Distinguished Speaker Series

Launched in 2006, the Distinguished Speaker Series welcomes several speakers a year who have a position of prominence in international affairs and can address topical issues from a variety of perspectives.  

Fall 2017

Gayatri Spivak

University Professor in the Humanities, Columbia University

"The Rohingya Issue in a Global Context," October 30, 2017

Prof Urges Students to Consider Oppression of The Rohingya (Cornell Sun); "The Rohingya Issue in a Global Context" (CornellCast)

Judge Abdulqawi Yusuf

Vice-president and judge, International Court of Justice

"Balancing Rights and Obligations of States and Investors: Challenges Facing LDCs," October 23, 2017

Judge Outlines Conflicting Interests Between Corporations and States (Cornell Sun); "Balancing Rights and Obligations of States and Investors: Chellenges Facing LDCs" (CornellCast)

Spring 2017

Mohamed Abdel-Kader

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for International & Foreign Language Education, U.S. Department of Education

"Passport to the future: Why international education and languages matter​," May 10, 2017 

Einaudi speaker touts value of international education, languages (Cornell Chronicle); "Passport to the Future: Why International Education and Languages Matter" (CornellCast)

Naoto Kan

Prime Minister of Japan, 2010-2011

"The Truth about the Nuclear Disaster in Fukushima and the Future of Renewable Energy,​" March 28, 2017 

Former Japan prime minister discusses nuclear plant disaster (Cornell Chronicle); "The Truth about the Nuclear Disaster in Fukushima and the Future of Renewable Energy" (CornellCast)

Jens Beckert 

Director, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne, Germany

"Imagined Futures and Capitalist Dynamics," February 27, 2017 

Professor Discusses Fiction in Capitalism, Imagined Future in Market Economy (Cornell Sun)

For previous years, please visit our Distinguished Speaker Series archive in Cornell's eCommons.