Join the Cornell International Affairs Review and Prof. Rachel Beatty Riedl for her talk on "Democracy: Global Challenges."

Rachel Beatty Riedl will discuss the global challenges confronting democracy today. Prof. Riedl is the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies' director and John S. Knight Professor of International Studies and professor in the Department of Government. The event is hosted by the Cornell International Affairs Review and cosponsored by the Einaudi Center. It is open to all.

Please email editor.ciar@gmail.com or LRD72@cornell.edu with any questions!

The EastAsia+ Initiative presents a talk by Thomas Lamarre on television, anime infrastructures, and new formations of media power. Across these two lines of inquiry, Lamarre aims to delineate both an ecological approach to media and a physiology of power, which might open a transformation in our media sensibility.

Abstract: One of the current trends in media studies is to make visible the massive built environments and intendant ecological destruction that subtend telecommunications infrastructures, which remain invisible or “thin” for users. Another trend concerns the symbolic function of infrastructure, a symbol of modernity, or state power, or both. I propose to complement these approaches with a more micropolitical perspective on infrastructure that brings questions of subjectivity and sensibility to the fore. On the one hand, I will explore what the 1997 Pokemon incident tells us about television infrastructures and new formations of media power. On the other hand, I wish to show how this formation of power presents a profound challenge to the received wisdom about environments and media (and the associated legacy of cybernetic thinking). Across these two lines of inquiry, I aim to delineate both an ecological approach to media and a physiology of power, which might open a transformation in our media sensibility.

Bio: Thomas Lamarre (he/him/his) teaches in Cinema and Media Studies and East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. Publications on media, thought, and material history include work on communication networks in 9th century Japan (Uncovering Heian Japan, 2000); silent cinema and the global imaginary (Shadows on the Screen, 2005); animation technologies (The Anime Machine, 2009) and infrastructure ecologies (The Anime Ecology, 2018). Major translations include Kawamata Chiaki’s Death Sentences (2012), Muriel Combes’s Gilbert Simondon and the Philosophy of the Transindividual (2012), and David Lapoujade’s William James, Empiricism, and Pragmatism (2019).

Presented by EastAsia+, a new initiative at Cornell that combines programming, mentorship, and (digital) publishing around East Asian media studies. EastAsia+ is a collective of scholars, publishing professionals, librarians, curators, and graduate students dedicated to exploring new possibilities for academic publishing, networking, and collaboration in East Asia media studies and digital humanities research.

EastAsia+ is generously supported by funding from Cornell University’s Society for the Humanities.

Join us for a conversation with Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Molly O'Toole '09, moderated by the undergraduate migrations scholars and Shannon Gleeson, professor of industrial and labor relations and Migrations initiative taskforce co-chair.

Her talk, "Extracontinental: How the Global Refugee Crisis Is Colliding with Immigration Policies," will be an interactive forum about the global refugee crisis, migration at the U.S.-Mexico border, immigration policy, its effects on people on the move, and the work of journalists covering these situations. O'Toole is the Zubrow Distinguished Visiting Journalist Fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences and an immigration and security reporter with the Los Angeles Times.

This conversation, presented by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and Cornell’s Migrations initiative, is part of Beyond Borders: Undergraduate Migrations Symposium.

The inaugural undergraduate migrations symposium, Beyond Borders, features the work of students thinking critically and across discipline about migrations. Beyond Borders was organized by the Einaudi Center's undergraduate migrations scholars—Aliou Gambrel, Danielle Berkowitz-Sklar, Joanna Moon, and Vanessa Olguín—with support from the Migrations initiative.

Join us to celebrate the range of innovative projects and to connect with others interested in migration issues. We will also feature a roundtable with Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Molly O’Toole '09, who is the Zubrow Distinguished Visiting Journalist Fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Session 1, 10-11:30 a.m. (ET)

Alp Demiroglu '21, Architecture: "Take What You Can Carry: Place-Making for the Forcibly Exchanged"Aliou Gambrel '22, College Scholar & Africana Studies: "They Crowd Our Land"Laura Miranda '22, Sociology and Spanish: "Mining as a Migration Ecosystem: The Case of Porgera, Papua New Guinea"Moderator: Wendy Wolford, Vice Provost for International Affairs; Robert A. and Ruth E. Polson Professor, Department of Global Development

Session 2, 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. (ET)

Alexis Fintland '22, Industrial and Labor Relations: "Immigration in the Trump Era: An Analysis of Institutional Failures and Policy Recommendations"Mimi Goldberg '21, Industrial and Labor Relations: "Re-examining Hoffman Plastics Compounds v. NLRB under the Trump Administration"Luis Miguel Tamayo '22, Sociology and Spanish, "Culture Matters in Money Matters: How Culture Distinctly Affects Economic Behavior between Mexican Immigrants & Mexican Americans"Moderator: Kate Griffith, Jean McKelvey-Alice Grant Professor; Chair, Dept. of Labor Relations, Law, & History, Cornell ILR School; and Associate Member of the Law Faculty, Cornell Law School

Roundtable with Journalist Molly O’Toole on the Global Refugee Crisis, 2-2:45 p.m. (ET)

(please register separately for this session)
Join us for a conversation with Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Molly O'Toole '09, moderated by the undergraduate migrations scholars and Shannon Gleeson, professor of industrial and labor relations and Migrations initiative taskforce co-chair. Her talk, "Extracontinental: How the Global Refugee Crisis Is Colliding with Immigration Policies," will be an interactive forum about the global refugee crisis, migration at the U.S.-Mexico border, immigration policy, its effects on people on the move, and the work of journalists covering these situations. O'Toole is the Zubrow Distinguished Visiting Journalist Fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences and an immigration and security reporter with the Los Angeles Times.

Session 3, 2:45-4:15 p.m. (ET)

Vanessa Olguín '22, Government and College Scholar: "Contemporary Manifestations of the Ethos of The Underground Railroad: Humanitarian Work at the US Southern Border and in the Mediterranean Sea"Angela He '21, Sociology and Asian Studies: "How Organizations Adapt to Different Settings: A Comparative Study of the COVID-19 Relief Efforts of Chinese Immigrant Organizations in the U.S. and China"Hannah Schmelkin '22, Industrial and Labor Relations: "Education & The Syria Crisis: 10 Years On"Kaitlyn Zhao '21, Economics and Government: "Household Registration, Housing Quality, and Wellbeing: A Comparative Mediation Analysis of Vietnam and China"
Moderator: Gerard Aching, Professor of Africana and Romance Studies

Closing remarks: Rachel Beatty Riedl, Director of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and John S. Knight Professor of International Studies, Department of Government

Issues in African Development Seminar Series examines critical concerns in contemporary Africa using a different theme each semester. The seminars provide a forum for participants to explore alternative perspectives and exchange ideas. They are also a focal activity for students and faculty interested in African development. In addition, prepares students for higher level courses on African economic, social and political development. The presentations are designed for students who are interested in development, Africa’s place in global studies, want to know about the peoples, cultures and societies that call Africa home, and explore development theories and alternate viewpoints on development.