May 30-31, 2012, Blinken European Institute Faculty Workshops at Columbia Global Centers | Europe

Religion, Legal Pluralism, and Human Rights: European and Transatlantic Perspectives

Legal pluralism is now being embraced as the just way to accommodate increased religious diversity in consolidated western liberal democracies, as a way to “privatize” or fragment state sovereignty by giving law making prerogatives to “private religious communities.” This conference will address the theoretical, normative, and political issues raised by legal pluralist demands. Our focus will be on the debates, developments, and cases in Europe and the United States. Some papers will address the European human rights regime, others the legal politics of particular nations individually or in comparative perspective. Our goal is to consider the meaning of the new pressure religious claims and of the assertions made by plural sources of law, placed on traditional frameworks under stress.

Jean L. Cohen, Professor of Political Science at Columbia University and Columbia-Paris I Alliance Visiting Professor 2012

May 8, 2012 - May 12, 2012, Columbia University

Professor Stephane Van Damme at the Department of History, Columbia University

Stephane Van Damme is a Professor in Early Modern History in the department of History at Sciences Po. He received his Ph.D. from the University in Paris I (2000), and served as a research scholar at the CNRS (Research Center for the History of Science and Technology) from 2001-2007. Professor Van Damme was an Associate Professor in French Modern History at the University of Warwick (UK) between 2007 to 2009. For further information, please visit http://chsp.sciences-po.fr/en/chercheur-du-centre/van-damme.

May 16 - 17, 2012, Columbia University

Professor Dominique Boullier at Columbia University

Dominique Boullier is Professor of Sociology at Sciences Po, HDR in Infocom, and holds a Master of Linguistics. Previously, he conducted research on ITCs (1981‐1989), then served as CEO of the consulting company Euristic Media (1989‐1996). Currently he is the scientific coordinator of Sciences Po's medialab, jointly with Bruno Latour. For more information see: http://sites.google.com/site/dominiqueboullier/

Course: Oxide Interfaces

A four-part course taught by Professor Andrew J. Millis in France during his time as Alliance visiting professor at Ecole Polytechnique.

March 21, April 4, April 11, and April 18, 2012, from 1:30 - 5:00pm, Fresnel Auditorium, Paul Levy Building, Ecole Polytechnique.

Andrew J. Millis is a professor of physics at Columbia University. Professor Millis' research focus is theoretical condensed matter physics, especially the application of new theoretical ideas to actual experiments on novel materials including high temperature superconductors, ‘colossal’ magnetoresistance manganites, quasi one dimensional conductors and heavy fermion compounds. He also studies the properties of artificially constructed systems including single molecular conductors and correlated electron heterostructures.

Please click here to see the course curriculum.

This course has been organized with the support of the Department of Physics at Ecole Polytechnique.

Course: Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Goals

Monday and Wednesday, 9-10.50 am, IAB 902, starting January 16, 2012

It has become vital (because of mass poverty, climate change,biodiversity rapid erosion,water and food crisis,...), to shift to a more sustainable form of development. This will require effectively mobilizing all resources of human societies:scientific and technical resources, as well as behavioral and institutional moving forces. None may be neglected,and the way they are articulated will be decisive.

Claude Henry is a physicist (quantum mechanics) turned economist. He has taught public economics and environment economics at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and at Lausanne University; he has written articles and books on these subjects. He is currently teaching on innovation and sustainable development at Sciences-Po Paris. From 1997 to 2002, he was adviser to the Prime Minister of France on matters pertaining to public utilities and environmental policies; he is currently an adviser to the Director of the European Environmental Agency.

Course offered in collaboration with the Scool of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University

Course: Progressive Alternatives: Institutional Reconstruction Today

Tuesdays 8.10-10 pm, Low 314, starting January 17, 2012

An exploration of the past and future agenda of progressives, whether selfdescribed as liberals or as leftists. What should they propose, now that they no longer believe in the usefulness of governmental direction of the economy or in the sufficiency of redistributive social programs? A basic concern is the relation of programmatic thought to the understanding of change and constraint. The course will draw on many disciplines and consider examples from many settings. It will try to develop ways of thinking as well as proposals for change. Readings from classic and contemporary social and political theory. For 2011-2012, a major theme will be innovation, education, capabilities, and creativity and the policies and institutions that their development requires.

Joint lecture by Jeffrey Sachs and Laurence Tubiana.

Jeffrey D. Sachs is the director of the Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is also Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. From 2002 to 2006, he was Director of the UN Millennium Project and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals, the internationally agreed goals to reduce extreme poverty, disease, and hunger by the year 2015. Prior to joining Columbia, Sachs spent over twenty years at Harvard University, most recently as director of the Center for International Development. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Sachs received his BA, MA, and PhD degrees at Harvard University.

Laurence Tubiana is founder of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) in Paris. She follows and participates in the international negotiations on climate change, in which IDDRI is highly involved. She is also professor and director of the Sustainable Development Center at Sciences Po Paris. Laurence Tubiana studied at the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris and holds a PhD in economics.

Course: Political Economy of Energy and Climate Change Policies

Thursdays 9-10.50 am, IAB 1401, starting January 19, 2012

This course will present the challenges attached to the transition towards low carbon economies. Based on empirical data and experience, a discussion of the different policy instruments is proposed, along with an analysis of key stakeholder strategies. Specific attention will be given to the specificity of different contexts (developed, emerging and developing countries) and economic sectors in evaluating the efficiency and the effectiveness of alternative policy design in driving technological, economic and societal change. We will then explore the difficulty to build collective action at the global level, by revisiting the most significant moments in the history of negotiation, and discuss possible avenues forward.

Laurence Tubiana is founder of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) in Paris. She follows and participates in the international negotiations on climate change, in which IDDRI is highly involved. She is also professor and director of the Sustainable Development Center at Sciences Po Paris. Laurence Tubiana studied at the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris and holds a PhD in economics.

Course offered in collaboration with the Scool of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

NAFSA 2012 Annual Conference and Expo, Entangling Institutions: Challenges to Institutional Policies and Values When Engaging Abroad, panel discussion with Alessia Lefebure, May 30, Houston.

NAFSA 2012 Annual Conference and Expo, Internationalizing the Curriculum and Campus Poster Fair with a presentation of the Alliance Program, May 30, Houston.

US Sciences Po Foundation Award Ceremony 2012, with William Rhodes (Citigroup), co-sponsored with US Sciences Po Foundation, March 27, at the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, New York.

2012 Association of International Education Administrators Annual Conference: Building a Secure World through International Education, February 19-22, Washington, DC.

CampusFrance USA Information Session on Higher Education in France, February 8-9, Washington, DC.

Rencontres parlementaires sur les relations France – Etats-Unis: Comment renforcer la cooperation territorial, educative et universitaire?, panel discussion organized by Louis Giscard d’Estaing, Vice president, French National Assembly, February 7th in Paris.

Official Visit of Edouard Courtial, Minister of State Responsible for French Nationals Abroad, co-sponsored with the Maison Française, November 16, at Columbia University. 

October 9-14, 2011, Italian Academy, Columbia University

EDF-Alliance Executive Workshop

The program for this event, hosted by the Alliance Program, features an exceptional array of talks by world-renowned professionals and academics. Leading experts in the fields of Economics, Environmental Law, Engineering, Sociology, Political Sciences, Architecture, Climatology and Computer Science will discuss the most pressing issues in the contemporary global socio-economic landscape. Special emphasis will be given to the current affairs in the United States.

The program for this event has been designed for The Alliance Program by Dr. Marta Vicarelli, Postdoctoral Associate at the Yale University Climate and Energy Institute.

Videos and a complete list of the topics covered is available here.

A complete list of speakers' bios is available here.