The final episode of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, a Foreign Policy podcast supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Buffett Institute, features inspiring stories about girl power. First, we go to Peru, where reporter Jimena Ledgard interviews Wendy Sulca, a former child pop star who is finding a new voice as an advocate. Then, host Reena Ninan speaks with Bogolo Kenewendo, Advisor and Africa Director to the United Nations Climate Change High-Level Champions, about how her childhood shaped her into the political leader she has become.

On this episode of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, a Foreign Policy podcast supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Buffett Institute, host Reena Ninan speaks with Julie Mwabe, the team lead at the global advocacy and public policy program at Global Partnership for Education. She leads efforts to mobilize political support at the highest levels for education, including from heads of state. They talk about the state of girls’ education and what the international community can do to close learning gaps, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Buffett Institute hosted a keynote address and reception celebrating Northwestern's Fulbright community and the transformative power of cultural exchange, marking the beginning of Northwestern's Fulbright Week (April 8–12, 2024). We were delighted to have as our keynote speaker Dr. Mary Pattillo, Harold Washington Professor of Sociology and Chair of Black Studies at Northwestern University.

In the second talk of this joint speaker series exploring fundamental history of Israel and Palestine, historian Arie Dubnov delved into the multifaceted history of Zionism, exploring its various ideological strands and historical context from its origins in the late ninteenth century to its impact on contemporary politics in Israel/Palestine.

International journalists Marzio Mian and Alessandro Cosmelli discussed on Friday their recent work reporting along the Volga River in Russia, which produced a cover story for Harper’s Magazine called “Behind the New Iron Curtain.” The event was co-hosted by the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

What do Russians think about the war in Ukraine? How are they reacting to sanctions? In a recent cover story for Harper's Magazine, journalist Marzio Mian and photographer Alessandro Cosmelli tell the surprising story of what they discovered on a trip down the Volga River. The Buffett Institute hosted a conversation with Mian and Cosmelli about contemporary Russia, international reporting and the long shadows of the Cold War, moderated by Ambassador Ian Kelly.

A routine Getty Images caption beside the Princess of Wales’s cancer announcement has fanned disinformation about her. The New York Times spoke with Buffett Faculty Fellow V.S. Subrahmanian, who ran a copy of the video through a system of 15 algorithms his team at the Northwestern Security & AI Lab (NSAIL) has been developing to detect manipulated videos. They found no evidence that the video is fake.

A new initiative, “Israel & Palestine: Joint Speaker Series Exploring Fundamental History,” is being co-sponsored by the Middle East and North African Studies Program, the Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies and the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern. A series of talks by renowned scholars of the region, seven sessions will be held April 4 to May 29 on the Evanston campus and are open to Northwestern students, faculty and staff.

For the first talk of this joint speaker series exploring fundamental history of Israel and Palestine, Awad Halabi examined how Palestine’s different religious communities were able to engage and interact with one another in the era of Late Ottoman rule in Palestine (c. 1850–1917).

The Buffett Institute hosted book talk with Michael S. Kang and Joanna M. Shepherd, co-authors of the new book "Free to Judge: The Power of Campaign Money in Judicial Elections." Watch the recording.

Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya, as it is in more than half of African countries. But public attitudes have begun to shift. The fourth episode of the latest season of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, a Foreign Policy podcast supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Buffett Institute, follows the key people driving this change.

Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting grantees Alessandro Cosmelli and Marzio Mian will speak on their project, Volga Blues, to students at the Northwestern Buffett Institute, the University of Michigan’s Wallace House Center for Journalists and Indiana University.

The Water Insecurity Experiences (WISE) Scales measure human experiences with water and provide insights into whether individuals can reliably access sufficient water for domestic uses. To date, nationally representative water insecurity data have been collected in 40 countries, providing insights into who, exactly, is experiencing water insecurity. The Center for International and Strategic Studies published these data in a new report. Current WISE research is made possible by the Leverhulme Foundation as well as the Buffett Institute and Trienens Institute at Northwestern.

Read about the history and impact of the Water Insecurity Experiences (WISE) Scales over the past decade in this new report. Current WISE research is made possible by the Leverhulme Foundation as well as the Buffett Institute and Trienens Institute at Northwestern.

The negative impact of child marriage is widely documented. Child brides suffer domestic violence more often, drop out of school in greater numbers and are more likely to experience poverty. While Indian girls still account for one-third of child brides in the world, the prevalence of child marriage there has declined about 7 percent in the past eight years. The third episode of the latest season of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, a Foreign Policy podcast supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Buffett Institute, looks at how India has been able to reduce its child marriage rates.

On this year's World Water Day, the Center for Strategic and International Studies hosted a livestream featuring Professor Sera Young, co-lead of Buffett's Making Water Insecurity Visible Global Working Group, on her Water Insecurity Experiences (WISE) Scales, an innovative tool designed to measure universal experiences with water insecurity and inform development action and policy implementation. Current WISE research is made possible by the Leverhulme Foundation and the Buffett Institute. Young will also present highlights from the forthcoming WISE Impact Report during a hybrid event at the Shard in London on Wednesday, March 27 at 10 a.m. CDT.

Family planning is one of the most economically important strategies for women and girls. Access to contraceptives can help women and girls get an education and participate in the workforce. Furthermore, it could reduce maternal deaths by as much as three-quarters, according to the United Nations Population Fund. But nearly 10 percent of women of childbearing age around the world have unmet contraceptive needs and teenage girls report less access to contraceptives than other age groups. The second episode of the latest season of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, a Foreign Policy podcast supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Buffett Institute, looks at the most effective ways to increase family planning services.

Aman Shaikh, a graduate student in the Master of Engineering Management program at the McCormick School of Engineering, traveled to Dubai for the United Nations' annual climate change conference COP28 through the support of the Buffett Institute. He recounts how attending COP28 helped him better understand technology's role in addressing climate change, and the role engineers can play in climate action.

Deborah Cohen, the Richard W. Leopold Professor of History in Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, has been named executive director of the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs. A scholar of European and global history, Cohen has served as interim director of the Buffett Institute since January.

Will the lure of deepfakes prove irresistible to democratic governments? What questions should governments ask — and who in government should be asking them — when a deepfake is being considered? Two Northwestern professors, Buffett Faculty Fellow V.S. Subrahmanian and Daniel Linna, co-authored a new report examining several hypothetical scenarios in which democratic governments might consider using deepfakes to advance their foreign policy objectives and the potential harms this use might pose to democracy. Subrahmanian co-leads and Linna is a member of Buffett’s AI and Social Movements Global Working Group.

This episode of the Lawfare Podcast delves into how democracies should think about using deepfakes with Buffett Faculty Fellow V.S. Subrahmanian, Daniel Byman and Daniel Linna, co-authors of a new Center for Strategic and International Studies report examining two critical points: the questions that a government agency should address before deploying a deepfake, and the governance mechanisms that should be in place to assess its risks and benefits.

Buffett Faculty Fellow V.S. Subrahmanian is the lead author of a new report examining hypothetical cases in which deepfakes might be used by democratic governments. Along with co-authors Daniel Byman and Daniel Linna, Subrahmanian argues that deepfakes should not be used without a clearly articulated set of guardrails that consider both the benefits and the risks of a proposed government-run deepfake-enabled operation. Subrahmanian co-leads and Linna is a member of Buffett’s AI and Social Movements Global Working Group.

The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, a podcast from Foreign Policy with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Buffett Institute, is back with an all-new season. This time, all our stories are about something that has been getting a lot of media attention lately: Girls. What do they really need to succeed right now? And how can we work with them to get there? For this first episode, we focus on an often hidden aspect of girls’ economic lives that has a significant impact: period products.

The Buffett Institute for Global Affairs hosted a lecture by the former President of the International Criminal Court Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji at the Pritzker School of Law on Thursday, February 29. In his lecture, he argued that peace as a fundamental human right could help achieve global peace. Read about the insights he shared in the Daily Northwestern.

The Buffett Institute and Pritzker School of Law hosted a lecture from Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, former President of the International Criminal Court from 2018 to 2021. During the lecture, Judge Eboe-Osuji shared insights from his work to foster a more just and peaceful world through international accountability for human rights violations.

The Buffett Institute hosted a book talk with Anto Mohsin, Buffett Faculty Fellow and Assistant Professor in Residence at Northwestern in Qatar as well as the author of the new book Electrifying Indonesia: Technology and Social Justice in National Development, which tells the story of the entanglement of politics and technology during Indonesia’s rapid post-World War II development.

Led by Northwestern Buffett's Defusing Disasters Global Working group, the Heat Watch Chicago mapping study results show how extreme heat disproportionately impacts vulnerable communities. The group is working with the city to develop a heat vulnerability index to target resources to the areas that are the hottest and most vulnerable to extreme weather.

The Buffett Institute hosted a discussion exploring global futures of education with Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy (Lumbee), Dean at the Northwestern School of Education and Social Policy, and Noah Sobe, Professor at Loyola University Chicago and former Senior Project Officer at UNESCO's Future of Learning and Innovation team. Watch the recording.

Jennifer Lackey has received the 2024 Daniel I. Linzer Award for Faculty Excellence in Diversity and Equity for her dedication and commitment to the Northwestern Prison Education program. Lackey also co-leads the Epistemic Reparations Global Working Group at the Buffett Institute.

Professor Laura Brueck of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Department of Asian Languages and Cultures received Northwestern’s 2024 Provost Award for Exemplary Service for her leadership as co-founder of the Race, Caste and Colorism Global Working Group at the Buffett Institute.

For a third year, Northwestern Buffett supported a delegation of 12 faculty and graduate students to attend the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 28th Conference of Parties (COP28), the world’s largest annual international climate summit. Read delegates' reflections on the challenges and promise of global climate action.

With the Block Museum of Art, our Climate Crisis + Media Arts Global Working Group is developing a series of screenings and talks related to the Block Museum’s forthcoming Actions for Earth art and ecology exhibition. The exhibition will run through winter and spring 2024 along with pop-up gardens around campus and film screenings. The exhibition’s opening conversation will feature Buffett Faculty Fellow Kimberly Marion Suiseeya.

Northwestern Buffett's Office of International Student and Scholar Services (OISS) helps international students and scholars as well as faculty and staff navigate the many complexities associated with student and employment-based visa classifications within the Northwestern community. Learn about enrollment trends and statistics on members of Northwestern's international community who receive visa sponsorship through OISS in their 2022–23 annual report.

Jacqueline Stevens, Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University and Founding Faculty Director of the Deportation Research Clinic at the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, shares her expertise on the use of big data technology at the border and its impact on migration, deportation and human rights.

Catherine Régis, expert in AI governance and regulation talks about the importance of involving experts and citizens to address AI's ethical challenges, the need for international collaboration and initiatives to address AI-related issues and the potential of AI to accelerate progress on the UN SDGs.

On the afternoon of July 28, it was more than 20 degrees hotter on the Southwest Side than it was on the city’s Far North Side. The reason for such a discrepancy — and what can be done about it — will be studied in the coming months by the City of Chicago and Northwestern Buffett's Defusing Disasters Global Working Group.

A study that had Chicagoans attach sensors to their cars during a summer day found significant disparities in heat across the city. Northwestern Buffett's Defusing Disasters Global Working Group has released the results of Heat Watch 2023, which charted areas of the city most impacted by the extremes of climate change. Chicago was one of 18 cities participating in the national Heat Watch 2023 study.

Chicago’s Department of Public Health, the Department of Environment, and Northwestern University Buffett Institute’s Defusing Disasters Working Group pooled their skills, along with input from community partners, to undertake an ambitious study of extreme heat across the city's many neighborhoods.

Buffett's Defusing Disasters Global Working Group built a team of resident scientists in Chicago to measure heat across communities this summer. Factors like humidity, tree coverage, air flow, heavy traffic, humidity, and the density of buildings and concrete each contribute to how intense the heat feels in different neighborhoods. On July 28, 2023, volunteers traveled routes with heat sensors on their own cars. Each sensor recorded temperature, humidity, time and location. Explore the results.

Last week, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), the Department of Environment, and the Northwestern University Buffett Institute Defusing Disasters Working Group—in collaboration with community partners—released findings from the Heat Watch 2023 Activation Day.

As more consumer-focused companies harness the power of AI and machine learning, research on human-machine interactions is becoming increasingly important. S. Venus Jin discusses her research on how AI influences and shapes individuals' choices across various industries.

This video provides an overview of Northwestern University's International Travel Registry, developed by Northwestern Buffett’s Office of Global Safety and Security to support students traveling abroad. Undergraduate, graduate and professional students planning university-affiliated travel abroad are required to register before departure.

A delegation of Northwestern faculty and graduate students supported by Northwestern Buffett will attend the world’s largest annual international treaty negotiations and climate summit, COP28, to observe negotiations, share their thought leadership in panel discussions and research presentations and attend events hosted by climate leaders across the world.

As the upcoming 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change faces the challenge of including Indigenous Peoples’ environmental stewardship, Buffett Faculty Fellow Reynaldo Morales and doctoral candidate Diana Elhard share insights into how ancestral Maya organizations and farmers in Campeche, Mexico offer a variety of potential solutions rooted in the affirmation of collective rights.

Kimberly Marion Suiseeya is a Buffett Faculty Fellow and co-lead of Northwestern Buffett's Disproportionate Impacts of Environmental Challenges Global Working Group. She talks with Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences about why scholars must reorient how climate research is done with Indigenous communities and redesign approaches to environmental governance accordingly.

CBS’ news-and-stations division will launch a new unit to examine misinformation and so-called “deepfakes,” or false videos that can often be generated via artificial intelligence. This unit will produce segments on its findings and explain to audiences how the information in question was determined to be fake or inaccurate. CBS cites a publication from the Northwestern AI & Security Lab on the growing concern of deepfakes for the international community, governments and the public.

In this episode, François Hollande, the 24th President of France, reflects on progress towards the goals and addresses the need for international reform, the importance of intergenerational collaboration and the potential for democracy to address global crises.

Young people need innovative, cost-effective approaches to alleviate mental health challenges and foster wellbeing. The Trauma, Music and the Breath Global Working Group opens a window into how music and breathwork can support children’s health and wellbeing. This video is an overview of their work.

Northwestern students addressed the human rights and environmental issues posed by the electric vehicle (EV) battery industry at the U7+ Alliance of World Universities' second annual U7+ Student Challenge, this year hosted by the University of Ottawa in Canada.

The Northwestern Security and AI Lab (NSAIL) team is one of the leaders of a growing multidisciplinary community developing and deploying AI technologies to address these global threats and protect against malicious actors around the world. On October 12, the Buffett Institute and the McCormick School of Engineering hosted the “Conference on AI and National Security” to showcase NSAIL’s work.

As the G7 prepares to convene in Hiroshima, the world faces significant challenges to peace and security. More than 75 university leaders from 16 countries convened at Keio University in Japan this week and called on G7 leaders to invest in peace and security education at all levels, incorporate the latest research into policy on peace and security, diversify the set of stakeholders involved in high-level policy discussions on peace and security, lower barriers to student exchanges that foster cross-cultural understanding, and defend academic freedom.

Our Disproportionate Impacts of Environmental Challenges Global Working Group visited Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University to present on their project Strengthening Resilience of Ojibwe Nations across Gen­erations (STRONG), a tribally-driven research effort that aims to strengthen Ojibwe resilience by addressing the erosion of tribal sovereignty through social science and advanced sensing and data science methods.

The Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, Central Asia Institute and Northwestern Pritzker School of Law's Center for International Human Rights hosted a panel discussion on the current situation in Afghanistan, and the challenges facing Afghan women and girls, in particular.

Northwestern Buffett hosted a panel on the current state of women’s rights in Afghanistan. The event featured three prominent experts on women’s rights in Afghanistan – Najia Mahmodi, former Chief Prosecutor for Elimination of Violence Against Women; Martin Smith, PBS Senior Foreign Correspondent for “Frontline”; and Alice Thomas, Executive Director of the Central Asia Institute.

Journalist Haman Mana fled Cameroon after fleeing journalist arrived at Northwestern University where he will serve as a journalist in residence. The Northwestern Medill School, in partnership with the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, Northwestern School of Communication, the Holthues Trust and an anonymous donor, will fund Mana’s position for the upcoming year.

Journalist Haman Mana fled Cameroon in February and arrived at Northwestern University where he will serve as a journalist in residence. The Northwestern Medill School, in partnership with the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, Northwestern School of Communication, the Holthues Trust and an anonymous donor, will fund Mana’s position for the upcoming year.

As a student researcher, Andrew Watson is supporting the research of Northwestern Buffett’s Antibiotic Resistance Global Working Group. His experiences contributing to this unique collaboration have helped shape his aspirations.

For a third year, Northwestern University is sending a delegation of faculty and graduate students to the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28). The delegates plan to share and conduct research, gain insight into burgeoning technologies and solutions and connect with other experts investigating issues at the forefront of sustainability. Learn about the delegation.

The Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs hosted its second annual joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence and National Security on Thursday with the Northwestern McCormick School of Engineering.

In this episode of our Breaking Boundaries podcast, radiation expert Gayle Woloschak, PhD, shares insight on the impact of past nuclear disasters, how Russia's war on Ukraine brings to the surface the threat of more nuclear disasters and how emerging technologies can help us combat these threats.

Roberta “Bertie” Buffett Elliott's longtime support of international programs at Northwestern has transformed the University's global learning and research. In 2015, Elliott amplified this work through a visionary $101 million gift to Northwestern that created the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs. For these contributions and more, she has been awarded the 2023 Northwestern Alumni Medal.

Roberta “Bertie” Buffett Elliott is a visionary philanthropist and volunteer whose charitable giving and personal involvement bring people together and help expand our understanding of each other and the world in which we live. Elliott’s historic $101 million gift endowed the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, which is transforming global learning and research at Northwestern. Watch her remarks on her acceptance of the 2023 Northwestern Alumni Medal.

The Language Curricula and Gender Global Working Group at the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs researches how conventional foreign language education can perpetuate gender inequities—or be marshaled against it. The group's co-leads discuss their mission with The Daily Northwestern.

Northwestern’s Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy hosted a series of keynote presentations in October to launch the University of Toronto-Northwestern Decarbonization Alliance (TNDA). Leaders outlined how the TNDA would catalyze transdisciplinary research and ultimately work toward eliminating carbon dioxide emissions.

Media will play a critical role in shifting public perceptions of climate change from an impending threat to a present emergency. Yet today’s depictions of the climate crisis primarily illustrate possible environmental futures as opposed to depicting how people and animals are living and dying within a changing climate right now.

François Hollande, the 24th President of France, visited Chicago and Evanston where he engaged the Northwestern University community in discussions on the upheavals that have led to today’s new world order and strategies for fostering global peace. Co-hosted by the Northwestern Buffett Institute and Villa Albertine, former President Hollande also delivered a public Buffett Lecture in Global Affairs delving into the challenges and opportunities of coordinating multilateral action during global crises and sharing his perspective on progress made toward peace and prosperity.

The Northwestern Buffett Institute and Northwestern Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy hosted a series of keynote presentations from leading faculty at Northwestern University and the University of Toronto. These events marked the launch of the University of Toronto-Northwestern Decarbonization Alliance (TNDA), an innovation hub that aims to catalyze research and dialogue on progressive decarbonization.

This fall, the Northwestern Buffett Institute is launching two new Global Social Innovation Hubs with the University of Toronto and The University of Tokyo. Through faculty leadership, these hubs will serve as centers for transnational, interdisciplinary research on pressing global challenges.

Nine Northwestern undergraduate students traveled to Chile in September to learn first-hand about Chile’s innovative energy storage technologies for minerals mining, as well as the environmental and social effects of mining operations. This immersive Global Engineering Treks Initiative was offered through McCormick Global Initiatives (MGI) in partnership with the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy and the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs.

Current reparation processes neglect survivor and victim storytelling and remembrance of human rights violations. Reparations require codifying “a right to be known” and offering survivors and victims of human rights violations platforms for telling their stories.

In recent years, deepfake videos—seemingly realistic digital representations created with sophisticated AI—have been used to demand ransom, disseminate misinformation and influence elections. Buffett Faculty Fellow V.S. Subrahmanian discusses his research on deepfakes and its new threats to and benefits for national security in Northwestern Magazine.

This season on the podcast, we are exploring the intersections between emerging technology, global affairs and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Guests Morten Christiansen and Viorica Marian join Riles to discuss multilingualism research and shed light on how the use of large language models, such as ChatGPT, might impact the way we think, speak and interact with people around the world.

Over one in four people worldwide still experience water insecurity, and climate change threatens to reverse recent improvements. New collaborations are needed to accelerate progress towards global targets for water security.

Northwestern Buffett and Villa Albertine hosted a lecture with François Hollande, the 24th President of France. During the lecture, former President Hollande shed light on the challenges and opportunities of coordinating multilateral action, shared his perspective on global affairs and crises as discussed in his recent book Bouleversements and spoke to the role of young people in empowering civil society through dedicated public service. Watch the recording.

Former French President François Hollande warned about the dangers of political extremism and shared his view of global affairs at a Buffett Institute for Global Affairs lecture Thursday afternoon.

A series of keynote presentations on “Roadmapping the Clean Energy Transition” from leading faculty at Northwestern University and the University of Toronto Monday, Oct. 2 and Tuesday, Oct. 3 on the Evanston campus, will mark the launch of the University of Toronto-Northwestern Decarbonization Alliance, a global social innovation hub catalyzing dialogue and research on progressive decarbonization.

Mental health challenges have become prevalent among young people. There is a critical need for innovative, cost-effective approaches to providing public services that alleviate mental health challenges and foster youth wellbeing.

The Northwestern Center for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience launched its inaugural Global Engineering Trek in Energy Storage and Critical Minerals in September 2023, sending a group of nine students to Chile. The group was co-led by Professors Jennifer Dunn and Kimberly Marion Suiseeya, who together co-lead Northwestern Buffett's Disproportionate Impacts of Environmental Challenges group. As one of the world's largest lithium and copper producers, Chile is at the heart of global efforts to build green energy generation and storage systems. In this blog series, students reflect on meeting with mining and policy experts, touring facilities and delving into Chilean culture. This program is supported in part by the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy.

Northwestern and the University of Toronto will launch a new alliance focused on promoting research and dialogue about decarbonization. The University of Toronto-Northwestern Decarbonization Alliance will pool resources from the University of Toronto and the Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy. Northwestern Buffett is hosting the two-day series of keynote presentations on October 2–3 that marks the launch of the alliance.

At its core, Northwestern Buffett is a community of faculty, staff and students committed to making our world a better place through collaborative teaching, research and problem solving. Undergraduate students at Northwestern University are an important part of this community working to examine and contribute to addressing shared global challenges.

Women enter universities with lower leadership aspirations than men—a disparity that compounds over time in higher education and workplace outcomes. Programs designed to foster women’s leadership identities and skills early in life can help address this gap.

Some Chicago-area residents will be able to test the water quality in their homes as part of a Northwestern study that will begin providing free test kits later this year. The pilot study will be led by the co-leads of Northwestern Buffett's Making Water Insecurity Visible Global Working Group, Professors Julius Lucks and Sera Young.

Northwestern Buffett hosted a fireside chat with Professor Kohei Itoh, President of Keio University, on state-of-the-art applications of quantum computing. He introduced new hardware developments and demonstrated the promising future of quantum computers based on current algorithm and software research that takes full advantage of the actual quantum computers available today.

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Suneel Kamlani as Chair of the Northwestern Buffett Board of Advisors, a dynamic, creative group of thought leaders committed to the idea that universities can significantly impact the most complex global challenges by bringing the greatest thinkers together across institutional, national and disciplinary boundaries and by preparing the next generation of global leaders.

Year over year, overdose deaths in Illinois are increasing with “no end in sight,” says the lead faculty member in charge of a new public dashboard detailing the extent of the accidental overdose crisis.

Julie Anne Friend, Director of the Office of Global Safety and Security at the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, shared insights into how Northwestern University is anticipating and preparing for climate change impacts on study abroad programs.

A Northwestern University-led research team has received a $2 million grant over three years from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to further their research with Ojibwe tribes in the western Great Lakes region. This grant builds on work from Northwestern Buffett's Disproportionate Impacts of Environmental Challenges Global Working Group.

Today, on International Overdose Awareness Day, Northwestern University scientists have launched a public dashboard containing the most comprehensive data on unintentional fatal drug overdoses in Illinois. The goal of the dashboard is to inform public health efforts to address the ever-increasing rate of overdose-related deaths in the state. It is funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Illinois Department of Public Health.

This week’s record-breaking temperatures were a reminder that even a city known for its punishing winters can still be blisteringly hot — and even deadly, as we saw during the heat wave of 1995 that killed more than 700 Chicagoans. Since then, the city has increased its efforts to keep people cool in dangerous heat.

Northwestern Qatar Professor Anto Mohsin is joining the inaugural cohort of Northwestern Buffett's Faculty Fellows Program, which aims to foster an interdisciplinary intellectual community at Northwestern by facilitating scholarly exchanges and providing mentorship meetings between senior and junior faculty.

This summer the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provided grants to 18 cities to identify urban heat islands. The data could help city officials and community groups address extreme heat in the neighborhoods that need it most. In Chicago, the effort is being led by members of the Defusing Disasters Working Group at the Northwestern Buffett Institute.

Later this year, 350 Chicago-area households will receive hand-held, easy-to-use test kits to assess their home water quality. A pilot study will follow a phased roll-out. The initiative expands upon work that began within Northwestern Buffett's Making Water Insecurity Visible Global Working Group.

An interdisciplinary Northwestern University team combining experts from the Center for Synthetic Biology, the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, and the Institute for Policy Research has been awarded a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to expand their work making water insecurity challenges more visible and empowering citizens and communities to proactively test and understand the quality of their drinking water.

Northwestern Buffett’s Climate Crisis + Media Arts Global Working Group will support the production of 10 projects depicting the present climate emergency across the globe.

Northwestern University graduate student Elizabeth Koselka and Professor Laurence Marks each have received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar fellowship. The prestigious fellowship enables scholars to teach and conduct research abroad. The Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs serves as the University’s Fulbright Scholar Liaison for faculty members.

AI-generated deepfake media is a growing threat to international security, yet deepfakes may also hold promise for counterterrorism. Through smart policies, public awareness campaigns and technical countermeasures, the threat of deepfakes may be mediated, while the promise harnessed responsibly.

Collaboration between Indigenous peoples and the scientific community is imperative for developing effective approaches to mitigating the impacts of climate change on communities worldwide. A multidisciplinary group of researchers partnered with Indigenous communities in the Midwest to create a model for changing the status quo.

Not long ago, the idea of global nuclear disarmament seemed impossible. Yet a recent groundswell of support from young people, organizations, local governments and countries around the world has built momentum around eliminating nuclear weapons. In this episode of Breaking Boundaries, Annelise Riles discusses this movement with Beatrice Fihn, the former Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

The Defusing Disasters working group supported by the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs published an op-ed on the importance of preparing for extreme heat through learning from and alongside communities—the focus of the group's Heat Watch 2023 campaign this summer.

Co-leads of a new Northwestern Buffett Global Working Group, Empowering the Next Generation of Women Leaders, discuss their collaborative effort aimed at empowering the next generation of women leaders on The Science of Personality Podcast by Hogan Assessments.

A new publication stemming from a convening of more than ​30 leading Ethiopian scholars in Addis Ababa illuminates possible paths forward for the Ethiopian state. This webinar convened a virtual discussion with some of the publication's contributors and others leading efforts to promote dialogue and peace in Ethiopia.

A new partnership among the Defusing Disasters Northwestern Buffett Global Working Group, the City of Chicago and community-based organizations aims to identify populations most vulnerable to heat and leverage resources to build community resilience to prevent thousands of heat-related deaths in Chicago and beyond.

Defusing Disasters, a Northwestern Buffett Global Working Group, recently launched a heat-mapping collaboration called Heat Watch 2023 with the City of Chicago as a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Heat Watch Campaign, which aims to help cities identify specific neighborhoods where heat-mitigating interventions could save lives.

Defusing Disasters, a Northwestern Buffett Global Working Group, aims to create heat vulnerability indices to identify communities that are most at risk to extreme temperatures. To collect data for these indices, the group launched a heat-mapping collaboration with City of Chicago, Heat Watch 2023, as a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Heat Watch Campaign.

The Heat Watch 2023 collaboration among the Defusing Disasters group supported by Northwestern Buffett, the City of Chicago and community-based organizations aims to prepare for climate change-induced extreme heat and prevent thousands of heat-related deaths in Chicago and beyond.

The Secretariat of the U7+ Alliance of World Universities is housed at the Northwestern Buffett Institute. The U7+ Alliance hosts an annual U7+ Student Challenge, this year at uOttawa, to enable students of U7+ member institutions to collaborate, research and propose solutions to a local challenge linked to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

The Northwestern Buffett Institute recently expanded upon the Buffett Faculty Fellows Program to offer internal fellowships to Northwestern faculty. The new program aims to foster a robustly interdisciplinary intellectual community within the Northwestern Buffett Institute and the university writ large focused on the mutually enriching exchange of ideas, expertise and experience in service of individual and collaborative scholarship.

Northwestern Buffett Faculty Fellow V. S. Subrahmanian, one of the world's leading experts on the role of AI in national and global security, co-authored this op-ed on the need for an interagency process to enforce a principled approach to the weaponization of artificial intelligence.

Read about our fireside chat with Beatrice Fihn, former executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)—the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning campaign coalition that works to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.

The Northwestern Buffett Institute hosted a fireside chat on Ukrainian resilience with Tymofii Brik, rector at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) in Ukraine and the Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor of International Studies in the Department of Sociology at the Northwestern Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences during the Spring 2023 quarter.

Northwestern Buffett hosted a fireside chat with Beatrice Fihn, the former executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning campaign coalition that works to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons. Watch the recording via YouTube.

Many deepfakes are designed to spread disinformation or cause confusion and mistrust, and therefore are a threat to UN Sustainable Development Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions. Annelise Riles discusses with V.S. Subrahmanian, one of the world's leading experts on the role of AI in national and global security.

On May 1, 2023, Northwestern Buffett hosted a showcase of the research projects stemming from its 2022–23 Idea Incubation Process. The showcase featured faculty presentations on the interdisciplinary research projects Northwestern Buffett will support in the coming years as well as faculty updates from Northwestern Buffett’s existing Global Working Groups and their projects underway.

More than 60 thought leaders gathered in Mexico City in April 2023 to discuss how better measurement can lead to global progress in public health. Sera Young, professor of anthropology at Northwestern, and Pablo Gaitán Rossi, director of Iberoamericana’s Research Institute for Equitable Development (EQUIDE), led the meeting. Both professors belong to the 'Making Water Insecurity Visible' Global Working Group at Northwestern Buffett.

Northwestern University’s Pritzker Pucker Studio Lab is hosting an inaugural Media and Mental Health Symposium from May 25 to May 27 on both the Evanston and Chicago campuses. The event is sponsored by the Northwestern Buffett Institute and organized by Northwestern Buffett Global Catalyst Grant Group 'Remaking Media and Mental Health Across Cultures.'

The Antibiotic Resistance Working Group, established in 2020 with faculty from Northwestern University's Feinberg and Weinberg Schools and supported by the Northwestern Buffett Institute, is an interdisciplinary, global effort to fully understand the issue of antimicrobial resistance and develop strategies to mitigate the impact.

On April 17, the Northwestern Buffett Institute hosted a book talk with Dr. Viorica Marian, the author of The Power of Language: How the Codes We Use to Think, Speak and Live Transform Our Minds.

Watch Northwestern's 2023 Fulbright Week keynote address from Dr. D. Soyini Madison, Professor Emeritus of Performance Studies and Anthropology at Northwestern University, who lived and worked in Ghana as a Senior Fulbright Scholar conducting field research for her book Acts of Activism: Human Rights and Radical Performance.

Grantees and supporters of the Fulbright Program gathered at a reception at the Northwestern Buffett Institute to celebrate Northwestern’s Fulbright community on Tuesday, April 11. D. Soyini Madison (Communication Doctorate ’89), professor emerita of Performance Studies and Anthropology, delivered the keynote address.

Gender inequality is deep rooted and pervasive-women receive around 10% of global income and own under 1% of all property. Solutions also need to dig deep-one approach is eliminating gender description from school curricula, write Rana Raddawi, co-lead of the Northwestern Buffett Language Curricula and Gender Equality Global Working Group, and Annelise Claire, Tomoo Nakayama and Farihah Fahmy.

The importance of strengthening the role of universities in fostering peace and security through engagement with governments was highlighted at a global meeting of more than 75 university leaders in Tokyo last week, convened by Keio University. The message will be conveyed to political leaders at the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) Summit of the world’s major economies, which will be hosted by Japan in Hiroshima in May.

The Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs brings together the brightest minds to address critical global challenges that cannot be solved from a singular disciplinary or geographic perspective through its annual Idea Incubation Process.

The presidents of the U7+ universities formally committed to take action to support the G7 agenda and contribute to fostering a more peaceful and secure world through research, education and public engagement during the fifth annual U7+ Presidential Summit at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan.

'The Tokyo Statement on Peace and Security: Universities as Engines of Innovation for Peace and Security' is the 2023 U7+ Statement to the G7.

Leaders of the U7+ Alliance of World Universities held a press conference in Tokyo on March 17, 2023 to announce their U7+ Tokyo Statement, detailing their commitments to peace and security. The statement was delivered to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday March 15 in his capacity as 2023 host to the Group of Seven (G7).

Last summer, the Northwestern Buffett Institute’s Global Learning Office (GLO) invited a group of Northwestern undergraduates to participate in a new, peer-to-peer learning program—the GLObal Co-Lab—during their Fall 2022 study abroad experiences.

The impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine is far-reaching with some scholars arguing that the conflict threatens progress on all of the UNSDGs, especially UNSDG 16: peace, justice and strong institutions. In this episode, international law expert Oona A. Hathaway, discusses legal recourse to prosecute Vladimir Putin and other top Russian leaders for the crime of aggression, a move that many say is essential to restore international world order.

In recognition of the one year mark of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and Northwestern Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences' Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies Research Program (REEES) hosted an online panel discussion on the past year of war in Ukraine and the direction the conflict may be headed.

Bots, trolls, influence campaigns: Every day we seem to be battling more fake or manipulated content online. Because of advances in computing power, smarter machine learning algorithms and larger data sets, we will soon share digital space with a sinister array of AI-generated news articles and podcasts, deepfake images and videos—all produced at a once unthinkable scale and speed. Co-authored by Northwestern Buffett Faculty Fellow V.S. Subrahmanian.

Andrew Gordon, CEO and co-founder of technological engagement company Includifi, spoke about intersections of race in study abroad experiences Wednesday as Northwestern’s Black History Month Global Week’s keynote speaker. Photo Credit: Samantha Powers, The Daily Northwestern Staffer.

With no end to the Russia-Ukraine war in sight, legal scholars and policymakers worldwide debated how Russian instigators might be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. At an event hosted by the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs on Tuesday, Oona Hathaway, professor of international law at Yale Law School, spoke about solutions within international legal frameworks. Photo credit: Jonah Elkowitz, The Daily Northwestern Staffer.

The week of the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Oona A. Hathaway, the Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law at Yale Law School, visited Northwestern Buffett for a Fireside Chat about legal recourse to prosecute Putin and other top Russian leaders for the crime of aggression.

The Global Learning Office at Northwestern’s Buffett Institute for Global Affairs hosted a series of events aimed at supporting Black students thinking about travelling abroad for a learning experience.

From the establishment of a Global Council created to drive internationalization, forming and funding interdisciplinary research teams to tackle complex challenges that can only be addressed from a global lens, and an ever-expanding list of global learning programs, Northwestern University strives to be a school of the world for the world. In recognition of these and many other innovations that have made research and study abroad more accessible, Northwestern is one of just four institutions receiving the 2023 Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization.

Although most public attention surrounding deepfakes has focused on large propaganda campaigns, the problematic new technology is much more insidious, according to a new report by artificial intelligence (AI) and foreign policy experts at Northwestern University and the Brookings Institution.

Three members of Northwestern University’s delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) reflect on their experiences at the event, which was held November 2022 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Ethiopian scholars address the social and political challenges facing the east African country.

As international travel resumes, Northwestern sends students abroad for one-of-a-kind learning and research opportunities.

Climate change is propelling heat waves to new extremes. Governments must build resilience to extreme heat and other climate-change-induced catastrophes to protect its most vulnerable communities. A recently launched partnership in Chicago shows promise for producing a globally applicable but locally informed model.

Through global efforts to prevent the spread of antimicrobial resistant-infections, hundreds of thousands of lives can be saved. A new collaboration across disciplines and geographies is helping to coordinate these efforts.

Although researchers have explored gender inequities in education, few have focused on how language curricula and materials can perpetuate these inequalities. New insights are emerging.

Combating climate change, and its impacts, is at the heart of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. More specifically, public education is key to addressing UNSDG number 13, which is climate action. In this episode, Spencer Glendon PhD, talks about his efforts to create a public utility for climate change through his nonprofit climate literacy initiative, Probable Futures.

In this episode, two foreign career diplomats explain why facilitating communication and cooperation between their homelands and the communities of Chicago is essential, and the role of local diplomacy in addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 17, which is partnership for the goals.

Ethiopia is not alone in falling short of a stable political system or peace, but what kind of governance has the greatest potential to unify the country without compromising its diversity? This e-publication of papers, essays and lectures by Ethiopian scholars suggests paths toward lasting peace.

Deceit and media manipulation have always been a part of wartime communications, but never before has it been possible for nearly any actor in a conflict to generate realistic audio, video, and text of their opponent’s political officials and military leaders. A research report co-authored by Northwestern Buffett Faculty Fellow, V.S. Subrahmanian, and Research Assistant, Chongyang Gao.

Northwestern Buffett continues to support Global Working Groups undertaking collaborative, interdisciplinary research that addresses complex global challenges related to one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In recent months, many of our Global Working Groups have forged ahead with developing and disseminating their work through an exciting range of initiatives.

This Fall, we hosted a range of events to foster dialogue on pressing global issues, from artificial intelligence and national security to demonstrations for freedom in Iran to the recent US-Pacific Islands Summit.

Read one Northwestern student’s mad-lib style take on his recent study abroad experience in Italy.

Former Ambassador Susan Jacobs spent much of her career in diplomacy focused on international children's issues, including a position as the United States’ first Special Advisor for International Children's Issues, helping to uphold The Hague Conventions on adoptions and abductions. In this episode, Jacobs joins Annelise Riles to talk about her career in the foreign service, as one of the first married women to become a foreign service officer, and her work as it relates to United Nations Sustainable Development goal number 16, which includes targets related to protecting children.

Collaboration is a skill set that requires training and practice and it is an essential part of UNSDG 17, which focuses on partnerships between governments, the private sector and civil society. In this episode, guest Blythe McGarvie, shares expert advice on how to collaborate across global spaces and be a better global citizen. McGarvie is an expert in building successful global relationships as a former chief financial officer and chief executive officer and now a board member of many multinational companies.

On December 1, 2022, Northwestern Buffett hosted a panel discussion on “Women Paving the Way in Diplomacy.” This event was part of the Women’s Majlis Series, an initiative organized by Executive Women @ State, a U.S. Department of State employee organization advocating for gender equality and fostering professional development among senior diplomatic women. The event featured a panel of current and former female U.S. ambassadors who discussed their diplomatic and scholarly pursuits, as well as the challenges and opportunities they encountered as trailblazers in diplomacy.

Racism is a human rights issue and eliminating racism is essential to UN Sustainable Development Goal 16: peace, justice and strong institutions and Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reducing inequalities. But what is done globally to combat this problem?  Vilna Bashi, PhD, aims to blend her work as an artist and sociologist to explore answers to this question. Bashi is a sociologist and the Osborn Professor of Race, Ethnicity, and Global Diversity in the Department of Sociology at Northwestern University. She was also a Faculty Fellow at the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, developing new forms of global networks and collaborative research initiatives at Northwestern Buffett.

This episode focuses on United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16: peace, justice and strong institutions and the role data and information can play in helping developing countries achieve sustainable development. Jean-Louis Sarbib has built a career working across boundaries of public and private international organizations and national governments to address this important challenge. He shares insights into the current challenges facing the field of international development today and how open access to data and information may help solve some of these challenges.

On October 28, 2022, the Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs hosted a global and interdisciplinary Fireside Chat on Gender and Artificial Intelligence: Striving for social justice and protection of rights in the age of AI. The event featured faculty from The University of Tokyo and Northwestern University who discussed how societal structures have shaped AI and how AI, in turn, is transforming our societies and lives.

Chinese incursions across the western and central zones of India’s disputed boundary are not independent, random incidents that happen by mistake, but are part of a strategically planned, coordinated effort to gain permanent control of disputed border areas, a new study led by Northwestern Buffett Faculty Fellow V.S. Subrahmanian has claimed.

The Chinese border incursions into India are part of a strategically planned and coordinated effort to gain permanent control over disputed border areas, scientists specialising in security affairs said in a study released on Thursday.

The world – and human species – will reach a new milestone in 2022. Scientists estimate that the global population will cross the 8 billion mark on November 15th, 2022, ushering in a new age of potential challenges for countries across the globe. What does this population growth mean for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals? Specifically, what does this population growth mean for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action? John Wilmoth, PhD, director of the United Nations Population Division, joins Annelise Riles to discuss this issue.

Chinese incursions across India’s west and central borders are not independent, random incidents that happen by mistake. Instead, these incursions are part of a strategically planned, coordinated effort in order to gain permanent control of disputed border areas, a new study led by Northwestern Buffett Faculty Fellow V.S. Subrahmanian has found.

For the second consecutive year, Northwestern is sending a delegation of faculty and graduate students to COP27, which this year takes place Nov. 6-18 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Northwestern participants will be among the approximately 40,000 delegates at the event, including government leaders from nearly 200 nations.

In September, demonstrations erupted across Iran in response to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, after she was arrested and beaten by the Iranian “Morality Police” for improper veiling. Since Amini’s death, Iranian security forces have imprisoned, beaten and killed demonstrators across the country for speaking out in support of women’s rights and self-determination, and against state oppression and violence. On November 2, 2022, Northwestern Roberta Buffett institute for Global Affairs hosted a virtual dialogue with Elham Hoominfar, Assistant Professor in the Global Health Studies Program at Northwestern University, to discuss the unfolding protests in Iran and the regime's brutal response.

Combating climate change was at the forefront of the historic U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit, which was recently held in Washington. It resulted in an important new declaration signed by leaders of 14 Pacific Island countries and the United States. Steven McGann, former U.S. ambassador to Fiji, Nauru, Kiribati, Tonga and Tuvalu, joins Annelise Riles to talk about the summit, the human security concerns facing these countries and United Nations sustainable development goal number 13: climate action.

On October 12, 2022, Northwestern Buffett hosted former U.S. ambassador Steven McGann for a fireside chat with our Executive Director Annelise Riles. Steven McGann, a retired Senior Foreign Service Officer with the rank of Minister-Counselor, was the U.S. ambassador to the Republics of Fiji, Nauru, Kiribati, and the Kingdom of Tonga and Tuvalu from 2008 to 2011. Ambassador McGann was also assigned as Chief of Mission (ad interim) of the United States Embassy in Dili, Timor-Leste. He is the founder of The Stevenson Group, a consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. that identifies opportunities in the security sector and implements specialized advisory services focused on strengthening public-private partnerships.

Education is a basic human right and the foundation for peace and sustainable development according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO recently released the Futures of Education report: "Reimagining our futures together: a new social contract for education." Noah Sobe, PhD, worked on the creation of the report for more than two years as Senior Project Officer for UNESCO’s Futures of Education Initiative. In this episode, Sobe explains what is in the report and how education must be reformed to create the futures we all want.

Northwestern Buffett provided Virtual Visitorship grants to 29 displaced Ukrainian scholars during the Spring 2022 quarter. These grants offered the Northwestern community opportunities to interact with and learn from Ukrainian scholars, while supporting scholars from Ukraine in continuing their work from the conflict zone.

In the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of activists that included alumni from the Northwestern Buffett-supported student organization GlobeMed laid the foundation for Right2Health Action, a new grassroots movement dedicated to addressing the structural drivers of pandemics that have a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable communities in the United States and around the world. We recently sat down with former GlobeMed Executive Director and Right2Health Action co-founder Jon Shaffer to discuss the movement.

Northwestern Buffett’s Race, Caste and Colorism Global Working Group recently partnered with the SpaceShift Collective to launch Starlight, a new community arts space and artist workshop open until October 29, 2022. Starlight is an immersive exhibition exploring the history and future of Black and South Asian solidarity on Chicago's Devon Avenue, one of the most diverse streets in America and a cultural hub for Chicago's large South Asian community.

Wednesday, August 24, 2022 marked six months since Russia invaded Ukraine and Ukraine's Independence Day. The Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and Northwestern Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences' Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies Research Program (REEES) held a virtual panel discussion on the unfolding situation in Ukraine and the direction the war may be headed.

Learn how to search for and enroll in Northwestern University undergraduate courses related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

A Northwestern University team won the first annual U7+ Alliance of World Universities Student Challenge, a competition held in France last June where students from around the world pitched projects that would address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals using technology and innovation.

We recently sat down with our new Deputy Director Baron Reed to discuss his professional journey at Northwestern, how he initially got involved with Northwestern Buffett and the importance of collaborative, interdisciplinary academic work.

Northwestern Buffett recently sat down with Northwestern senior Sherry Xue (School of Communication, ’22) to discuss her experiences and lessons learned traveling to Antarctica as part of the 2041 Climate Force Arctic Expedition in March. In this conversation, Sherry told us about the steps she took to prepare for the trip, the inspiring conversations she had with other program participants, how the experience impacted the way she thinks about climate change, and how it influenced her personal and professional plans.

The U7+ Alliance of World Universities issued a statement urging leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) to defend academic freedom, warning that a resurgence of autocracy is thwarting the institutional autonomy of higher education and its ability to fulfill its mission.

Building scientific capacity is essential to strong institutions and supporting problem-solving and innovation, especially in the Global South. Romain Murenzi, PhD, Executive Director of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) joins Annelise Riles to talk about United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16, peace, justice and strong institutions, and how TWAS is working to meet this goal.

Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine is no longer a short-term event and its impact is going to shape global affairs for a long time to come, according to Fiona Hill, a leading expert on Russia and Vladimir Putin’s regime. In this episode, Hill shares insight on Putin’s actions, what could happen next, and how the war may impact our world for decades to come. She shares this vantage point as a Russia adviser to two U.S. presidents and co-author of the book “Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin.” She is now a senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe in the Foreign Policy program at The Brookings Institution.

Solving the world's most complex problems, such as those the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals aim to tackle, requires new ways of thinking. In this episode, Julio M. Ottino, Dean of the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Northwestern University, discusses his new book The Nexus, which is a call to “augmenting” our knowledge in the face of complex global challenges, by bringing together the insights, and the conceptual moves, of art, technology, and science.

As undergraduate students continue to register for fall classes, they now have an option to see which classes meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Northwestern announced in April. Launched by the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, the initiative aims to identify courses related to social, economic and environmental sustainability.

For the U.S. government to help achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 16, peace, justice and strong institutions, there needs to be an inclusive workforce at the top, in its diplomatic ranks in the U.S. State Department. Alison E. Dilworth is a Foreign Service Officer with more than 20 years of experience, serving in countries such as Paraguay, Israel, Egypt, Poland and the United Arab Emirates. She is currently the Director of the Office of Children’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State and President of Executive Women at State. In this episode, she talks about her career and what needs to be done to address gender and diversity issues at the highest levels of government.

On May 16, Northwestern Buffett held a Fireside Chat with Fiona Hill, senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe in the Foreign Policy program at The Brookings Institution. As an expert in geopolitical and foreign policy issues, Fiona offered insight into Russia's ongoing war on Ukraine and its implications.

On April 28, Northwestern Buffett hosted "New Frontiers in Global Research Series: Education, Science, and Technology for a More Sustainable World." This event, and this series, implores us to consider how we define, assess, and analyze the “global” in global research and urges us to reflect upon the real-world implications of academic scholarship.

This May, Northwestern will launch a pilot initiative that will allow students to search for and enroll in courses related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The initiative is aimed at promoting greater interdisciplinarity and furthering students’ knowledge of increasingly interconnected and complex global challenges.

The companies behind popular digital platforms are critical players in this effort that is central to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16, which is peace, justice and strong institutions. Roland Cloutier is the global chief information security officer at TikTok. He has more than 30 years of experience in cybersecurity and law enforcement. In this episode of Breaking Boundaries, he talks about his approach to building a safe and vibrant global online community.

The development of modern antibiotics has played a profound role in our ability to treat a range of bacterial infections once considered life threatening. Yet as global access to antibiotics has steadily increased, so too has their overuse, resulting in a worrying rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In response, an interdisciplinary research group funded by the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs is developing a roadmap to coordinate responses to antimicrobial resistance across academic, political, pharmaceutical and medical institutions.

In Fall 2021, Northwestern senior Sydney Smith (Weinberg & McCormick, ‘22) put five years of Korean language classes to the test when she spent a semester studying at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. Smith, a double major in computer science and Asian languages & cultures, recently sat down with us to talk about her passion for language learning, navigating South Korea’s COVID-19 restrictions, making friends with other international students and other lessons learned abroad.

The Antibiotic Resistance Global Working Group aims to develop basic infrastructure to evaluate antimicrobial resistance (AMR) across two disparate healthcare systems in different parts of the world and understand how healthcare providers make decisions around antibiotic prescribing.

On April 12, 2022, Northwestern Buffett hosted a Fireside Chat on new and emerging security challenges for social media companies with Roland Cloutier, Global Chief Security Officer at TikTok, and V.S. Subrahmanian, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Computer Science at the Northwestern McCormick School of Engineering and Northwestern Buffett Faculty Fellow. The discussion was moderated by Northwestern Buffett Executive Director Annelise Riles and was followed by a Q&A session.

City, Public Value, and Capitalism discusses how cities that have developed through the successive stages of capitalism should transform themselves when adapting to the conditions of the contemporary global age. Since modern times, the capitalist economy has largely defined society, politics and environment—this has caused the collapse of communities, the crisis of democracy and serious environmental problems.

Marwan M. Kraidy is a scholar of global communication, a leading authority on Arab media, and the CEO and Dean of Northwestern University in Qatar. He discusses the goals of the campus' new Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South and how it relates to United Nations sustainable development goal number 16, peace, justice and strong institutions.

Maria Hadden brings a global point of view to her position on the Chicago City Council as the alderwoman of the 49th Ward. Since being elected in May 2019, she has pushed forward issues of local, national and international importance, such as recognizing Juneteenth as a holiday, exploring reparations to Black people and supporting a treaty outlawing nuclear weapons.

The guest on this episode of Breaking Boundaries is Juliet Sorensen, a Clinical Professor of Law at Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law and the director and founder of the Northwestern Access to Health Project. Sorenson is an international human rights champion whose work is changing the lives of women and girls around the world.

Northwestern Buffett recently sat down with Khantey Lim (McCormick, ’23) to discuss her experiences finding her niche and blazing new trails at Northwestern as an international student.

Northwestern Buffett Executive Director Annelise Riles and U7+ Alliance presidential delegates from the University of Toronto and University of Edinburgh discuss the U7+ Alliance of Universities commitment to climate action in the October 2021 Group of Nations G7/G20 Global Briefing Report.

In recent weeks, Russia has assembled tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine, leading to a phone call on December 7, 2021, between President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin about consequences should Russia attack Ukraine. On this episode of the Breaking Boundaries podcast, two former U.S. ambassadors weigh in on the historic and geopolitical dynamics behind current tensions.

Using the power of narrative film to create empathy and motivate action in response to human rights abuses is a personal passion for Rana Kazkaz. She is an award-winning filmmaker and Assistant Professor of Communication at Northwestern University in Qatar where she teaches narrative filmmaking. Her work focuses on Syrian stories with many of her short films recognized at the world’s leading film festivals including Cannes, Sundance and Tribeca.

As a post-COP26 event, Northwestern Buffett hosted a Fireside Chat with Senator Tammy Duckworth on December 2. Senator Duckworth talked about her leadership in the Senate on issues of climate justice affecting underserved communities, as both a founding member of the Senate’s Environmental Justice Caucus and sitting member of the Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis.

Breaking down silos, trying to help people to work together across boundaries of discipline, profession and culture, is a difficult job and one that Christian Madsbjerg has spent much of his career trying to accomplish with much success. Madsbjerg is the co-founder of the consulting company, ReD Associates, Professor of Applied Humanities at The New School and has just launched a new venture called Lateral Data.

The Northwestern delegation that attended COP26, the annual UN climate change conference that took place in Glasgow, is back on campus. Of the many topics discussed at COP26, climate change and the roles and rights of Indigenous peoples was top of mind for our delegation.

The U7+ Alliance of World Universities issued a statement on October 25 declaring their commitment to supporting the implementation of climate goals coming out of the COP26 conference in Glasgow. The presidents of 29 universities from 12 countries voted to adopt the commitments set forth in the statement, recognizing that "climate change is a global challenge that presents serious threats to natural environments, human health, security and economic stability.”

Economic growth at expense of the environment is no longer an option. Chris Canavan, Chair of the Board of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, joins Annelise Riles, host of the Breaking Boundaries #podcast series and Executive Director of Northwestern University's Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, to talk about how an outdated economic structure is endangering our planet and new approaches that could save it.

Righting injustices in energy and climate change regulation is an important part of addressing the global climate crisis. Hari Osofsky, Dean of Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law, joins Annelise Riles, host of the Breaking Boundaries #podcast series and Executive Director of Northwestern’s Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, to talk about working with business, government and nonprofit leaders to make bipartisan progress on climate, energy and equity issues.

Universities are especially well poised to contribute to addressing the climate crisis. John Robinson of University of Toronto and Jennifer Dunn of Northwestern University join Annelise Riles, host of the Breaking Boundaries #podcast series and Executive Director of Northwestern University’s Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, to discuss how to change the institutional culture of universities and make sustainability an essential component of operations as well as research and education missions.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is calling 2021 a crucial year for governments to address issues facing climate, nature, and people. Key global events, such as the UN Conference on Climate Change—COP26—are set to put the climate crisis at the top of the global agenda.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of GlobeMed, a Northwestern Buffett-supported student organization dedicated to mobilizing students and grassroots leaders to improve public health worldwide. Originally founded in 2006 by a group of Northwestern students seeking opportunities to contribute to global health equity, GlobeMed has grown into a network of thousands of students across 36 university-based chapters throughout the United States as well as grassroots organizations in Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Renowned cybersecurity and counterterrorism expert V.S. Subrahmanian will join the Northwestern Engineering faculty on September 1, 2021 as Walter P. Murphy Professor of Computer Science with a joint appointment as faculty fellow at the Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs.

The Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences are pleased to welcome Dr. Vilna Bashi Treitler as Weinberg College’s Osborn Professor of Sociology and as a Northwestern Buffett Institute Faculty Fellow as of the 2021-22 academic year.

Attention Northwestern students. Are you curious, creative and action-oriented? Are you eager to connect with other students from across the globe, learn lifelong skills, and make a positive impact on global challenges? If so, apply now to be a Northwestern Student Delegate to the U7+ Worldwide Student Forum 2021: Climate Change–Intergenerational Conflict or Intergenerational Alliance?

In this Northwestern Buffet "Building Sustainable Futures: Global Challenges and Possibilities" webinar, learning scientist Nichole Pinkard and Chicago Medal of Honor Recipient Natasha Smith-Walker shared examples and frameworks based upon lessons learned in a multi-year collaboration to reimagine partnerships with the community and civic institutions to build pathways and on-roads to STEM in ways that connect to the community. Austin serves as the demonstration community leveraging community value holders (parks, community-based organizations, schools, etc.)

A Northwestern Buffett Global Working Group including researchers from 10 disciplines across eight Northwestern University Schools along with experts from the World Wildlife Fund, Nature Conservancy and Argonne National Lab are working to identify creative approaches to addressing some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.

Survey evidence from 16 developing countries shows widespread employment loss and declines in income and food security since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. These patterns are apparent in Ghana. In this Northwestern Buffett "Building Sustainable Futures: Global Challenges and Possibilities" webinar, Chris Udry, professor of Economics at Northwestern University, and Robert Darko Osei, vice dean for the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Ghana, discussed the dynamic effects that COVID lockdown policies have had on employment and show how substantial, randomized mobile money transfers to individuals in poor households affected social distancing, food security, and work patterns.

In this Northwestern Buffett "Building Sustainable Futures: Global Challenges and Possibilities" webinar, Northwestern University associate professor of History Lina Britto was joined by journalist and author of Drug War Capitalism Dawn Marie Paley to break down dominant myths around narcotrafficking and the war on drugs in Mexico and Colombia.

Northwestern Professor of Law Erin Delaney and Northwestern Assistant Professor of Sociology Beth Redbird will join forces to study the power processes that have shaped tribal constitutions with the support of an almost $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Northwestern Buffett recently connected with international student Maria Beatriz Rocha (Weinberg, '22), who shared her experiences at Northwestern and how they’ve shaped her interests.

In this Northwestern Buffett "Building Sustainable Futures: Global Challenges and Possibilities" webinar, using the advent of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a backdrop, Dr. Amara Enyia, Managing Director of Diaspora Rising, explores issues related to historically exploitative trade and economic practices in Africa and the Caribbean. Dr. Amara examines systems being built around the world—in part due to COVID-19 and in part due to skyrocketing inequality—that highlight how those dynamics are shifting, how new post-COVID trade agreements can evolve, and how countries are leaning in to notions of self-sufficiency and self-determination.

The Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences are pleased to welcome Rana Kazkaz as the Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor of International Studies in the Program of Middle Eastern and North African Studies for the fall quarter of the 2021-22 academic year.

Today’s global inequities reflect long legacies of systemically generated and sustained efforts to benefit the few to the serious detriment of the many, often the world’s Black, Brown and Indigenous communities. What historical movements created such drastic disparities? Which social structures continue to uphold or even exacerbate them? What myths of progress abound, and to what ends?

This January, Professors Mariko Arata and Miki Yoshimizu from Ritsumeikan University’s College of Gastronomy Management leveraged Northwestern University’s Meridian 180 platform to foster a rich, transnational discussion on "Food and Agriculture Beyond the Pandemic.”

Climate change has disproportionately exacerbated many challenges global Indigenous communities face, including political and economic marginalization, loss of land and resources, human rights violations, discrimination and unemployment. Yet Indigenous voices and perspectives have been marginalized in global climate debates and discourse.

A decade later the triple disaster, Japan is still recovering from the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown. Repairing the damage and the public's trust in government could take generations.

Today marks the 10-year anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the most severe nuclear incident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Following a catastrophic magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was heavily damaged, resulting in a plume of radioactive smoke leaking into the sky and surrounding areas. The plant still leaks to this day.

It has been 10 years since a major earthquake and tsunami triggered the Fukushima nuclear accident of 2011. Now, 10 years later, the Japanese town of Namie has been reduced to less than 8% of its original population as residents remain evacuated, said Mayor Kazuhiro Yoshida during his address to a global audience of nuclear experts, which was hosted on March 10 by Northwestern University.

In preparedness for the next large scale nuclear disaster, we need forums where ordinary citizens from nations with differing histories of nuclear power can engage directly with nuclear experts from both government and industry as well as representatives of international institutions.

The new "Nuclear Compensation: Lessons from Fukushima" report calls for a more inclusive process for approving nuclear projects and making nuclear energy decisions that gives ordinary citizens a seat at the table.

With 10 percent of the world's electricity still dependent on nuclear power, a wide range of experts have come together to analyze compensation issues stemming from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in "Nuclear Compensation: Lessons from Fukushima."

At the 10th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear accident, Northwestern University's Hirokazu Miyazaki shares his perspective on how victim compensation schemes need to change.

How can we "read" or understand policy responses to climate change? We can "read forwards," drawing on scientific evidence and reasoning to project consequences and dictate policy responses. Or we can "read backwards"; we can look to the human beliefs, values, and goals that impute meaning to the world to understand the many lines of evidence and reasoning leading to policy responses. University of Cambridge professor of human geography Michael Hulme will discuss the power of "reading backwards" and the importance of embedding "climate actions" inside human stories, both dominant and marginalized.

Northwestern University's Hirokazu Miyazaki comments on the need for a "long-range view on nuclear waste" and "much more democratic way to handle the cost associated with it."

This e-publication demonstrates that current compensation plans have not met the needs of nuclear disaster victims and calls for a more inclusive process for making nuclear energy decisions that gives ordinary citizens a seat at the table.

Can environmental activism save the world? And, if so, how? As the world continues to grapple with the cascading consequences of our global environmental crisis, the urgent need for collective action has never been clearer. Northwestern Professor of Management and Organizations Brayden King joined Illinois Sierra Club Deputy Director Kady McFadden to discuss the future of environmental activism and the role of activism in shaping global environmental outcomes, including combating climate change, in a Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs webinar.

Northwestern Buffett recently sat down with GESI alum Rawan Mohamed (McCormick, ’23) to discuss her experiences with the "GESI 2020: Virtual Global Development in Action" program.

In February, Northwestern Buffett sat down with Sami Berisha (Medill ’23) to discuss his experiences navigating the COVID-19 pandemic as an international student.

Many are hopeful that Joe Biden’s presidency will quickly restore federal climate change measures and catalyze substantial new efforts, such as a "green new deal." Many also hope for the United States to play a leadership role in fueling far-reaching international cooperation around climate change. Are those expectations warranted or unrealistic? What can we expect from the new administration?

The Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs convened more than 60 leaders from 18 countries and every sector of society to explore these questions and more for its 2020 Meridian 180 Global Summit. The Summit offered a virtual space for reflection and substantive dialogue on this time of dramatic global change.

Northwestern University Associate Professor of African American Studies Barnor Hesse was joined by Debra Thompson, Associate Professor of Political Science at McGill University for a dialogue about “the racial state” and the structures that create, shape, and maintain it during a Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs webinar.

Northwestern University Weinberg College Center for International and Area Studies Director and Political Science Professor Ian Hurd and European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights Program Manager Jonas Grimheden highlighted the potentials and pitfalls of international cooperation during a Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs webinar.

This year’s virtual U7+ Alliance of World Universities Presidential Summit brought together nearly 100 university leaders from six continents for a series of dialogues on intergenerational justice as students worldwide call on higher education institutions to play an active role in addressing the global challenges they will inherit.

What role should universities play in addressing global challenges such as climate change, inequality and, now, the novel coronavirus pandemic? That is the question university leaders worldwide, myself included, have begun to explore in earnest as the complexity of the global challenges we currently face demands collaboration and action from every sector of society.

Northwestern University Associate Professor of African American Studies Barnor Hesse joined Salman Sayyid, Professor of Social Theory and Decolonial Thought at the University of Leeds, to discuss the history and globality of Islamophobia and why it is a form of racism in a Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs webinar.

At the same time that the United States is struggling to resist the crumbling of its institutions in the face of polarization and populism, Ukraine struggles to move beyond corruption and foreign domination—including corruption in which wealthy Americans have participated. In some respects, the two countries appear to be converging. Northwestern University Professor of Law Paul Gowder joined Dmytro Vovk, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for the Rule of Law and Religion Studies at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, to discuss what each country can learn from the other in this Northwestern Buffett webinar.

What does it mean to be living-in-crisis and with constant insecurity? How do people imagine their futures when they’re trying to survive the present? Northwestern University in Qatar Associate Professor of Anthropology and Acting Liberal Arts Program Director Sami Hermez and Villanova University Associate Professor of Global Interdisciplinary Studies Samer Abboud discussed these questions and more this week in a Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs webinar on “Ecologies of Crisis and the Proliferation of Violence.”

Why do racial injustices, racial inequalities and racial disparities in democracies persist over time without redress? Why has police violence against Black citizens persisted in the post-civil rights era? Northwestern University Associate Professor of African American Studies Dr. Barnor Hesse discussed these questions and more this week in a Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs webinar on “White Sovereignty and The Law of Racial Rule.” Hesse highlighted some of the reasons why liberal democracies are the sites and sources of continuous racial injustices, inequalities, and disparities, despite claims to liberty and equality as universal ideas and practices.

Held online through Zoom, the first virtual Convening of Presidential Delegates from the U7+ Alliance of World Universities attracted more than 100 senior officials and faculty from 33 universities across 13 countries for two days of discussion on the role and future of higher education and how universities can operate as global actors and help solve global challenges.

This summer, 85 students from 22 universities in 12 countries convened virtually to address one big question: How should universities best prepare students for life after graduation in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic and global and local events since its onset? The students participated in the inaugural U7+ Worldwide Student Forum, which Northwestern University hosted as a precursor to this year’s U7+ Alliance of World Universities Summit.

This past July, Northwestern Buffett sat down with undergrad Maria Beatriz Rocha (Weinberg, ’22) to discuss her experiences navigating the coronavirus pandemic as an international student. In our discussion Maria recounts her experiences adjusting to online classes; her journey back home to Portugal; her involvement in planning the first virtual iteration of International Student Orientation; and coping with the uncertainty of returning to the US in the fall. Read the full interview here.

The Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and Office of International Relations invite Northwestern University faculty to express their interest in representing Northwestern University within the U7+ Alliance of World Universities working groups during the 2020-21 academic year.

Article written by the Buffett Institute's Keyman Program Director İpek Kocaömer Yosmaoğlu on the history linked to Aghia Sophia’s recent reconversion, current implications in Turkey and U.S. parallels is now available on Platform.

Essays and reflections from the Living with Plagues project, a student-faculty meditation on COVID-19 organized in partnership with the École Normale Supérieure (Paris) and co-sponsored by the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and Northwestern’s French Interdisciplinary Group.

The U.S. government is withdrawing the directive that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on July 6, which would have prohibited international students in the U.S. from taking a fully online/remote course load during the Fall 2020 term while remaining in F-1 status. Following legal challenges from Northwestern University and from higher education institutions and states nationwide, a federal judge announced today that ICE will rescind the directive.

As coronavirus cases began escalating months ago, the University moved to remote learning and took other measures as the U.S restricted travel overseas in addition to the state issued stay-at-home order. Whether at Northwestern or on the other side of the world, resilient international students—such as incoming junior Maria Beatriz Rocha who is studying neuroscience and global health—adapted to the new normal and continue to forge ahead.

Northwestern University professor and Prison Education Program (NPEP) Director Dr. Jennifer Lackey and Uptown People’s Law Center Executive Director Alan Mills joined the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs for a discussion on COVID-19 contagion in U.S. prisons and what measures could help curtail it.  They were joined by NPEP student Antonio McDowell, who was recently released from Illinois’ Stateville Correctional Center and shared his firsthand account of serving time there amidst COVID-19. Here are three key takeaways:

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the delivery of routine and emergency medical care around the world. Primary care systems that often serve as a first point of medical contact are stretched and stressed, making the delivery of comprehensive and coordinated care a challenge. Here are three key takeaways from this week's webinar.

We know that we have much to learn, and much work to do. In the days and weeks to come, we will be thinking through and mapping out our next steps and actions all of us at Northwestern Buffett can take to contribute to combating discrimination and injustice in all of its forms. We are committed to doing this work to bring about change in a spirit of collaboration with colleagues across Northwestern and around the world and we invite your partnership.

What do new physical boundaries mean for our understanding of identity and geopolitics? How will the COVID-19 pandemic affect U.S. global influence? What rival media narratives are emerging amid COVID-19? Global media authority and incoming Northwestern University-Qatar dean Dr. Marwan Kraidy joined the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs this week for a “tour d’horizon” of the repercussions of COVID-19 on media and geopolitics. Here are four key takeaways from the discussion.

Northwestern University assistant professor of sociology Dr. Beth Redbird and Kyiv School of Economics assistant professor Dr. Tymofiy Brik joined the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs this week for a webinar addressing these questions and more, drawing on large-scale surveys of citizens in the United States and the Ukraine. Here are five takeaways:

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised urgent questions not only about access to education, but also about education’s deeper purposes, challenges and possibilities. In a Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs webinar this week, Dr. Sally Nuamah and Dr. Shirin Vossoughi provided a critical analysis of current educational discourse, policy and practice, drawing on their scholarly perspectives and experiences as educators. Here are four key takeaways:

On May 1, members of the Northwestern Buffett Global Council and Faculty Advisory Council convened to reflect on and discuss critical questions facing university leaders worldwide: How will the impact of global universities shift because of the COVID-19 crisis? What should be universities’ global impact in the aftermath of the crisis? How can universities continue and even amplify their commitment to global learning, research and engagement?

Novel approaches to addressing COVID-19 aren't coming from one field or institution, one world leader or one small group of heroes; they're bubbling to the surface out of collaborations among experts thinking and working together across disciplines, sectors and geographies. We're already seeing this manifest in the form of new collaborations among Northwestern and other university researchers, industry and policy leaders. Here are a few examples stemming from rapid-fire Idea Dialogues Northwestern Buffett hosted this month on different dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic:

The power of social media is in its speed and sprawl – but what do we know about social media use amidst a global pandemic? What happens when misinformation – from the 5G conspiracy to the Plandemic documentary – goes viral? How is misinformation about COVID-19 distinct from other forms of misinformation and how can we combat it?

When Samanvi Kanugula (Weinberg ’22) applied to join GlobeMed her freshman year, she had no idea how deeply the organization would influence her life. GlobeMed is a student organization founded at Northwestern University that is dedicated to global health equity. The group has weekly meetings to discuss international social justice issues, with a focus on sustainable grassroots solutions. And then they get to work.

Northwestern will host the inaugural U7+ Worldwide Student Forum between June 12 and July 1 in order to spark discussion among students from more than 50 U7+ Alliance universities representing 20 countries.

The panel included Lauren Stokes (Assistant Professor of History, Northwestern); Ray San Diego (Visiting Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies, Northwestern), Melissa Borja (Assistant Professor of American Culture, University of Michigan); Britta Ohm (Associate Researcher, Institute of Social Anthropology, Bern University), and Ariel Schwartz (Associate Director of Research, Northwestern Buffett).

Northwestern professor of chemical and biological engineering Luis A. Nunes Amaral, joined by colleagues Marta Sales-Pardo, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Roger Guimera, Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies professor, both from Rovira i Virgili University, discussed the limits of models that predict the spread of pandemics, and what's needed to make them stronger during a recent Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs webinar.

In recent decades, we’ve witnessed a global seismic shift away from collectivism and toward individualism. Humans increasingly feel disengaged and distrustful of those around them due, in part, to the rise of automation, political polarization, stratification, and marketization. This trend has undoubtedly influenced our response to COVID-19 and will likely have serious implications for the nature of human relationships well after the pandemic ends. Drawing on his recent book, “The Power of Human: How our shared humanity can help us create a better world,” social psychologist and Northwestern Kellogg School of Management professor Dr. Adam Waytz joined the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs this week for a discussion on dehumanization trends and what they mean for our future.

Government restrictions on movement and economic activities in response to COVID-19 have disrupted many small businesses, especially those of already vulnerable populations like the displaced Syrian and Iraqi refugee communities in Lebanon and neighboring countries. How does the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbate existing challenges for refugees and create new ones? What are the prospects for a return to financial self-sufficiency for individuals in war-torn countries and already vulnerable communities? Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law professor Juliet Sorensen and Near East Foundation President Dr. Charles Benjamin joined a Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs webinar this week for a discussion on these questions and more.

Now, more than ever, we must use digital technology to break down the boundaries, borders and barriers that prevent us from collectively addressing our greatest global challenges, argues Annelise Riles.

Annelise Riles is executive director of the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern and associate provost for global affairs. She is also a professor of law and anthropology. In this Q&A, she explains that universities like Northwestern are in prime position to lead in times of global crisis because they nurture collaborative solutions and garner broad, widespread public trust.

Countless headlines of late have compared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to HIV/AIDS. When are these comparisons useful and when are they misleading? And what can both pandemics teach us about marginalized populations and racism? Northwestern Medill School of Journalism professor Dr. Steven Thrasher joined a Northwestern Buffett Institute on Global Affairs webinar this week for a discussion on these questions and more.

With social distancing and shelter-in-place mandates in effect worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic is necessitating large-scale behavior change and taking a significant psychological toll. How can leaders and the media promote cooperative behavior? What kind of messages work best? Northwestern University professor of political science Dr. Jamie Druckman and University of Cambridge social psychology professor Dr. Sander van der Linden addressed these questions and more in a Northwestern Buffett webinar this week, drawing on a century of social science research that sheds light on how to better align human behavior with public health officials’ recommendations.

With the U.S. stockpile of medical supplies for combating COVID-19 nearly depleted, a clogged global supply chain, and a "Wild West-style” online marketplace rife with hoarders and price gougers, what can be done to get medical supplies to health care workers on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19? Northwestern University Transportation Center Director and multimodal transportation systems expert, Dr. Hani Mahmassani, and Northwestern professor of computer science, Dr. Kris Hammond, addressed these questions and more during a Northwestern Buffett webinar this week.

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so the saying goes. But it’s what a picture fails to say that can make it dangerous, especially in times of uncertainty. This week, the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs welcomed Northwestern computer science and journalism professor, Dr. Jessica Hullman, and University of Michigan information professor, Dr. Matthew Kay, for a discussion about popular visualizations of COVID-19 circulating through the mainstream media and how they can be misinterpreted. Here are five key takeaways from the discussion:

Scalable approaches to addressing urgent COVID-19 testing material and medical supply chain challenges won’t come from one field or institution, one world leader, or one small group of heroes, but rather “network hubs” working to harness expertise from across disciplines, sectors, and geographies.

In a webinar hosted this week by Northwestern Buffett, Northwestern Medicine infectious disease expert and executive director of Northwestern’s Institute for Global Health, Dr. Robert Murphy, spoke about how we can blunt the impact of COVID-19 before it’s too late. Read the four key takeaways here.

Northwestern University researcher Adia Benton discussed topics central to the COVID-19 pandemic in a webinar hosted this week by Northwestern’s Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs. The webinar raised provocative questions related to what is and isn’t known about COVID-19 and its transmission dynamics, as well as the implications of the response to COVID-19 for various forms of governance and our global society, writ large.

Northwestern Buffett is seeking to hire a new Senior Director, Operations & Chief of Staff. Click here to read additional details.

U.S. Ambassador William J. Burns, author of the national bestseller “The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for its Renewal,” visited Northwestern’s Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs on February 25 for a discussion with Northwestern Buffett Executive Director Annelise Riles on how his experiences in public diplomacy can inform debates on contemporary policy challenges.

Dr. Anthony Fung served as the Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor of International Studies at Northwestern University during the Winter 2020 quarter. Dr. Fung is a Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s School of Journalism and Communications. His research focuses on cultural studies and global media, as well as pop culture in China and Hong Kong and, on February 26, Dr. Fung gave a lecture at Northwestern Buffett on “Culture as Logistics: Infrastructure, Power, and China.”

The Gender Justice group challenges the normalization of gender-based violence and inequalities, apathy and inertia around gender justice, but especially in the digital realm. In an environment where technology and data are privately owned, neither individuals nor companies are held legally accountable for gender discrimination. The group strives to contribute to an increased awareness about gender abuse online, and create a future community centered around gender-equitable technology and practices.

Over 200 faculty, staff, students and alumni representing all of Northwestern’s schools have joined the Northwestern Global Strategic Planning process. In these meetings we have discussed the barriers to globalization — we all know that there are plenty of hurdles to jump. But together we challenged ourselves to think bigger, to imagine what would be possible if all of us pulled together in order to make a difference at this university and around the world.

Buffett Visiting Professor Anthony Fung is a Professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is also Director of the Global Studies Program and Co-Director of Hong Kong Institute of Asia Pacific Studies. His research interests focus on popular culture, cultural/creative industries and policy, and youth and cultural studies.

President Schapiro announced today that Northwestern University has been selected to host the 2nd annual U7+ Global Summit. On June 2-3, 2020, our Evanston campus will have the honor of hosting more than 100 presidents and other top leaders from more than 50 universities worldwide.

The Deportation Research Clinic studies the misconduct of federal, state, and local agencies implementing deportation laws.

On December 12th, Northwestern Buffett invited the university's international community to join together with our faculty, staff, and affiliates to celebrate the holiday season at our offices in Evanston.

We sat down with Prof. Weber to explore his research interests and how they align with Northwestern Buffett’s goals and aspirations

Since 2012, the students of GlobeMed’s Northwestern chapter have been working with The Adonai Child Development Centre, a Ugandan NGO that cares for children orphaned or abandoned as a result of the HIV/AIDS crisis and civil unrest in Uganda. Although the GlobeMed program hosts small bake sales and other fundraising events throughout the year, by far their most popular is their annual Ugly Sweater Sale.

Our groups are comprised of diverse global scholars, policymakers, and stakeholders – from seven countries. Northwestern faculty participants and graduate student participants are shared below.

From greeting international graduate and undergraduate students at O’Hare all the way up to the final s’mores picnic on the lakefill, staff from the Office of International Student and Scholar Services (OISS) and campus partners welcomed a new cohort this September.

Thinking and operating on a global scale has become so necessary to research, innovation, and the arts that we sometimes lose sight of how we, as individuals and institutions, can get to that level of complexity.

Dr. Anthony Fung, Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s School of Journalism and Communications, will serve as the Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor of International Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Culture in the upcoming Winter 2020 quarter.

The Office of Global Safety and Security (OGSS) was created in 2013 and joined Northwestern Buffett last year. This summer, as with any summer, OGSS was busy supporting both outbound and inbound students on their study abroad experiences.

Meet our growing team as Northwestern Buffett continues to evolve.

Carine Kanimba, a GESI-Nicaragua 2016 alum and Northwestern University Community for Human Rights Executive Board member, gave a TEDx Talk in Portland on “The Power of Forgiveness.”

In many parts of the world, people are increasingly turning away from foreignness of all kinds—from foreign persons to unfamiliar ideas. Many consider foreignness to be synonymous with dangerous, repelling, or just plain uninteresting. Relatedly, trust in experts and the unfamiliar or complicated knowledge they possess is eroding.

Tim McLellan has joined Northwestern Buffett as a visiting postdoctoral scholar, splitting his time between Annelise Riles' Maier Award research and the work of the Global Collaboration team.

Scholars and journalists gathered to discuss the conventions and tropes that pervade public discourse on religion, with focused attention to coverage of Islam and Muslims.

Annelise Riles has begun working with faculty, students, staff, alumni, and leadership on the University's roadmap for accelerating its globalization: Northwestern's Global Strategic Plan.

Too often, research is confined by silos of expertise, geography, culture, and language. We believe it’s our role to help break down those silos, so we’re rolling out programming that not only supports the University’s global vision but also catalyzes interdisciplinary research and engagement.

With 18 undergraduates benefiting from the scholarship last year, Northwestern has been named a “top producer” of Gilman Scholars. The competitive scholarship is awarded by the U.S. Department of State for study abroad to students receiving federal Pell Grant funding.

In May, the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs’ eponymous donor visited campus and heard first-hand how her gift continues to impact faculty, students, and scholars.

Northwestern Buffett is inviting faculty to join a series of lunch conversations about potential multi-faceted partnerships with international universities.

Guanche, whose work focuses on republicanism, populism, and constitutional law, will be a "source of expert political commentary at the precise moment of a major political transition in Cuba."

The program brings together thought leaders and scholars from all industries and disciplines to solve global challenges.

The merger makes it easier for Northwestern students to access study abroad services.

The exhibit celebrates Africa's global significance from the 8th to 16th centuries.

Petrie will oversee global partnerships and help build stronger alliances with leading universities around the world.

Undergraduates have the option to study in Ghana or work as a research assistant at the Lab.

The former national advisor to President Obama shared his concerns and advice about the changing political climate.

This year's Keyman Conference focuses on education in Turkey and the policy trends shaping its future.

This summer, the Buffett Institute supported 46 Northwestern graduate students doing research in 32 countries. Here are their amazing photos from the field.

Annelise Riles accepted the Anneliese Maier Award for lifetime achievement across the social sciences and humanities from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Political scientist and associate professor Rachel Beatty Riedl has been appointed as director of the Program of African Studies (PAS) at the Buffett Institute, taking on a prominent role in helping carry out the Buffett Institute’s mission and vision for global studies at Northwestern.

A select group of emerging development economists presented their job market papers to scholars in the development community.

Catherine Miano and Ha Nguyen bring their experience to support the Buffett Institute's Global Engagement office.