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Bartels World Affairs Lecture

The Einaudi Center’s flagship event brings distinguished international figures to campus each year to speak on global topics and meet with Cornell faculty and students, particularly undergraduates. The Henry E. and Nancy Horton Bartels World Affairs Fellowship supports the speaker’s visit.


October 4, 2023: Building Our World Better

N. K. Jemisin, Bestselling Fantasy Novelist

N. K. Jemisin

N. K. Jemisin is the first author in the science fiction and fantasy genre’s history to win three consecutive Best Novel Hugo Awards. On October 4, she discusses how she learned to build unreal worlds by studying our own—and how we might in turn imagine a better future for our world. Read a Bartels explainer by Anindita Banerjee.

After her talk, Jemisin joins a panel of distinguished Cornell faculty to explore how we can take a brave leap into the visionary future with Cornell's newest Global Grand Challenge.

Get your free watch party ticket today!

Jemisin Fifth Season divider band Bartels Oct23

Past Bartels World Affairs Fellows

Spring 2023: Carlos Alvarado Quesada, Former President of Costa Rica


Bartels 2023 in the News


2022: Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate

      2021: Amartya Sen, 1998 Nobel Laureate in Economics

      Cornell Chronicle: Bartels Lecturer Speaks Out on Rising Threats to Democracy, Nobel Laureate Sen to Lecture on Protecting Democracy

      2019:  Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Indonesian Minister of Finance

      Cornell Chronicle: Bartels Lecturer Outlines How Developing Countries Can Build Human Capital

      2017: Christopher Painter ’80, Cyber Expert 

      Cornell Chronicle: Former State Department Official Talks Cyber Diplomacy in Bartels Lecture

      2016: Svetlana Alexievich, 2015 Nobel Laureate in Literature 

      Cornell Chronicle: Nobel Laureate Alexievich Created Her Own Literary Genre

      See previous Bartels World Affairs Fellows in Cornell Library’s eCommons archive.