Activities

  • Fall 2016
December 8, 2016

Visit our website and events calendar for a complete listing of fall 2016 activities. Many of our events are captured on video and available to view on YouTube.

Joint Seminar on South Asian Politics

The Joint Sem­i­nar on South Asian Pol­i­tics is co-sponsored by the Brown-India Initiative at the Wat­son Insti­tute at Brown Uni­ver­sity, the Weath­er­head Cen­ter for Inter­na­tional Affairs and South Asia Institute at Har­vard Uni­ver­sity, and the MIT Cen­ter for Inter­na­tional Studies. Fall 2016 seminars included: Aruna Roy (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan) on "Development and Politics in Indian Democracy;" Prerna Singh (Brown University) on "New Potions in Old Bottles: Explaining the Differential Control of Smallpox in 19th Century Canton and Calcutta;" Simon Chauchard (Dartmouth College) on "Who Influences Voters in Rural India? An Experiemental Approach;" and Paul Staniland (University of Chicago) on "Armed Poilitcs: Violence, Order, and the State in Southern Asia."

International Policy Lab Issues Second Call for Proposals

The International Policy Lab (IPL) issued its second call for proposals this fall. The IPL provides funding and staff support for translating scholarly work into digestible, policy-relevant materials, and for direct outreach to policymakers. “We are very pleased with the success of this initiative so far,” said faculty director Chappell Lawson, associate professor of political science. “Solving the challenges facing our country and the world is central to MIT's mission; better connecting MIT researchers and policymakers contributes to that goal. Engineers, scientists, and other scholars at MIT produce a great deal of research that has direct implications for policy, but it is not always in a form that helps policymakers know what to do tomorrow. We have found that many faculty members here want to have an impact on policy but don't feel familiar enough with how the process works to do so efficiently. Helping to connect the academic and policy communities is another way MIT can fulfill its mission of helping to solve the world's great challenges."

Working Groups

CIS sponsors several interdisciplinary working groups in an effort to help the MIT scholarly community to tackle research issues that are not confined to a single department or discipline. Several groups are structured to link the efforts of social science professionals with those of engineers and natural scientists on problems of academic and policy significance. They also encourage collaboration between graduate students and faculty members. Most working groups are open to any MIT faculty member or student who wishes to participate; some draw participants from outside the MIT community. Learn more

Myron Weiner Seminar on International Migration

The Myron Weiner Seminar Series on International Migration, explores factors affecting international population movements and their impact upon sending and receiving countries and relations among them.  The Center hosted two seminars this fall semester: "Immigration, Democracy, and Discrimination in Small Town America," with  Justin Steil, Assistant Professor of Law and Urban Planning at the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning; and "State DAPA? And Other Thoughts on US Immigration Policy in the New Administration," with Michael J. Wishnie, Deputy Dean for Experiential Education at Yale Law School. 

SSP Wednesday Seminars

The Security Studies Program's lunchtime series included: Lyle Goldstein, US Naval War College, on "Meeting China Halfway: How to Defuse the Emerging US-China Rivalry;" Morgan L. Kaplan, Harvard University, on "Strategies of Insurgent Diplomacy: Evidence from the Iraqi Kurdish Liberation Movement;" Jon Lindsay, University of Toronto, on "Restrained by Design: Cyber Security and the Attenuation of War;" Matthew Fuhrmann, Texas A&M, on " When Do Leaders Free-Ride? The Case of Military Alliances;" and Sarah Daly, University of Notre Dame, on "Coercion and Politics: Citizen Support for Political Actors with Violent Pasts." A list of SSP Wednesday Seminars for fall 2016 is available here.

Starr Forums

The Center hosted multiple Starr Forums this fall including: Racism, Violence, & Democracy, featuring Richard Samuels (MIT), David Art (Brandeis), Heidi Beirich (Southern Poverty Law Center), and Jolyon Howorth (University of Bath, UK, and Yale); Honor Killings: Why They Won't End, featuring Rafia Zakaria (journalist and author); Trump’s Victory: What does it mean for you? featuring Heather Hendershot (MIT), Nadeem Mazen (Cambridge City Council), Lourdes Melgar (MIT), and Kenneth Oye (MIT); and Security, Privacy, and the Internet, featuring Joel Brenner (MIT), Deborah Hurley (Harvard); Daniel Weitzner (MIT); and Kenneth Oye (MIT). Starr Forums and videos