Find out more about our summer public policy program in Turin. Nestled between the Alps and the Mediterranean in the magnificent Piedmont region of northern Italy, the city of Turin provides an inspiring background to explore the causes and consequences of population change, the debates unfolding in Europe around these issues, and the policies intended to address them. Population problems are central to societal change in numerous areas- inequality, immigration and diversity, race relations, family life, health and aging, and social welfare systems. This program explores the causes and consequences of population change, paying particular attention to how population processes interact with the social, economic, and political context in which they play out.

Find out more about our summer public policy program in Turin. Nestled between the Alps and the Mediterranean in the magnificent Piedmont region of northern Italy, the city of Turin provides an inspiring background to explore the causes and consequences of population change, the debates unfolding in Europe around these issues, and the policies intended to address them. Population problems are central to societal change in numerous areas- inequality, immigration and diversity, race relations, family life, health and aging, and social welfare systems. This program explores the causes and consequences of population change, paying particular attention to how population processes interact with the social, economic, and political context in which they play out.

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

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.

IES Graduate Fellows will be presenting their work in conference style presentations followed by time for discussions. Presenters will be:

Panel 1

Alican Taylan- Architecture Art Planning- "Disentangling Modernity and Colonialism: The St. Joseph Mission School in Ngasobil, Senegal"

Victoria Pihl Sørensen- Performing and Media Arts- "Making “Moral Mothers” and “Better Babies”: Reckoning with Eugenics in the History of Reproduction in Denmark"

Maria Luisa Palumbo- Architecture Art Planning- "Histories of Land, Grain, and Architecture Across Italy and Libya, 1912-1943"

Panel 2

Nora Siena- Romance Studies- "Inside/Outside: Primo Levi’s Liminal Relationship with Jewishness as a Source for Critique"

Rachel Horner- Music- "Remapping València in the Festival Borderlands"

Matt Finck- History- "The Cosmologies of Victor Serge: Science and Catastrophe in the Revolutionary Novel"

The recent U.S. election is likely to have significant impacts on immigration policy and practices. Based on experience with the previous Trump administration and standing efforts among Republicans in Congress, these changes may impact Cornell students, staff, and faculty. Join Cornell’s Migrations Program in a conversation about the current state of immigration policy.

This is a virtual-only meeting open to Cornell faculty, staff, and students. Registration is required.

Panelists

Shannon Gleeson, School of Industrial and Labor Relations and Brooks School of Public PolicyLaura Taylor, Director of International ServicesStephen Yale-Loehr, Cornell Law SchoolModerator

Wendy Wolford, Vice Provost for International Affairs and Robert A. and Ruth E. Polson Professor of Global Development in the College of Agriculture and Life SciencesHost and Sponsors

The Migrations Program, part of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, builds upon the work of Migrations: A Global Grand Challenge to inform real-world policies and outcomes for populations that migrate.

IES Luigi Einaudi Distinguished Lecture
Building on her recent book Seeing Others, on her recent work on the urban/rural divide across EU countries, and on the non-college educated young workers (18-30) in Manchester New Hampshire, and Manchester UK, Michèle Lamont discusses the challenges of addressing recognition gaps in the US and Europe at a time when attacks against various minoritized groups are multiplying. She also presents analytical tools and strategies for dealing with the current political backlash against inclusion.

Michèle Lamont is Professor of Sociology and of African and African American Studies and the Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies at Harvard University. Born in 1957, she grew up in Quebec and studied political theory at the University of Ottawa before obtaining a doctorate in sociology at the University of Paris in 1983. After completing post-doctoral research at Stanford University, she has served on the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin (1985-87), Princeton University (1987-2002) and Harvard University (2003-present). A cultural and comparative sociologist who studies inclusion and inequality, she has researched how we evaluate social worth across societies, the role of cultural processes in fostering inequality, symbolic and social boundaries, and the evaluation of knowledge, as well as topics such as dignity, stigma, racism, class cultures, collective well-being, social resilience, and social change. Her books include Money, Morals and Manners: the Culture of the French and the American Upper-Middle Class (1992), The Dignity of Working Men: Morality and the Boundaries of Race, Class, and Immigration(2000), How Professors Think: Inside the Curious World of Academic Judgement (2009), Getting Respect: Responding to Stigma and Discrimination in the Us, Brazil and Israel (coauthored, 2016), and Seeing Others: How Recognition Works and How It Can Heal a Divided World (2023). She is also the author of several collective works, and over a hundred articles published in American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Annual Review of Sociology, Human Nature Behavior, and other prominent outlets.