Institute for African Development
World in Focus: Immigration Enforcement as Political Punishment
Join us on Feb. 10 to talk about the use of strict immigration enforcement and violence as political tools.
N’Dri Thérèse Assié-Lumumba
Professor, African and African Diaspora
Additional Information
Program
Role
- Faculty
- IAD Core Faculty
- IAD Advisory Council
Contact
Email: n.assie-lumumba@cornell.edu
Phone: 607-255-7839
World in Focus: Immigration Enforcement as Political Punishment
February 10, 2026
4:00 pm
Uris Hall, G08
Join Einaudi Center experts for World in Focus Talks on global events in the news and on your mind. Our faculty's research and policy insights put the world in focus.
This year we’re hosting informal campus discussions on many Tuesday afternoons. This week’s topic:
In the United States and around the world, strict immigration enforcement and violence are being wielded as political tools. Recent U.S. actions include surveillance of communities, indiscriminate detainment, and violence against protestors. Despite being framed as necessary for the safety of citizens, these tactics are rooted in histories of slavery, the prison industrial complex, and xenophobia.
Does this type of enforcement infringe on rights? How can we understand current events through the lens of global and historical contexts? Do present-day immigration policies make communities safer?
***
Featured Faculty
Shannon Gleeson (Migrations) | Industrial and Labor RelationsTristan Ivory (EAP, IAD) | International and Comparative LaborJaclyn Kelley-Widmer | LawNatasha Raheja (SAP) | AnthropologyIan Kysel | Law
***
Conversations Matter at Einaudi
This conversation is hosted by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and its regional and thematic programs. Find out what's in store for students at Einaudi!
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
South Asia Program
Migrations Program
Southwest Asia and North Africa Program
Information Session: Fulbright U.S. Student Program
February 23, 2026
4:45 pm
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. The program is open to graduate students, recent graduates, and young professionals. Undergraduate 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 Mario 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 for the virtual session.
Can’t attend? Contact fulbright@einaudi.cornell.edu.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
South Asia Program
Migrations Program
Funding for Faculty
Apply now for Einaudi research support!
Proposals are due March 16 for seed grants and new targeted support for early-career faculty with research in international studies.
Additional Information
World in Focus: Global Responses to Trump
January 27, 2026
4:00 pm
Uris Hall, G08
Join Einaudi Center experts for World in Focus Talks on global events in the news and on your mind. Our faculty's research and policy insights put the world in focus.
This year we’re hosting informal campus discussions on many Tuesday afternoons. This week’s topic:
The United States helped create the United Nations to protect the sovereignty of independent countries. Now the Trump administration is setting the tone for superpowers with imperial ambitions by waging economic war against democratic allies, violating long-standing treaties, and holding out the possibility of using military force.
What do these unprecedented actions mean for the rest of the world? How are states and peoples in different regions responding? And what may happen if tensions continue to escalate?
***
Featured Faculty
Agnieszka Nimark (PACS) | Affiliated ScholarMagnus Fiskesjö (EAP, PACS, SEAP) | AnthropologyAlexandra Blackman (SWANA) | GovernmentSeema Golestaneh (SWANA) | Near Eastern StudiesIrina Troconis (LACS) | Romance StudiesKenneth Roberts (LACS) | GovernmentPeter Katzenstein (IES, PACS) | Government
***
Conversations Matter at Einaudi
This conversation is hosted by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and its regional and thematic programs. Find out what's in store for students at Einaudi!
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
South Asia Program
Migrations Program
Southwest Asia and North Africa Program
Global Challenges to Democracy: Comparative Perspectives on Backsliding, Autocracy, and Resilience
By Our Faculty
Following democracy's global advance in the late 20th century, recent patterns of democratic erosion or 'backsliding' have generated extensive scholarly debate. Backsliding towards autocracy is often the work of elected leaders operating within democratic institutions, challenging conventional thinking about the logic of democratic consolidation, the enforcement of institutional checks and balances, and the development and reproduction of democratic norms.
Book
35.99
Additional Information
Program
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
Type
- Book
Publication Details
Publication Year: 2025
ISBN: 9781009602570
Food Prices up 2.4% in 2025 as Consumers Cope with Increases
Chris Barrett, IAD/SEAP
Cornell University agricultural economist Chris Barrett discusses the disproportionate impact of rising food prices on low-income households.
Additional Information
Institute for African Development Colloquium: African Fabrics as Cultural Texts
February 25, 2026
3:00 pm
310 Triphammer Rd. Africana Studies and Research Center, Auditorium
Wednesday, February 25, 2026 3:00pm Africana Studies and Research Center
Speakers: Kassim Kone, Professor, Anthropology, SUNY Cortland; Osuanyi Quaicoo Essel (Associate Professor, Textiles and Fashion, University of Education, Winneba); and Akousa Mawuse Amankwah (Senior Lecturer, Department of Industrial Art, Faulty of Art, of the College of Art and Built Environment (CABE)- Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Kumasi Ghana.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for African Development Spring Symposium: Artificial Intelligence and the Global South: Perils, Pitfalls and Potential
April 23, 2026
9:00 am
401 Warren hall
April 22-23, 2026 401 Warren Hall Artificial intelligence (AI) is viewed by some as having great promise, while others view the arrival of this novel technology with skepticism or concern. AI is certainly having a significant impact in many arenas of life. What are the specific implications of AI for people living in the Global South? This conference will examine the specific social, political, environmental and economic impacts of AI in and for the Global South, taking a holistic, perspective that considers the historical, socio-cultural, environmental and political-economic context in which AI is embedded in and entangles with across the Global South. Keynote speakers from a range of disciplines will focus on specific themes.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
Institute for African Development