From Local Voices to Global Impact: The Power of Civic Engagement in Peacebuilding

This lecture will examine the role of youth, women, and community-based movements in advancing peace and reconciliation, focusing on deliberative processes, alternative conflict resolution tools, and civic-led initiatives that have shaped global approaches to peacebuilding. Evidence demonstrates that peace agreements are 64 percent less likely to fail when civil society representatives participate. Participatory democracy in the form of civic forums, national dialogues, and community-based structures are at the center of several peace processes, including Northern Ireland, Colombia, and Guatemala.

The active participation of civic society in peacebuilding can lead to stronger decision-making as well as have a positive impact on the social fabric, fostering greater cooperation. What lessons can we learn? And how can greater inclusion levels from women, youth, and community-based movements advance the pillars of a positive peace?

About the Speaker
Emma DeSouza is a journalist, award-winning campaigner, peacebuilder, and civic innovation specialist. She is the Founder and Co-Facilitator of Northern Ireland’s Civic Initiative, Director of the Northern Ireland Emerging Leaders program with the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, and a consultant on peace processes and civic innovation. In 2020, DeSouza successfully delivered substantial changes to UK immigration law after a five-year court case to bring legislation in line with UK commitments to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

She established the first All-island Women’s Forum to work collectively in addressing women, peace, and security issues, acting as Chair and Facilitator of the Forum from 2021-23 before founding the Civic Initiative in 2023, a new participatory democracy structure that brings together a wide range of civic society organizations to create a space for deliberative dialogues on advancing and supporting peace, reconciliation, and wellbeing. Emma is a freelance journalist writing for the Guardian, Irish Times, Business Post, Byline Times, Irish News, Euronews, and several other publications, to mark the 25th anniversary of Northern Ireland's peace process, she hosted a limited podcast series on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement titled 'Lost in Implementation'.

Host:
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, part of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies

Does the intersection of targets’ sex, gender, and race shape public perceptions of legitimate drone warfare? Scholars argue that targets’ lived identities can bias public opinion for drone warfare, though they often conceptualize identity along a single axis—such as sex or race. Dr. Paul Lushenko, Dr. Shira Eini Pindyck, and Dr. Keith Carter tested this claim by fielding an original survey experiment among a representative sample of Americans, varying targets’ sex, gender, and race. They found that female targets performing masculine gender roles enhance public perceptions of legitimacy, suggesting that Americans interpret such targets as socially deviant. Regardless of targets’ sex, respondents perceive strikes against White—versus Black—targets as more legitimate, corroborating research on the perceived racialization of drones. Finally, they observed that Americans’ perceived gender shapes their attitudes toward drones. Americans who self-identify as feminine are more likely to view drone strikes as illegitimate. This new evidence offers important insights for US drone policy and strategy.

Speaker
Dr. Paul Lushenko is a Professorial Lecturer at The George Washington University and Senior Fellow at Cornell University's Tech Policy Institute and Institute of Politics and Global Affairs. His work lies at the intersection of emerging technologies, politics, and national security, and he also researches the implications of great power competition for regional and global order-building. Paul is the author and editor of three books, including Drones and Global Order: Implications of Remote Warfare for International Society (2022), The Legitimacy of Drone Warfare: Evaluating Public Perceptions (2024), and Afghanistan and International Relations (forthcoming). He has also written extensively on emerging technologies and war, publishing in academic journals, policy journals, and media outlets such as Security Studies, Foreign Affairs, and The Washington Post

Host:
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies

Cohost:
Cornell Brooks School Tech Policy Institute

Cosponsor:
Gender and Security Sector Lab
Department of Government

Talk by Abdul Haque Chang (Social Sciences, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi)

This talk shows how in Sindh, the state of environmental exception has become the norm for governance (as in Agamben's formulation regarding the suspension of law). Specifically, this state of exception refers to a situation where necessity takes precedence over the law, resulting in a gap in the legal system. As a result, a zone of indistinction exists where environmental exception has become Pakistan's governance paradigm in Sindh. Through ethnographic experiences from the Indus Delta, coastal areas of Sindh, urban housing projects, and the land acquisition of Indigenous inhabitants by housing tycoons, this study illustrates how ecological martyrdom is occurring in Sindh due to environmental exception. This study demonstrates how the debates surrounding man-made and nature-based climate change should be located within the broader context of state governance policies in Pakistan, particularly regarding their effects on Sindh. The discussion highlights how the experiences and histories of local communities, along with the processes of urban development in Karachi and Sindh, have impacted specific populations in the pursuit of creating a utopian urban infrastructure that benefits other populations in Pakistan.

Abdul Haque Chang is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in Karachi, Pakistan. His ethnographic research focuses on religion, Sufism, music, and environmental anthropology in Sindh, Pakistan, and Java, Indonesia. He is currently working on a book manuscript that explores the concept of "environmental exception" in Sindh, specifically regarding the practice of sacrifice in the context of environmental degradation. Chang has conducted ethnographic research on Sufi music in Sindh, particularly on Shah Jo Raag, a Sufi musical tradition. He studies Javanese Sufism in Indonesia through his project "Jathilan: Performativity and the (Re)Production of Javanese Sacrality." This project highlights how Javanese performance art challenges gender norms and serves as a form of cultural resistance.

The undergraduate minor in Latin American Studies spans across disciplines and allows you to explore the history, culture, government, politics, economy and languages of Latin America and the Caribbean. Qualifying courses can be found in many of the colleges.

Register here. Can’t attend? Contact lacs@cornell.edu.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program supports U.S. citizens to study, conduct research in any field, or teach English in more than 150 countries. Students who wish to begin the program immediately after graduation are encouraged to start the process in their junior year. Recent graduates are welcome to apply through Cornell.

The Fulbright program at Cornell is administered by the Einaudi Center for International studies. Applicants are supported through all stages of the application and are encouraged to start early by contacting fulbright@einaudi.cornell.edu.

Register here. Can't attend? Contact fulbright@einaudi.cornell.edu.

The Amit Bhatia ’01 Global PhD Research Awards fund international fieldwork to help Cornell students complete their dissertations. Through a generous gift from Amit Bhatia, this funding opportunity annually supports at least six PhD students who have passed the A exam. Recipients hold the title of Amit Bhatia ’01 Global PhD Research Scholars. All disciplines and research topics are welcome. The award provides $10,000 to be used by the end of the sixth PhD year for international travel, living expenses, and research expenses. Applications are due March 7, 2025.

The Einaudi Dissertation Proposal Development Program supports 12 students over the course of a year to participate in seminars, workshops, and mentoring sessions and receive up to $5,000 for summer research. Applicants’ research projects must focus on global issues, but the proposed research setting may be international or domestic. In addition to six weeks of summer research, the program includes community-building and mentoring events. Applications are due by March 2, 2025.

Register here. Can't attend? Contact programs@einaudi.cornell.edu.

"Dyslexia, ADHD, Autism: Encouraging and Supporting All L2 Learners"
Sara Lee
Associate Teaching Professor of German, Arizona State University

Up to 20% of people in the U.S. have dyslexia, which means that about 4-6 students in every classroom struggle with reading and writing, spelling, and executive functions. How does this manifest in second language acquisition?
This workshop will introduce dyslexia from a medical and educational perspective and explain how it presents in second language learning. We will conduct error analyses on writing samples to determine which errors are developmentally expected in language acquisition or could point toward auditory processing challenges or dyslexia.
In the second part of the workshop, we will focus on classroom methodology to support learners with dyslexia and consider how universal design can help address the heterogeneity in learner needs in general activities and assessments.

Bio: Sara Lee is an Associate Teaching Professor of German at Arizona State University. She is a certified K-12 teacher and dyslexia therapist. Sara combines her knowledge and experience to be a strong advocate for neurodiverse learners of world languages. Her current research is developing an error analysis and intervention to increase spelling proficiency for learners of German. As a German Educational Multiplier, she travels nationally and internationally to give workshops and presentations on how language educators can support their neurodiverse learners. Sara is the 2024 Southwest Conference on Language Teaching (SWCOLT) Teacher of the Year and a finalist for the 2025 ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year.

This 90-minute workshop will be held in person in G25 Stimson and will also be streamed live over Zoom (registration required). Join us at the LRC or on Zoom.

The event is free and open to the public.

Co-sponsored by the German Educational Multipliers Network, established by the American Association of Teachers of German and the Goethe-Institut.