Visit our website to learn about all of the Center's spring 2018 activities. Many events are captured on video and available to view on YouTube.

CIS hosts consuls general meeting

The Center hosted Boston-area consuls general for a foreign policy briefing by our faculty and scholars. Local journalists were also invited as a means to gather background information on pressing issues. Fourteen consuls and four journalists attended the April 10 event at the Samberg conference center. The talks, followed by a question-and-answer session, covered a range of topics: US grand strategy (Barry Posen), Russian politics (Elizabeth Wood, Carol Saivetz), the North Korean nuclear crisis (Vipin Narang), China and its neighbors (Taylor Fravel, Eric Heginbotham), national security law and process (James Baker), and US policy toward Iran (Jim Walsh). “Judging by the reactions of the consuls and reporters present, I’d say the briefing was a success,” said the event organizer, John Tirman, CIS executive director and principal research scientist.

Diversity, equity and inclusion at MISTI

Through the efforts of MIT-India managing director Mala Ghosh, MISTI has been awarded two grants from The Committee on Race and Diversity. The grants support the following: a staff professional development workshop with a leading facilitator; a student workshop on embracing identity abroad; IdentityX Abroad MISTI Ambassadors who will create written and video content; and student discussion workshops called the "IdentityX Series Abroad" on topics of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and sexual orientation abroad. MISTI has utilized the grants to build partnerships across the Institute with various program offices, student groups, and administrative leaders. Special thanks to the ongoing support received from MIT ICEO.

SSP panel on North Korea in DC

The MIT Security Studies Program held a special seminar in Washington, DC, on April 26. More than sixty people attended the talk,"The Nuclear Crisis with North Korea," at the National Press Club. Chaired by SSP director, Barry Posen, the panel (Jim Walsh, Taylor Fravel, and Vipin Narang) discussed the current issues and answered questions from the crowd.

CIS awards 16 summer study grants

Sixteen doctoral students in international affairs at MIT were awarded summer study grants. Each will receive up to $3,500. “The awards were made to an outstanding cohort of MIT students from across the Institute. We're so pleased that the appeal of these grants has broadened and students are responding,” said John Tirman, CIS executive director and principal research scientist.

Joint Seminar on South Asian politics

The Joint Seminar on South Asian Politics, co-sponsored by MIT, Brown University, and Harvard University, explores the region with leading experts. Spring events included: Maya Tudor (University of Oxford) on "Is Nationalism a Democratic Resource? Evidence from India and Malaysia," Adam Auerbach (American University) on "Client Preferences in Broker Selection: Competition, Choice, and Informal Leadership in India's Urban Slums," Nicholas Sambanis (University of Pennsylvania)on "Violence Exposure and Ethnic Identification: Evidence from Kashmir," and Alison Post (University of California Berkeley) on "Infrastructure Networks and Urban Inequality: The Political Geography of Water Flows in Bangalore."

MISTI Excellence Awards

MISTI held its annual awards ceremony on April 19 at the Samberg Conference Center. The awardees and the respective categories for this year are: MIT-Japan’s Samantha Amey-Gonzalez (Biology, 2018) who received the Ambassador Award, MIT-France's Kristen Frombach (Biological Engineering, 2019) who received the Achievement Award, and MIT-France's Pelkins Ajanoh (Mechanical Engineering, 2018) and MIT-Israel and MIT-India's Matthew Chun (Mechanical Engineering and Management Science, 2018) who both received the Suzanne Berger Award for Future Global Leaders.

IPL completed 3rd annual call for proposals

The IPL received a record-breaking 42 proposals from 31 principal investigators representing all five schools at MIT. The committee chose 10 projects for full support. In an effort to assist as many PIs as possible with policy outreach, the majority of the remaining projects received partial support, with only six projects deemed too early to begin engagement with policy makers.

Starr Forums

The Center hosted a series of public talks including: "Women's Empowerment: Are Global Development Organizations Helping or Hurting?" with Nimmi Gowrinathan (City College New York) and Kate Cronin-Furman (Harvard's Belfer Center); "US-Russian Relations: What's Next?" with Barry Posen (MIT), Carol Saivetz (MIT), Andrei Kozyrev (Wilson Center), and moderated by Elizabeth Wood (MIT); "The Uncounted: Civilian Victims of America’s Wars," with Azmat Khan (Journalist); "Artificial Intelligence and National Security Law: A Dangerous Nonchalance," with James Baker (MIT); and "Is Democracy Dying?" with Daron Acemoglu (MIT), Maria Ramirez (Harvard Nieman Fellow), Yascha Mounk (Harvard), and moderated by Melissa Nobles (MIT). All Starr Forums are available to view in their entirety on the Center’s YouTube channel.