis work suggests that far from undermining the foundations of empire, the court intrigues and political backbiting that were features of Mughal political life and that frequently resulted in rebellions and wars of succession actually helped spread, deepen, and mobilize Mughal power through an empire-wide network of friends and allies. Ultimately, however, because Mughal imperial and princely success were interlinked when both experienced political stress in the late 1600s and early 1700s, they atrophied together with negative results for the empire.
Munis D. Faruqui is an historian and Associate Professor in the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He focuses on the Muslim experience in South Asia, especially during the Mughal period. His books include Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504-1719 (2012) and Expanding Frontiers in South Asian and World History, co-edited with Richard Eaton, David Gilmartin and Sunil Kumar (2013). Another co-edited volume (with Vasudha Dalmia) is forthcoming later this year: Religious Interactions in Mughal India. He is currently working on a book about the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
For further information regarding this event, please contact Bill Carrick by sending email towac2112@columbia.edu
Selma Screening & Discussion
Selma invites us to consider important questions about race, justice, organizing and advocacy. Though the film depicts events of a half-century ago, questions about how societies address injustice and wrestle with social change remain pressing today both in the world at large and in university communities, including our own. This screening and discussion is part of the new Community Citizenship series of the Office of University Life. The series asks each of us to consider connections between local, national and global issues of importance and our membership in the Columbia University community. The screening will be followed by a discussion with distinguished Columbia scholars offering perspectives from arts, journalism, history, law, media and culture studies, public health, and more, including:
June Cross, Columbia Journalism School Suzanne Goldberg, Office of University Life and Columbia Law School Jamal Joseph, Columbia University School of the Arts Frances Negrόn-Muntaner, Columbia University Department of English and Comparative Literature and Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity Samuel Roberts, Columbia University Department of History, Mailman School of Public Health, and Institute for Research in African-American Studies Patricia Williams, Columbia Law School
Selma is rated PG-13 (some material in this film may not be suitable for children under 13).
This event is sponsored by Columbia Universitys Office of University Life.
Co-sponsored by Center for American Studies; Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies; Center for Justice; Center for Race, Philosophy and Social Justice; Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race; Center for the Study of Law and Culture; Center for the Study of Social Difference; Center on African American Politics and Society; Center on African American Religion, Sexual Politics and Social Justice; Columbia University Medical Center Diversity Deans Council; Columbia University School of the Arts; Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, Heyman Center for the Humanities; Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life; Institute for Research in African-American Studies; Institute for Research on Women Gender and Sexuality; School of International and Public Affairs Diversity Task Force; Social Intervention Group and the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture.
For further information regarding this event, please contact University Programs and Events by sending email to universityprograms@columbia.edu or by calling 212-851-7418.
Tuesday, Apr 14th
A Visit From the Governor of the Bank of Thailand, Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul
A Visit From the Governor of the Bank of Thailand, Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul. Co-presented by IFEP and Professor Takatoshi Ito. Living with Capital Flows: An Emerging Market Perspective Against the backdrop of greater financial integration and sustained monetary easing by major central banks, cross-border capital flow volatility and their impact on macroeconomic stability has come into the spotlight. The marked increase in asset price co-movement across countries, in particular, has led to an active debate about the impact of financial integration on individual countries ability to manage domestic financial conditions. Does increased financial integration limit the effectiveness of monetary control? How should countries respond to increased capital flows and their volatility? Is there room for policy coordination? The remarks will highlight salient policy challenges that arise from capital flow volatility, especially for emerging market countries, and lay out some guiding principles on how to deal with them. This event is open to all of SIPA. Talk to be followed by brief Q&A.
Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul Governor Bank of Thailand
Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul was appointed on October 1st, 2010, to be the 22nd Governor of the Bank of Thailand, the countrys Central Bank. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Prasarn worked in the top positions of a number of public and private organizations, including the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand and Kasikornbank Pcl.
After graduating with First-Class honours from the Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University in 1974, and followed immediately by a Masters Degree in Engineering at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Trairatvorakul won the Ananda Mahidol Scholarship to pursue his M.B.A. and Doctorate degrees in Business Administration at Harvard University (1976-1981).
After a two-year stint as a research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington DC, he returned to Thailand to start his career at the Department of Economic Research, Bank of Thailand, and later, in the Department of Bank Supervision and Examination until 1992. Shortly thereafter, he became the Secretary-General at the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand, the sole agency responsible for capital market surveillance, regulation and capital market development. In 2010, he was nominated and elected as Chairman of Thai Bankers' Association (TBA), gaining his extensive experiences in banking businesses and financial markets. Since 2014, Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul has been a member of the Board of Investment as well as a member of the State Enterprises Supervisory Board.
In September 2011, during the IMF and World Bank annual meetings, he was awarded the "2011 Emerging Markets Central Bank Governor of the Year Award for Asia." Later, in December 2012, Money & Banking Magazine awarded him the "2012 Financier of the Year Award." These awards recognize him for his strong policy track record and steadfast commitment to maintaining economic stability.
For further information regarding this event, please contact Corina Copp by sending email to cc3662@columbia.edu
Ethics and Approaches to Covering Violent Conflicts
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - 12:00pm - 2:00pm. Faculty House, Garden Room 2
Please join the Harriman Institute and the Columbia Journalism School for a panel discussion featuring the 2015 Paul Klebnikov Russian Civil Society Fellow, Maria Turchenkova (Freelance Journalist).
Panelists include:
Nina Berman, Associate Professor of Journalism, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
Judith Matloff, Adjunct Associate Professor of Journalism, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
Maria Turchenkova, Freelance Photojournalist and 2015 Paul Klebnikov Russian Civil Society Fellow
Moderated by Ann Cooper, CBS Professor of Professional Practice in International Journalism, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.
This event is part of the Klebnikov Russia Program at Harriman Institute.
For further information regarding this event, please contact Ilke Denizli by sending email to zid2000@columbia.edu.
LiPS: New Cities and Migration in China: A Screening of 'The Land of Many Palaces"
New Cities and Migration in China: A Screening of 'The Land of Many Palaces' (2014) In Ordos, China, thousands of farmers are being relocated into a new city under a government plan to modernize the region. The Land of Many Palaces follows a government official whose job is to convince these farmers that their lives will be better off in the city, and a farmer in one of the last remaining villages in the region who is pressured to move. The film explores a process that will take shape on an enormous scale across China, since the central government announced plans to relocate 250,000,000 farmers to cities across the nation, over the next 20 years. In 2011, upon seeing photos of Ordos, Chinas largest ghost city, in Time magazine, filmmakers Adam James Smith and Song Ting visited the city and were immediately captivated by what they saw. Unbeknown to the journalists who had already visited Ordos, the city was to become the testing ground for an unprecedented plan, designed by the central government, to relocate 250 million farmers to new urban districts all across China, over 15 years. Ordos is one of the first cities to be built to house relocated farmers. Between December 2012 and February 2014, Adam and Ting, with producing help from Wang Qihan, followed this relocation process and shot the film over several trips. From January to July 2014 the film was edited in Thailand by Adam, and music was composed by Rob Scales in the UK.
For further information regarding this event, please contact Hyun Hye Bae by sending email tohb2455@columbia.edu or by calling 917-969-4982.
The Poliak Lecture: "Is Freedom a Mental State?" Tim Wu in conversation with Nita Farahany and Michael Shadlen
The Poliak Lecture: "Is Freedom a Mental State?" Tim Wu in conversation with Nita Farahany and Michael Shadlen Tim Wu, the Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and newly appointed head of the Poliak Center at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism discusses Cognitive Liberty with a panel of experts and analyzes the question, "Is Freedom a Mental State?"
#CJSPoliak Speakers Include:
Nita A. Farahany, Director, Duke Science & Society, Duke University
Michael Shadlen, Professor of Neuroscience, Columbia University
Introduction by Dean Steve Coll 6 to 7 p.m.
A formal reception to follow at 7 p.m. RSVP is required To RSVP, please email jschoolRSVP@columbia.edu
Click here for more information about The Poliak Center Clike here to watch the inaugural Poliak Lecture with Tim Wu
The Poliak Center, founded in 1983 with a gift from Saul Poliak 26 and his wife Janice, was created with the notion that the First Amendment is a cornerstone of freedom and liberty in the United States, and that democratic societies would be well-served by a center for the exploration, study and teaching of First Amendment issues.
Tim Wu is an author, policy advocate, and professor at Columbia Law School. He is also a fellow at the New America Foundation, and a contributing editor at The New Republic. Wu's best known work is the development of Net Neutrality theory, but he wires also about private power, free speech, copyright and antitrust. He has previously served as a senior advisor to the Federal Trade Commission, Chair of Media reform group Free Press, as a fellow at Google, and worked for Riverstone Networks in the telecommunications industry. He was a law clerk for Judge Richard Posner and Justice Stephen Breyer. He graduated from McGill University (B.Sc.), and Harvard Law School. Wu also writes regularly for the New Yorker, The New Republic and T magazine,has been recognized by Scientific American magazine, National Law Journal, 02138 Magazine, and the World Economic Forum, and has twice won the Lowell Thomas Award for travel writing.
For further information regarding this event, please contact Lauren Schaefer by sending email to ls2999@columbia.edu .
Wednesday, Apr 15th
In the Shadow of Working Men: Gendered Labor and Migrant Rights in South Korea
Brown Bag Lecture with Hae Yeon Choo, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Toronto Mississauga. Moderated by Kristy Kelly, Associate Research Scholar, Columbia University. No registration required.
Co-sponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute; the Center for Korean Research; the Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality; Columbia Students for Southeast Asian Development and Services; Columbia University Department of Sociology, Gender and Public Policy Specialization, SIPA; and the Gender Policy Working Group.
For further information regarding this event, please contact Katherine Forshay by sending email to kdf2116@columbia.edu.
The People's Republic of Chaos: Donbass, Eastern Ukraine
Please join the Harriman Institute and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism for a viewing of Maria Turchenkovas multi-media photojournalism exhibit, The Peoples Republic of Chaos: Donbass, Eastern Ukraine. Ms. Turchenkova is the Harriman Institutes 2015 Paul Klebnikov Fellow and a freelance photojournalist whose work has appeared in Le Monde, Time, the New York Times, The Guardian, Novaya Gazeta and several other publications. Location: Brown Institute for Media Innovation Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism 2950 Broadway (at 116th Street), Entry Floor, East Wing
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
For further information regarding this event, please contact Ilke Denizli by sending email tozid2000@columbia.edu
Thursday, Apr 16th
The Current Situation of Political Prisoners in Venezuela
Thursday, April 16, 2015 - 11:00am - 12:00pm
Columbia University Morningside Campus International Affairs Building Room 802
SPONSORS: The Greater Caribbean Studies Center EVENT title: The Current Situation of Political Prisoners in Venezuela SPEAKERS: Alonso Medina Roa, Founding Director of Foro Penal Venezolano (FPV). FPV is an NGO that assists victims of human rights violations in Venezuela. It consists of over 200 lawyers, and a group of more than 1,200 human rights activists that actively defend and promote human rights in the country.
For further information regarding this event, please contact ILAS RSVP by sending email to ilasrsvp@gmail.com.
The Brazilian Economy in 2010s: From Slowdown to Stagnation
The Brazilian economy experienced a period of faster growth from mid-2000s to 2010 due to a major change in external conditions combined with a small but very important change in the orientation of domestic macroeconomic policy. The purpose of this paper is to show that the Brazilian economic slowdown from 2011-2014 can be explained relatively more due to changes in the orientation of domestic macroeconomic policy than to changes in the external conditions. Contrary to the period 2004-2010 where the government implemented (initially with some hesitation) and led actively and deliberately a policy of boosting aggregate demand in order to promote economic growth (and was very successful in attaining it)), since 2011, the government changed the macroeconomic policy stance and these economic measures did not stimulated aggregate demand as before (despite the continuity of easing of the balance of payment constraint). In 2015, the fiscal adjustment combined with a rise in interest rates, a shock in the exchange rates and administered prices and the crisis in Petrobras (and the construction industry) will certainly reduce even more the aggregate demand and consolidate the stagnation of the Brazilian economy.
For further information regarding this event, please contact ILAS RSVP by sending email to ilasrsvp@gmail.com
Caribbean Feminisms on the Page
Thursday, April 16, 2015 - 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Columbia University Morningside Campus Barnard College Event Oval, The Diana Center
Distinguished writer Jamaica Kincaid, originally from Antigua, and debut novelist Tiphanie Yanique, who grew up in St. Thomas, come together with Barnard associate professor Kaiama Glover to discuss their experiences as Caribbean women of color, their thoughts on writing about the Caribbean region, and their engagement with gender and feminism in their writings.
The recipient of many awards, such as a Guggenheim Award for fiction and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, Kincaid is the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including most recently, the novel See Now Then. She currently teaches in the departments of English and African and African-American studies at Harvard University.
Tiphanie Yanique is an assistant professor of writing at The New School, whose novel Land of Love and Drowning was released in 2014 to critical acclaim.
For further information regarding this event, please contact Lindsay Stuffle by sending email tolstuffle@barnard.edu or by calling 2128542037.
Friday, Apr 17th
Feminism's Abject Selves: Beauvoir, Leduc, Wittig
Friday, April 17, 2015 - 9:30am - 6:00pm
Columbia University Morningside Campus East Gallery, Buell Hall
Two-day conference, Friday-Saturday, April 17-18
Conference participants: Virginie Despentes, Didier Eribon, Anne Garreta, Lynne Huffer, Jean-Louis Jeannelle, Ann Jefferson, Elisabeth Ladenson, Elisabeth Lebovici , Edouard Louis, Michael Lucey
Please see www.maisonfrancaise.org for conference description and program.
Funding for this conference and for the event with Virginie Despentes was generously provided by Jeanine Parisier Plottel and the Maurice I. Parisier Foundation
For further information regarding this event, please contact Maison Events by sending email to ll2787@columbia.edu
Lynching, Religion, and Politics in Twentieth-Century Puebla
Friday, April 17, 2015 - 11:00am - 1:00pm. International Affairs Building, Room 802
Sponsored by the Institute of Latin American Studies at Columbia University, the CUNY Graduate Center Doctoral Program in History, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University, the SUNY-Stony Brook University History Department, the Committee on Historical Studies of the New School for Social Research, and the Embassy of Spain.
Discussions are based on pre-circulated papers prepared by each presenter.
Please contact rgn2109@columbia.edu to be placed on the mailing list to receive the papers, which are circulated one week prior to each meeting. For further information regarding this event, please contact ILAS by sending email to ilasRSVP@gmail.com
Whither the World Economy?
Friday, April 17, 2015 - 12:00pm - 1:30pm
Columbia University Morningside Campus International Affairs Building Room 413
Financial globalization makes it necessary for policymakers to have a good grasp of issues that in the past were dismissed because they were far from their shores or started at small corners of the world. Doing the same under the present circumstances dooms the policymaker constantly to run behind, and make costly mistakes that could have been avoided by a more holistic approach. Within this spirit, the panel will address central issues confronting the global economy like, for instance, high indebtedness, price deflation and the so called secular stagnation in advanced economies, asymmetric QE strategies and the strength of US dollar; the slowdown in China; the collapse in oil prices and other commodities; and the current economic strains and social tensions in peripheral Europe and key emerging markets. The panel will be led by Carmen Reinhart (Harvard University) and Ernesto Talvi (Brookings Institution and CERES, Uruguay), and chaired by Guillermo Calvo (Columbia University). Short initial presentations and debates between the panelists will be followed by Q&A from the audience.
Carmen M. Reinhart is the Minos A. Zombanakis Professor of the International Financial System at Harvard Kennedy School. Ernesto Talvi is a nonresident senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution and the academic director of CERES in Montevideo, Uruguay. Guillermo Calvo is Professor of Economics, International and Public Affairs, and Director of the Program in Economic Policy Management (PEPM) at Columbia University
The event is sponsored by the Program in Economic Policy Management.
For further information regarding this event, please contact Christine Francis by sending email to cf2553@columbia.edu or by calling 2128546982.
Russia, Europe and the US: International Fellows Program Symposium
Friday, April 17, 2015 - 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Columbia University Morningside Campus School of International and Public Affairs Room 1501
For nearly 50 years the International Fellows Program has brought graduate students from across Columbia University together for cross-disciplinary scholarship on international and public affairs. International Fellows alumni have become leaders in law, government, medicine, public health, business, journalism and the sciences, among other fields.
In celebration of the IFPs legacy, please join us for a keynote address and panel discussion. Strobe Talbott, President of the Brookings Institution and former Deputy Secretary of State, will give a keynote address on Russia, Europe and the US, with a focus on the Ukraine crisis and beyond.
Following the keynote, he will be joined for a panel discussion with economist Maxim Boycko, visiting scholar at the National Bureau of Economic Research, Kim Marten, Associate Professor of Political Science at Barnard College, Constanze Stelzenmueller, Senior Fellow at Brookings, and Stephen Sestanovich, Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Professor for the Practice of International Diplomacy, and Director of the International Fellows Program.
For further information regarding this event, please contact Noelle Bannister by sending email to nb2704@columbia.edu or by calling 212-851-9802.
Financial Globalization and Transitions
Friday, April 17, 2015 - 4:00pm - 6:00pm. Jerome Green Hall, Room 807
Join the organizers of Harriman Institutes 2014-15 Core Project Learning from Transition: from the Local to the Global, for the open forum Financial Globalization and Transitions. A distinguished panel of experts, including the worlds leading scholars and practitioners will explore the consequences of financial globalization for transition economies in Eastern Europe and around the world.
Panelists:
Erik Berglof (London School of Economics and Political Science)
Karen Dawisha (Miami University)
Daniela Gabor (University of West England, Bristol)
Yasheng Huang (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Jonathan Kirshner (Cornell University)
Thomas Pepinsky (Cornell University)
Vladimir Popov (United Nations and New Economic School, Moscow)
Dennis Quinn (Georgetown University)
Martin Rapetti (University of Buenos Aires)
Sergio Schmukler (World Bank)
Organizers:
Katharina Pistor (Columbia University)
Igor Logvinenko (Columbia University)
RSVP to Igor Logvinenko at il2298@columbia.edu if you are planning to attend.
For further information regarding this event, please contact Ilke Denizli by sending email to zid2000@columbia.edu .