Institute for European Studies
Apter Returns to Cornell to Explore Translation Justice
Emily Apter, Julius Silver Professor of French and Comparative Literature at New York University, a renowned scholar whose writings have been shaping comparative literature and critical theory for three decades, returned to Cornell to speak on “translation justice” and the “right to language.”
On September 14, Apter lectured to a packed audience in Uris Hall on “Translation and Language Justice in and Beyond Europe.” On September 15, she led a seminar workshop on her forthcoming book, What Is Just Translation?
Taking the replacement of Ukrainian road signs by Russian ones as her point of departure, Apter describes a mode of translational violence that takes the form of imperialistic supplantation of languages. The linguistic proximity or kinship between Russian and Ukrainian, far from making their inter-translation politically inconsequential, turns linguistic difference into a site for asserting dominance: translating (in the sense of replacing) Ukrainian with Russian becomes a “performative of violent territorial sovereignty,” while Russian-speaking Ukrainians’ enrollment in Ukrainian classes becomes an act of resistance. Carl Schmitt’s distinction between friend and enemy can be activated through even the smallest differences in grammar, script, and pronunciation.
In this context, Apter turned to the psychic violence of linguistic usurpation, revisiting the Swiss-born nineteenth-century political thinker Benjamin Constant’s account of Napoleonic conquest. As Constant wrote, “While despotism rules by means of silence, and leaves man the right to be silent; usurpation condemns him to speak,” drawing them into participation in their own violation. These terms from European imperial history remain very much pertinent to our global political present. Language conquest and usurpation are still prevalent today in various, insidious forms, bringing the question of linguistic violence to the policies that regulate which languages can be spoken and recognized.
Apter turned to European language policies, which involve the hierarchization of languages through the strategies of officialization, recognition, and protection. What distinguishes a language that is official from one that is merely recognized or protected, and what inequalities do these distinctions sustain, even where multilingualism is formally affirmed? Apter examined these questions with the examples of Italy’s and Spain’s differential regulation of minority languages, as well as the case of the EU, which affirms linguistic equality and supports multilingualism through extensive translation services, yet relies heavily on Euro-English or “Globish.” Europe’s multilingual arrangements still manifest unequal rankings amongst languages, in tandem with linguistic uniformization.
Apter also duly examined the question of language usurpation in the era of AI. Language policies are deeply entangled with what she called “linguistic capitalism.” The promise of “streamlining” in Trump’s English-only policy links technological automation (such as machine translation) to state monolingualization. Apter calls for a defense of linguistic rights against the unquestioned acceptance of an algorithmic lingua franca. Universities’ replacement of human language teaching with AI training, she argues, effectively negates the right to language as well as the right to plurilingual education.
What is at stake is what Apter calls the training of a “plurilingual intelligence” as well as a pursuit of “language dignification”: “the unconditional demand that languages, all languages, be spoken without fear of state reprisal […] the detoxification of linguistic environments haunted by enslavement, vanished tongues, and histories of political inequality and language inequality.”
Emily Apter was invited by the Institute for European Studies graduate fellows cohort of 2025–26. Each year, the IES graduate fellows invite a speaker whose research addresses “Europe” in the broadest sense: from a geographical, geopolitical, or geocultural radix to the deep and often surprising entanglements between Europe and the world.
Story by Xinyu H. Zhang, IES Graduate Director's Fellow
Additional Information
Program
Cornell World Languages Day 2026
October 24, 2026
10:00 am
Arts Quad
Cornell World Languages Day is a free annual event highlighting the importance of language learning, cultural awareness, and global literacy. WLD invites middle and high school students from the greater community to campus, showcasing the opportunities for language learning and international studies at Cornell.
This in-person event is open to middle and high school aged students. You do not need to be affiliated with Cornell to participate.
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED! Visit https://lrc.cornell.edu/wld to register.
World Languages Day is an interdepartmental event, organized by the LRC and Upward Bound and sponsored by many on- and off-campus units. Generous support is provided by the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs, the College of Arts & Sciences, and the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement.
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
Southwest Asia and North Africa Program
Cristina Florea Named Winner of the 2026 Barbara Jelavich Book Prize
Cristina Florea, IES/PACS
Bukovina: The Life and Death of an East European Borderland (Princeton UP), a book by Cristina Florea (IES/PACS), won an ASEEES prize for Southeast European history since 1600.
Additional Information
Topic
- World in Focus
Program
Sophie Pinkham Named Winner of the 2026 Pushkin House Book Prize
Sophie Pinkham, IES
Sophie Pinkham, a writer specializing in Soviet and post-Soviet, socialist and post-socialist culture and Professor of Practice in the Comparative Literature Department at Cornell University, has just won the annual Pushkin House Book Prize for The Oak and the Larch: A Forest History of Russia and its Empires (William Collins, 2026).
Additional Information
Information Session: International Minors
November 3, 2026
4:30 pm
Uris Hall, G08
Take your learning to the next level with minors from the Einaudi Center for International Studies and our programs. In this session, you'll learn about international minors that can help you expand your global knowledge. View a full list of minors.
Caribbean Studies
The Caribbean Studies minor will equip you to better understand the sociocultural, economic, and political forces—indigenous dispossession, slavery, capitalism—that shape the region and how those forces resonate globally.
European Studies
Explore Europe’s past, present, and future and demonstrate a knowledge of European languages, culture, politics, and international relations.
International Relations
Study global governance, politics, economics, history, languages, and cultures across national boundaries.
Migration Studies
Learn about how human migration and migrant experiences shape our world on the move.
Can’t attend? Contact programs@einaudi.cornell.edu to learn more.
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The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies hosts info sessions for graduate and for undergraduate students to learn more about funding opportunities, international travel, research, and internships. View the full calendar of fall semester sessions.
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
Luca Abbattista
Klarman Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Literatures in English
Luca Abbattista’s research examines the points of contact between the history of forms, books, and society. His current project focuses on how narrative works coming from the U.S. shaped the Italian national imagination from Fascism to the Cold War.
Additional Information
California Billionaire Tax: What to Know About Proposition 40
Cristobal Young, IES
Cornell sociology professor Cristobal Young discusses the potential effects and flaws of California's proposed one-time billionaire tax, referencing his research on wealth, taxation, and migration.
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International Research Showcase
October 28, 2026
4:30 pm
Physical Sciences Building, Baker Portico & Atrium
Meet Cornell's Laidlaw scholars and Global Interns at our fall showcase. They'll present their undergraduate international summer experiences, including hands-on research and leadership-in-action.
The International Research Showcase is hosted by the Einaudi Center for International Studies and cosponsored by the Office of Global Learning. Both are part of Global Cornell.
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Applications for Global Internships and the Laidlaw Leadership and Research Program will open in the fall semester.
Global Internships give undergraduate students valuable international experience in fields spanning global development, climate and sustainability, international relations, communication, business, governance, and more. They are managed by the Einaudi Center for International Studies and Office of Global Learning, both part of Global Cornell.
The Laidlaw Undergraduate Leadership and Research Scholarship Program provides generous funding to first- and second-year undergraduates over two years as they pursue internationally focused research, engage in leadership training and a leadership-in-action experience, and join a global network of like-minded peers. The program is managed by the Einaudi Center.
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
Faculty Research Seed Grants: Global Hubs Info Session
September 24, 2026
9:00 am
Drop in to learn more and ask questions about the 2027 Global Hubs Faculty Research Seed Grants that Global Cornell and partner universities are offering through the Global Hubs initiative.
Join us on Zoom at any time during the session.
Through these seed grants, Cornell faculty from across the university are invited to apply for research funds to explore and jumpstart collaborations with colleagues at Global Hubs partner institutions. Funded projects should lead to tangible outcomes, including the submission of at least one co-authored peer-reviewed publication and at least one application for external grant funding.
Successful proposals will receive up to $5,000 from Cornell, with the potential for matching funds from some Global Hubs partner universities.
Application deadline: October 14, 2026, 4:00 p.m. ET
Project duration: January 1–December 31, 2027
Learn more and apply for a Global Hubs joint seed grant.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
South Asia Program
Migrations Program
Southwest Asia and North Africa Program
The Age of Gated Recessions
Kaushik Basu, IES/SAP
CRADLE cofounder Kaushik Basu (IES/SAP) assesses labor market divides and policy solutions in the U.S. and India in this op-ed.