Archive for China

An Upcoming Event: Digital Censorship

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What information is—or should—be censored online?

How can we measure online censorship?

And what challenges does online censorship present?

These are all questions SIPA alumni are faced with every day in their jobs at intelligence agencies, nonprofit research institutes, and  journalism organizations, among others. If you’re interested in learning how censorship techniques are forever changing the digital landscape, then the event “Measuring Digital Censorship: A Collaborative Path Forward” is for you. Join the School of International and Public Affairs on Tuesday, November 18, 2014, from 4:00-5:00 p.m., with Professor Anya Schiffrin, to discuss online censorship mechanisms, measurement techniques, and challenges.

This event will feature panelists Meredith Whittaker, Open Source Research Lead, Google Research; Jordan McCarthy, Measurement Systems Manager, Open Technology Institute; and Jason Q. Ng, Lecturer, SIPA, who will discuss the cutting-edge work being conducted in this exciting new area of inquiry.

“Censorship is a serious problem globally and takes different forms in different places,” Professor Anya Schiffrin said. “It will be interesting to hear the Google perspective, to learn more about their research and what solutions they propose. IMAC (International Media, Advocacy and Communications Specialization) is glad to co-host this discussion as part of our ongoing interest in technology and communication.

“Our new IMAC adjunct Jason Ng has been working on the censorship of Weibo in China and so he will be a terrific discussant at this event which I hope will bring in students, alumni and colleagues from across the University.”

“Measuring Digital Censorship” is a wonderful opportunity to hear about the topics SIPA faculty are teaching in the classroom. Prospective students may also connect with current students and exchange ideas with alumni at the event.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Measuring Digital Censorship: A Collaborative Path Forward

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
International Affairs Building, Room 1512

RSVP Here

 

SIPA Events for the Week of September 23

The semester just began and we are already have a great roster of speakers and discussions scheduled. Below is a flavor of the events happening at SIPA next week.  Some of these events are opened to the public, so you are welcome to register for those events (if you are interested in a particular topic).  See more events on the SIPA Web Calendar.

 

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

CGEG: Reforming Europe Out of the Crisis — Nordic and Danish Perspectives and Solutions

10:00 am to 11:00 am

International Affairs Building, Room 1501

A conversation with Villy Søvndal, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Denmark. Registration required.

Sponsor: Center on Global Economic Governance

 

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

Ramush Haradinaj on “Challenges to Kosova’s Democratization and European Integration”

11:00 am to 12:15 pm

International Affairs Building, Room 1219

Discussion with Ramush Haradinaj, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosova and Chairman for the Alliance for the Future of Kosova. Event facilitated by David L. Phillips, Director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights.

Sponsor: Institute for the Study of Human Rights

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

Moral Interventionism: The Gas Question and Syria

4:00 pm to 6:00 pm

Heyman Center, 2nd Floor Common Room

A roundtable discussion addressing the issue of moral interventionism from the perspectives of political theory, international security, and the history of peacekeeping.

Sponsor: European Institute

 

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

China/Brazil: Two Tales of a Growth Slowdown

6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

International Affairs Building, Room 802

Talk with Octaviano Canuto, Senior Advisor on BRICS in the Development Economics Department.

Sponsor: Institute of Latin American Studies

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

CGT Undergraduate Film Screening: “Ten Years of Terror”

6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

International Affairs Building, Room 918

The Undergraduate Committee on Global Thought invites you to a film screening of “Ten Years of Terror” followed by a discussion with director, Brad Evans. The film explores the impact of 9/11 and reflects on the subsequent political and military responses.

Sponsor: Committee on Global Thought

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

Remembering Edward Said

7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Lerner Hall, Roone Arledge Cinema

On the tenth anniversary of the passing of Professor Edward Said, we invite you to join us as we reflect on his legacy. We will also screen excerpts from documentaries on Edward Said.

Sponsor: Center for Palestine Studies with the Department of English and Comparative Literature, the Heyman Center for the Humanities, and the Middle East Institute

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2013

CGEG: FED Tapering and the Fortunes of Nations

4:00 pm to 5:30 pm

International Affairs Building, Room 1512

Panel discussion with Guillermo Calvo, Director, Program in Economic Policy Management and former Chief Economist, Inter-American Development Bank; Jan Svejnar, James T. Shotwell Professor of Global Political Economy; Director, Center on Global Economic Governance (CGEG), Columbia SIPA; Andrés Velasco, Professor of Professional Practice, Columbia SIPA; former Finance Minister of Chile; with introduction by Miguel Urquiola,Vice Dean of SIPA.

Sponsor: Center on Global Economic Governance

 

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2013

Effective Policies in Poverty Reduction Beyond the Millennium Development Goals

6:00 pm to 10:00 pm

International Affairs Building, Room 1501

A lecture and discussion on effective policies in poverty reduction with José Antonio Ocampo, Professor of Professional Practice and Economic and Political Development Concentration Director at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and Esther Duflo, Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sponsor: Economic and Political Development Concentration

 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Geopolitics of the Global Energy Revolution

2:00 pm to 3:30 pm

International Affairs Building, Room 1512

A presentation by Carlos Pascual, Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs at the U.S. State Department.

Sponsor: Center on Global Energy Policy

 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Comfort Women Wanted

2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

International Affairs Building, Room 918

A video screening and panel discussion with Chang-Jin Lee, visual artist; Charles Armstrong (moderator), Professor of History, Columbia University; Elazar Barkan, Professor of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; Pablo Castillo-Diaz, Protection Analyst, Peace and Security at the UN; Margaret Stetz, Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women’s Studies and Professor of Humanities, University of Delaware; Joyce Yu, UN Resident Coordinator. No registration required.

Sponsor: The Center for Korean Research

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

CGEG: French Proposals for the Future of Europe, with Laurent Fabius, Foreign Minister of France

2:30 pm to 4:00 pm

International Affairs Building, Room 1501

CGEG: Lecture with Laurent Fabius, French Foreign Minister. Registration and ID required.

Sponsor: Center on Global Economic Governance

 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Abe and the LDP Are Back. Now What?

4:15 pm to 5:45 pm

Davis Auditorium, Room 412

Ninth Annual Lecture on Japanese Politics with Gerald L. Curtis, Burgess Professor of Political Science, Columbia University. Moderated by Hugh T. Patrick, R.D. Calkins Professor of International Business Emeritus; Director, Center on Japanese Economy and Business, Columbia Business School. Followed by reception. Registration required.

Sponsor: Weatherhead East Asian Institute

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Russian Politics and the Sochi Olympics

6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

The Italian Academy, 1161 Amsterdam Ave 5th Floor Conference Room

A discussion among experts focusing on the influence that this global event has on Russian politics, and vice versa.

Sponsor: Harriman Institute

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

New Avenues for Global Illicit Drug Policies

6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

International Affairs Building, Room 1501

Presentation and discussion on global illicit drug policies with Otto Perez Molina, President of the Republic of Guatemala, and Luis Fernando Carrera Castro, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala. Moderated by Professor José Antonio Ocampo, Director of Economic and Political Development Concentration at SIPA. Registration required. CUID only.

Sponsor: Economic and Political Development Concentration, Institute of Latin American Studies

 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

Building Resilience in a Climate and Resource-Constrained World: Investment Strategies and Policy Innovations

3:30 pm to 4:45 pm

Alfred Lerner Hall, Satow Room (5th floor)

A presentation by James Cameron, Chairman and Founder of Climate Change Capital on how investment in sustainable energy, low-carbon, and resource-efficient infrastructure is expanding rapidly and what this means for investors, policymakers, and entrepreneurs.

Sponsor: Center on Global Energy Policy

 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

Development Workshop: Jan Christoph von der Goltz

4:15 pm to 5:45 pm

International Affairs Building, Room 1101

As part of Columbia University’s Fall 2013 Development Workshop, Jan Christoph von der Goltz will discuss his latest paper. Topic and paper title to be announced.

Sponsor: Center for Development Economics and Policy

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

Do you want to make a profound difference on global poverty and climate change? A book talk with Sam Daley-Harris

6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

Earl Hall, Auditorium

A book talk with Sam Daley-Harris, author, activist and founder of Results Global Microfinance Campaign and Citizen Climate Lobby on the 20th anniversary edition of his book Reclaiming Our Democracy.

Sponsor: Columbia’s Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing, Economic and Political Development Concentration, Management Concentration

 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

Cuba-U.S. Relations: Possibilities for the Future

6:30 pm to 7:30 pm

International Affairs Building, Room 1501

Lecture with Dr. Josefina de la Caridad Vidal Ferreiro, Director, North America Division, Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations. Doors open at 6:00 p..m. Registration required. Seating is limited; first come, first seated.

Sponsor: Institute of Latin American Studies

 

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2013

Tadeusz Dabrowski: Twelve Poems From Black Square

4:00 pm to 6:00 pm

International Affairs Building, Room 1219

Tadeusz Dąbrowski will be reading from his book, Twelve Square. A discussion with Anna Frajlich will follow.

Sponsor: Harriman Institute

 

SIPA Alumni Medal Recipient

SIPA congratulates Jian Ni “Nina” Sun (MIA ’01) on being awarded the Columbia Alumni Medal at the 2011 University Commencement. The Alumni Medal is the highest honor bestowed by the Columbia Alumni Association for distinguished service to the University.

Sun graduated from SIPA with a Master of International Affairs focusing on international business. She is co-founder of Sunnybund Consulting, Inc., a public relations agency in Shanghai, China. She serves as co-president of the Columbia Alumni Association of Shanghai and is the international advisory board member for Columbia’s Global Center in Beijing.

She says students from China and other nations around the world return from Columbia and SIPA with an exceptional education and the SIPA spirit – the spirit of providing service.

The Columbia Alumni Medal, first awarded in 1933, recognizes alumni for service to the University – including its schools, alumni associations, regional Columbia Clubs, and University-wide initiatives.

SIPA has more than 18,000 alumni in 153 countries around the world. SIPA sponsors events around the world that provide alumni with meaningful social, intellectual, and professional networking opportunities.

This Past Week at SIPA: Will China Run out of Water?

The Earth Institute’s Columbia Water Center Seminar Series this past week presented “Will China Run Out Of Water?” with Chunmiao Zheng, Professor of Hydrogeology; SSPA Faculty Fellow; 2009 Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer, University of Alabama.

The following comes from the Earth Institute’s Web site:

The American agricultural expert and environmentalist Lester Brown published a provocative book in 1995 called “Who Will Feed China: Wake-Up Call for a Small Planet.” Today, however, of a greater concern may be the question of whether the unprecedented economic growth in China over the past two decades can be sustained as the environmental pollution and water shortage continue to worsen. Some people have asked, “Will China run out of water?” This question is not merely academic: China has to nourish a fifth of the global population with about seven percent of the planet’s water resources.

Ample evidence suggests that China faces a daunting water resource crisis. The country has been battling water shortages in its northern and western provinces for more than a decade. The presentation draws on the presenter’s recent research work in the North China Plain and the Ordos Basin in western China.

Chunmiao Zheng received the B.S. degree in geology from Chengdu University of Technology (China) in 1983, and the Ph.D. degree in hydrogeology with a minor in civil & environmental engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1988. From 1988 to 1993, he was a hydrogeologist at the environmental consulting firm S.S. Papadopulos & Associates, Inc. Since 1993, he has been a professor of hydrogeology in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Alabama.

For a profile of Chunmiao Zheng click here.

"The most global public policy school, where an international community of students and faculty address world challenges."

—Merit E. Janow, Dean, SIPA, Professor of Practice, International and Economic Law and International Affairs

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