"Visual Investigations: Pioneering a New Form of Accountability Journalism" with Christiaan Triebert

Please note that due to licensing restrictions on the images to be used in the presentation, we will not be recording this event.

Thursday, January 27, 2022
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET

Visual Investigations combine traditional reporting with digital sleuthing and the forensic analysis of visual evidence to find truth, hold the powerful to account, and deconstruct important news events. In his talk, Christiaan Triebert, a journalist on the Visual Investigations team at The New York Times, will share how his team exposed the Russian bombing of hospitals in Syria, identified the flawed ways in which the US military dismisses civilian casualties, revealed how Iran shot down a civilian airliner, investigated police brutality in the United States, and more.

This lecture is part of the Social Cybersecurity Series and is co-sponsored by the Center for Informed Democracy and Social-cybersecurity (IDeaS).

A Conversation with Dr. Peter Highnam, Deputy Director of DARPA 

Wednesday, February 2, 2022
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET

Watch the event here.  Please note: Your Andrew ID is required to access the recording.

Join us for a conversation with Dr. Peter Highnam, Deputy Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and alumnus of the CMU School of Computer Science. 

This event is co-sponsored by the University Lecture Series.

"Race Against Time: The Politics of a Darkening America" with Keith Boykin

Wednesday, February 9, 2022
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET

Watch the event here.  Please note: Your Andrew ID is required to access the recording.

Keith Boykin is a CNN political commentator, New York Times best-selling author, and a former White House aide to President Bill Clinton. America can no longer avoid its long-overdue reckoning with the past, Boykin argues. With the familiarity of personal experience and the acuity of historical insight, Boykin urges us to fight racism, sexism, xenophobia, and homophobia, and save the union, not just by making Black lives matter, but by making Black lives equal.

About Keith Boykin

A graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, Keith has taught at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University in New York and at American University in Washington, DC. He is a co-founder and first board president of the National Black Justice Coalition and a Lambda Literary Award-winning author of four books. His new book is Race Against Time: The Politics of a Darkening America (September 14, 2021).

Lives Uprooted: A Panel on the Transition in Afghanistan

Thursday, February 17, 2022
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET

Watch a recording of the event here.

This panel will discuss the Afghan transition that occurred when the United States withdrew their troops and the Taliban took over, displacing 80,000 Afghan citizens as refugees, with a focus on Afghan resettlement in the Pittsburgh area. The panel will include Ivonne Smith-Tapia, the Director of Refugee and Immigrant Services at Jewish Family and Community Services of Pittsburgh; Sohrab Bakhshi, contractor for the US Military and former Afghan refugee who personally experienced the transition when he was brought to the US under a Special Immigrant Visa; historian Emanuela Grama, Associate Professor and Director of Global Studies at CMU, who will discuss dislocation and its related side effects; and Daniel Silverman, IPS Assistant Professor.

This event is presented by the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion in partnership with the Institute for Politics and Strategy.

"American Democracy at the Crossroads" with Steven Levitsky

Thursday, February 24, 2022
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET

Watch a recording of the event here.

Join us for a conversation with Dr. Steven Levitsky, David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies and Professor of Government at Harvard University. Dr. Levitsky will preview his next publication, a follow-up to the 2018 best-selling book How Democracies Die, which The Economist called "the most important book of the Trump era."

This lecture is co-sponsored by the CMU chapter of the Alexander Hamilton Society.

On the Brink: A Panel Discussion on Russia and Ukraine

Monday, February 28, 2022
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET

Join us for a panel discussion of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Moderated by Dr. Andreea Deciu Ritivoi, William S. Dietrich Professor of English and Head of the English Department, the panel will feature:

• Dr. Daniel Silverman, Assistant Professor, Institute for Politics and Strategy
• Dr. David Parker, Assistant Teaching Professor of Russian Studies, Department of Modern Languages
• Dr. Wendy Goldman, Paul Mellon Distinguished Professor of History, Department of History
• Dr. Emanuela Grama, Assistant Professor and Director of Global Studies, Department of History

This event is co-sponsored by Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Department of Modern Languages, the Department of History, and the Department of English.

"How Ukraine Won the Information Fight" with P.W. Singer

Wednesday, March 23, 2022 
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET

Watch a recording of the event.

Join us for a talk with P.W. Singer, a best-selling author whom The Wall Street Journal described as “one of Washington’s pre-eminent futurists,” and a consultant for groups that range from the CIA and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to Hollywood and the Call of Duty video game series, as he discusses how Ukraine has already won the information fight, and how the key trends that are emerging today will shape the world of technology and security tomorrow.

This lecture is part of the Social Cybersecurity Series and is co-sponsored by the Center for Informed Democracy and Social-cybersecurity (IDeaS).

"Ukraine: A Road of Unjust Conflict"

a panel discussion on the war in Europe

Tuesday, April 5, 2022
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET

Watch a recording of the event here.

Nearly a month into the war in Ukraine, after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces over the border, the battles have not unfolded as predicted. The Ukrainian armed forces have fought off their better-equipped aggressors and President Volodymyr Zelensky has become an international hero, but rocket attacks have reduced cities to rubble and sent millions of refugees fleeing into Europe. 

Join us for a panel discussion to contextualize the war and look ahead to what comes next, featuring moderator Dan Silverman, IPS Assistant Professor, and subject-matter experts:

• Anna Pechenkina, an Assistant Professor in Utah State University's Political Science department, an expert on Ukrainian history and politics, and a former IPS Postdoctoral Fellow;
• Emily Channell-Justice, the Director of the Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program in Harvard University's Ukrainian Research Institute;
• Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon, a Penn Presidential PhD Fellow in the University of Pennsylvania's Department of History.

This event is co-sponsored by the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

A Conversation on Social Media, Insurgent Groups, and January 6 with Nicole Matejic

Tuesday, April 12, 2022
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET

Watch a recording of the event here. Be sure to have your Andrew ID ready to log in.

In this presentation, Nicole will discuss how terrorist organizations use social media to influence, radicalize, and recruit followers. From weaponizing content to the behavioral economics behind how master narratives and information are shared, Nicole will talk in depth about how social media can be so effective to susceptible people and why terrorism isn’t always the outcome. Nicole will also cover how the convergence of violent extremism and information disorder (mis/mal/disinformation) is manifesting as evidenced through events such as the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. As a multidisciplinary practitioner and scholar, Nicole’s presentation will span the breadth of her academic and operational expertise across terrorism studies, behavioral economics, psychology, and the influence vectors within content marketing.

This lecture is part of the Social Cybersecurity Series and is co-sponsored by the Center for Informed Democracy and Social-cybersecurity (IDeaS) and the Carnegie Mellon Chapter of Women in International Security (WIIS).

Town Hall with Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey

Friday, April 22, 2022
11 a.m. ET

Watch a recording of the event here.

Mayor Ed Gainey grew up in East Liberty and saw firsthand the economic hardships many families face in our city. Raised by a single mother, he counted on the support of his extended family and community to build a pathway to high school and college. Inspired to do the same for others, Gainey discovered in college that an effective government can be a powerful tool to fight injustice and uplift communities. As a State Representative in Harrisburg he was on the front line fighting for working families, and as Mayor of Pittsburgh he'll work everyday to make Pittsburgh a city where all can belong and contribute. Ed and his wife Michelle have three children and live in the Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood of Pittsburgh.