Please join the Harriman Institute and the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies for University Leadership in a Moment of Crisis.
Speakers
Dr. Lisa Anderson, Special Lecturer, Dean Emerita, and James T. Shotwell Professor of International Relations Emerita, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; former President, American University in Cairo
Dame Louise Richardson, President, Carnegie Corporation of New York; former Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford; former Vice-Chancellor, University of St. Andrews
Moderated by:
Dr. George Gavrilis, Founder, InnerCircle Stories
Introduced by:
Dr. V. Page Fortna, Director, Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies; Harold Brown Professor of U.S. Foreign and Security Policy, Department of Political Science, Columbia University
Co-organized by:
Dr. Alexander Cooley, Claire Tow Professor of Political Science, Barnard College
Over the last year, university administrators from across the United States have had to grapple with and respond to large-scale demonstrations and political polarization on their campuses. Many, if not most, of these leaders have faced sharp scrutiny from all sides of the political aisle for their leadership strategies.
In light of the ongoing turmoil on college campuses, this panel will seek to address three core challenges currently faced by university leaders:
- issuing university statements and promoting institutional neutrality,
- guaranteeing community safety,
- and facilitating constructive dialogue around political violence and armed conflict.
Drs. Anderson and Richardson will share their experiences at the helm of universities during other times of political upheaval and controversy (the American University in Cairo during the Arab Spring, the University of St. Andrews during the Scottish independence referendum, and the University of Oxford during Brexit) to help us think through the dilemmas currently facing universities. The conversation will be moderated by Dr. George Gavrilis, oral historian and former head of the Hollings Center for International Dialogue.
This panel is part of an ongoing event series titled, “Academic Upheaval in a Time of Geopolitical Conflict: How Gaza and Ukraine have Impacted Communities of Research and Learning.” It is funded by the Columbia University Provost Office’s Dialogue Across Difference Initiative (read more here), and co-organized by the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies and the Harriman Institute at Columbia University.
