Institute for European Studies
Global Approaches to Race, Ethnicity, and Inequality
July 24, 2020
12:00 pm
Across the world, injustice perpetuates racial and ethnic inequalities, including policing practices, census and identity card categorizations, access to healthcare, education, employment, mobility, and political representation. Racial and ethnic inequalities are fundamentally about differential access to power, resources, protections, and rights. These injustices share common elements, but different histories and contexts shape them.
In this session of our webinar series, four experts on race and ethnicity will analyze global inequalities as they are experienced in local and regional forms, and analyze the implications of the contemporary moment for transformative change.
Moderator:
Rachel Beatty Riedl, Director of the Einaudi Center and Professor, Government Department, Cornell University.
Riedl teaches comparative and African politics, with an emphasis on political parties, democracy, and authoritarianism.
Panelists:
Prerna Singh, Political Science, Brown University.
Singh's research focuses on the intersection of ethnic conflict and competition, and the improvement of human well-being, particularly in the promotion of social welfare in South Asia.
Pap Ndiaye, History, Sciences Po (Paris).
Ndiaye's research focuses on transnational philosophies of race that draw both from American and French political thought, especially as they apply to the African diaspora populations of both countries.
Alisha Holland, Government, Harvard University.
Holland researches the comparative political economy of development with a focus on urban politics, social policy, and Latin America.
Leo Arriola, Political Science, University of California Berkeley.
Arriola studies comparative politics with a focus on democratization and governance in Africa.
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
Outgoing IES Director Thanks Executive Committee and Welcomes Esra Akcan
In a letter to the IES Executive Committee on July 15th, 2020, Maria Goula expresses her gratitude.
Dear Colleagues of the Executive Committee,
With Esra back in IES, our program manager ready to start full time, I am stepping out from the Director’s position grateful for the opportunity I was given. Any accomplishments were collectively produced thanks to the Institute’s amazing staff, past and current. I learned so much this past year and even though plans were interrupted, any good ideas or projects that might have emerged during my leadership, remain and can happen when it will be possible again.
I could not step out without welcoming Esra Akcan. I would like to express how lucky we are that someone like her will be leading IES in a truly hard moment. I could neither step out without thanking you each personally for the work, the insights and initiatives. I am wishing you all a good summer, if this is possible under these circumstances.
Thank you and be well,
Maria Goula, PhD, UPC
Associate Professor
Landscape Architecture Department
Additional Information
Program
IES Migrations Series (up to 2021)
Launched in AY 2017-2018, the IES Migrations Series conceptualizes the migration of not only people, but also images, words, ideas, technologies, objects, information, and food.
European Studies Minor
Through an interdisciplinary curriculum that you can mold to your interests, students in the minor have the opportunity to explore Europe’s past, present, and future and demonstrate a knowledge of European languages, culture, history, politics, and international relations.
Michael J. Harum Memorial Award for Students of Slavic Languages
Details
The Michael J. Harum Memorial Award for Students of Slavic Languages was established with generous contributions from Michael's family, the Institute for European Studies, and many others who loved and respected this extraordinary man.
The purpose of the award is to support Cornell undergraduates while they continue their language studies in countries where Slavic languages are spoken or while they do research in these countries. In a typical year, funding for this award is used for international summer travel.
Funding Options
- 2-3 week project at 20-40 hours per week = $1,500 - $2,500
- 4-6 week project at 20-40 hours per week = $2,500 - $3,500
Funding will be distributed through bursar accounts to be made available for use in Summer 2025.
Requirements
- 4-5 page project proposal (double-spaced) with bibliography
- Detailed budget proposal
- 1 letter of recommendation
- Transcript
Contact IES with questions about this award.
Additional Information
Frederic Conger Wood Research Fellowship
Details
Established in 1993 with a generous bequest from the estate of Cornell alumnus and trustee Frederic Conger Wood, these fellowships support undergraduate research in Europe.
Undergraduates from all colleges are invited to submit applications to pursue independent research projects focused on Europe.
During the summer, Conger Wood fellows spend two to eight weeks pursuing field study in Europe, and upon their return write up the results of their research. These fellowships can be combined with projects tied to attending Cornell summer courses taught in Europe.
Application deadline for winter break travel: December 1, 2025
Application deadline for summer travel: March 1, 2026
Funding Guidelines
- 2-3 week project at 20-40 hours per week = $1,500 - $2,500
- 4-8 week project at 20-40 hours per week = $2,500 - $4,000
Funding will be distributed through bursar accounts.
Requirements
- 4-5 page project proposal (double-spaced) with bibliography
- Budget (identify the level of funding requested using the options above, and list your estimated costs for airfare, lodging, food, etc.)
- 1 letter of recommendation from Cornell faculty
- Transcript
Contact IES with questions about this award.
Additional Information
Abraham and Henrietta Brettschneider Oxford Exchange Fund
Details
The purpose of the Abraham and Henrietta Brettschneider Oxford Exchange Fund is to facilitate academic exchanges between Cornell and Oxford University (UK).
The awards are designed to promote scholarly interchange between Cornell and Oxford colleges, primarily in the social sciences and humanities. Cornell scholars from all colleges are invited to apply.
Eligibility
This fund is available to Cornell faculty, postdocs, students (graduate and undergraduate), and permanent RTE faculty. Priority is given to faculty and PhD students. Students planning to travel to Oxford after graduation or postdocs without an active appointment at the time of travel are not eligible.
Criteria
Successful grant applicants will receive funding to support research stays at Oxford. The award is also open to faculty and faculty-student research teams to travel to Oxford for collaborations and to make use of Oxford’s extensive research and library resources. Appropriate uses of the fund include thesis or dissertation research, workshop participation, and initiating or sustaining research partnerships. Projects that foster ongoing, close collaborations between Cornell and Oxford are given priority.
Requirements
- Four to five-page (double-spaced) research proposal (including bibliography)
- Detailed budget (does not count towards proposal page limit)
- Proposed research timeline (does not count towards proposal page limit)
- One Cornell faculty letter of recommendation (for students and postdocs)
- One Oxford faculty letter of support (for students and postdocs)
- For staff applications, please inquire for requirements at ies@cornell.edu
The online application form requires applicants to provide the names and email addresses of faculty recommenders. The online system automatically generates a notification email to the recommenders with instructions on how to log in and upload a recommendation letter. The submission deadline for the letters of recommendation and support is March 8, 2026. The letters of support from Oxford faculty can be mailed directly to IES Program Manager Patricia Young, pty6@cornell.edu.
Contact IES with questions about this award.
Additional Information
Racism and the Future of Memorials Webinar
IES Director, Esra Akcan, led a relevant discussion regarding the toppling of monuments in Europe.
Recently toppled and removed monuments during the protests in Boston, Virginia, Alabama, Bristol, Antwerp, and other locations motivate us to discuss the future of memorials. What are monuments for? What is next in the ethics of commemoration? We will hear from leading scholars on the history of Confederate monuments and flags from the perspective of today's moment, research on transitional justice memorials around the world, and the physical remnants of black heritage in Harlem, New York.
Panelists:
- Esra Akcan, Michael A. McCarthy Associate Professor of Architectural Theory, Director of European Studies at Einaudi Center for International Studies, Cornell University
- Mwanzaa Brown (M.Arch. '18), architectural designer, Barkow Leibinger
- Manisha Sinha, Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut and the Mellon-Schlesinger Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study, Harvard University
The webinar was held on Monday, July 13, 12:30–2:00 p.m. EDT. - Q & A was moderated by Cornell-NOMAS.
Additional Information
IES Visiting Scholar gives interview with Cornell Government professor
Bryn Rosenfeld and Tamas Ziegler discuss the management of COVID-19 and the crisis of democracy in Hungary.
Tamas Ziegler gave a virtual interview with Bryn Rosenfeld as part of a series of conversations with scholars to discuss the impact of COVID-19 in Europe. The interview was included in "Conversations on European Matters in the Midst of a Pandemic," a webinar held on May 13th, 2020.
Bryn Rosenfeld , Assistant Professor, Department of Government, Cornell University
Tamas Ziegler, Visiting Scholar, Institute for European Studies, Cornell University, Associate Professor, International Relations and European Studies, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary. Due to Covid-19, his visit has been postponed until next year.
Watch the full interview (37 minutes)
Watch the short interview (13 minutes)
Additional Information
Program
Pandemic: What International Studies Tells Us
June 25, 2020
12:00 pm
Students: Join Einaudi Center regional experts for this #SummerPassport webinar--for all undergraduate and graduate students interested in global thinking and action.
The outbreak of a novel coronavirus may be the most significant world event of our century. It's a pandemic--a Greek word that means "all people." Around the world, all of us are experiencing this shared breakdown of public health, economics, and international cooperation.
Experts representing Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America will discuss the big questions facing our major world regions during this global crisis. What are reforms, new ways of thinking, and new challenges that will emerge out of the pandemic?
Moderator:
Rachel Beatty Riedl, Director, Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies
Panelists:
Esra Akcan, 2019-2020 Frieda Miller Fellow, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University; Associate Professor, Michael A. McCarthy Professor of Architectural Theory, Department of Architecture, Cornell University; Member, Cornell Institute for Comparative Modernities.
Marcelo Borges, Professor of History; Boyd Lee Spahr Chair in the History of the Americas at Dickinson College, and Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies, Nantes.
Expedit Ologou, Founder, Civic Academy for Africa’s Future, and Director of Politics and Governance Programs at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Benin.
Jenny Goldstein, Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Development at Cornell University, an Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future Faculty Fellow, and a core faculty member of Cornell's Southeast Asian Studies Program at Cornell University.
Co-sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Studies, Nantes.
Register now!
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