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Institute for African Development

CANCELED - International Studies Summer Institute: Global Media Literacy

July 1, 2025

9:00 am

Africana Studies and Research Center

Please join the Cornell University Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and the South Asia Center at Syracuse University for the 2025 International Studies Summer Institute (ISSI)! ISSI is a professional development workshop for practicing and pre-service K-12 educators. This year we will explore the theme of global media literacy.

Participants will engage in sessions that explore both the challenges that new media technologies and practice have enabled globally, as well as how to assist students in the US to understand and analyze information from around the world. Scholars from Cornell University and Syracuse University will share their research and expertise from across different regions of the world, including Africa, East Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Sessions will include a workshop that will introduce K -12 educators to the key principles and practices related to media literacy education from a global perspective, connecting it to questions of power structures, global flows of media, and democratic practices. Another session will focus on the role of artificial intelligence and cultural bias in social media content moderation in international contexts. This year’s ISSI will also feature presentations by staff from the Johnson Museum of Art and the Cornell University Library, sharing resources for teachers.

Speakers include:

Wunpini Mohammed, Assistant Professor of Comunication, Cornell Univesity

Srivi Ramasubramanian, Newhouse Professor and Endowed Chair, Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University

Hannah Toombs, Engaged Learning Librarian and Librarian for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Olin Library, Cornell University

Farhana Shahid, PhD Candidate, Information Science, Cornell University

Carol Hockett, Hintsa Family Manager of School and Family Programs, & Krystyna Piccorossi, Post-Baccalaureate Fellow in Pre-K–12 Museum Education, Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University

Brian Sengdala, PhD Candidate, Performing & Media Arts, Cornell University

EXTENDED deadline: 20

ISSI program schedule:

Morning

8:30 - Check-in & breakfast

9:00 - Welcome: Dr. Ellen Lust, Einaudi Center Director

9:15 - Hannah Toombs, PhD, Engaged Learning & LACS Librarian, Cornell University

10:00 - Dr. Srivi Ramasubramanian, Newhouse School, Syracuse University

11:00 - Breakout sessions with Code^Shift team

11:40 - Report out with Dr. Srivi Ramasubramanian

Afternoon

12:10 - Lunch offered to all participants

1:15 - Carol Hockett & Krystyna Piccorossi, Johnson Museum, Cornell University

2:00 - Dr. Wunpini Mohammed, Dept of Communication, Cornell University

3:05 - Farhana Shahid, PhD Cand, Information Science, Cornell University

3:50 - Brian Sengdala, PhD Cand, PMA, Cornell University

4:30 - Closing: Sarah Pattison, PhD, Einaudi’s Assoc Director of Academic Programs

(photo credit: Adam Cohn)

Additional Information

Program

Einaudi Center for International Studies

East Asia Program

Southeast Asia Program

Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Institute for African Development

Institute for European Studies

South Asia Program

Speed Talks: Building Solidarity and Resistance

May 14, 2025

4:30 pm

This event has been postponed until fall 2025.

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Join the Einaudi Center and researchers from across campus for three-minute speed talks and community conversation on ways to organize and push back against fast-moving federal actions.

Speakers will jump off from interdisciplinary and international research to provide a fresh perspective on current U.S. public policy and the potential for effective collective action. Together we'll look at challenges faced and solutions found in a variety of academic fields and places around the world—to help us think through how to unify disparate interests and find allies to resist democratic backsliding.

The event features clusters of speed talks on related topics, with time for Q&A and conversation on each topic.

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Speakers

David A. Bateman | GovernmentSidney Tarrow (IES) | GovernmentPrisca Jöst | Public Policy

More speakers to be confirmed.

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Sponsors

This conversation is hosted by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, partnering with Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy's Governance and Local Development Institute and Data and Democracy Lab.

Find out how graduate and undergraduate students can get started 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

International Relations Minor Career Paths

April 29, 2025

4:00 pm

Rockefeller Hall, 105

Are you considering starting a career that utilizes regional expertise, language skills, or experience with foreign policy? Ever wondered what it's like to work in various capacities in governments, how to prepare yourself to be a successful applicant for jobs, or what work will let you utilize your knowledge of the world? Are you curious to learn more about current events, history, or the broader global implications of your major? Whether you are interested in a possible career in public service, academia, or the private sector, the international relations undergraduate minor can help you explore these opportunities.

Please join the Einaudi Center for International Studies for a discussion about career paths and opportunities at the State Department and in public service, featuring Cornell alumni who will share their insights:

Jason Oaks, Deputy National Intelligence Officer for East Asia, U.S. Department of StateAngie Yucht Swenson, Founder and Principal of AYS Tutoring and Consulting, LLC
To attend virtually, register here.

This session is presented by the Einaudi Center and the faculty advisor of the international relations minor, Oumar Ba. The minor is open to all Cornell undergraduate students interested in learning about the politics, economics, history, languages, and cultures of the world.

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

Politics, Markets, and Governance in Africa: A Conference in Honor of Nicolas van de Walle

May 9, 2025

9:00 am

Warren Hall, B75

Our cherished friend and colleague Nicolas van de Walle (1957-2024) shaped the field of political science and African politics in substantial and important ways. His insights into the politics of economic policymaking and “permanent crisis,” the driving forces of regime dynamics, electoral politics, and democratic transitions continue to underpin the foundations of comparative politics.

Beyond his written work, van de Walle’s legacy is firmly anchored in how he treated his fellow scholars—at home at Cornell and around the world. His kindness, generosity of spirit, intellectual curiosity, and joy in the ongoing process of learning from others. These are the characteristics that define him to so many who were lucky enough to know him and interact with him. He has served as a mentor to hundreds: offering support, incisive feedback, advice, and conversation to think through the politics of our time. We honor him as a brilliant scholar and a gentle soul who lifted others up and made our collective humanity richer.

This conference in his honor will focus on the core themes of African political economy, regimes, and modes of electoral and social participation and contestation.

Hosted by the
Institute for African Development (Einaudi Center for International Studies); Department of Government; College of Arts and Sciences; and the Center on Global Democracy (Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy).

Organizers
Rachel Beatty Riedl, Peggy J. Koenig ‘78 Director of the Center on Global Democracy (Brooks School of Public Policy) and Professor, Government; Rachel Bezner Kerr, Director, Institute for African Development, and Professor, Global Development; Sabrina Karim, Associate Professor, Department of Government; Muna Ndulo, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of International & Comparative Law, Cornell Law School; and, Oumar Ba, Assistant Professor, Government, Cornell

Additional Information

Program

Einaudi Center for International Studies

Institute for African Development

International Fair

August 27, 2025

11:00 am

Uris Hall, Terrace

International Fair showcases Cornell's global opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. Explore the fair and find out about international majors and minors, language study, study abroad, funding opportunities, global internships, Cornell Global Hubs, and more.

The International Fair is sponsored by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and Office of Global Learning (both part of Global Cornell) in partnership with the Language Resource Center.

Register on CampusGroups to receive a reminder. Registration is not required.

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

Kota Watanabe

A headshot of Kota Watanabe

Independent Scholar

Kota Watanabe is a diplomat-turned-political scientist studying contested state building and civil war in contemporary Myanmar, currently based in New York City. He earned his PhD in Development Studies from SOAS University of London in February 2025.

Additional Information

Program

Role

  • Postdoc
  • SEAP Faculty Associate in Research

Contact

Building Democracy: Global Scholars Showcase

April 15, 2025

4:30 pm

Mann Library, 100 and 102

Join the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies’ undergraduate global scholars for a showcase of their capstone presentations providing public commentary and perspectives on global democracy.

Undergraduate global scholars advocate for building democracy on campus and around the world. They have partnered with the Einaudi Center's democratic threats and resilience faculty fellow Kenneth Roberts and Lund Practitioner in Residence Thomas Garrett—expert researchers and practitioners on building democracy—to design their projects.

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

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