IGL Newsletter: September 2019

This year’s Inquiry program focused on cities as the frontlines of the opportunities and challenges of mass migration movements. While decision-making on migration policies is focused at national and international levels, it is cities and local governments that face the humanitarian, economic and security repercussions directly.

The EPIIC Inquiry Committee worked throughout the first semester to determine the best way to tackle the issue of “Migration in a Turbulent World” in a simulation and to introduce the topic to the high school students, reading a broad range of articles and book excerpts.

The main issues they decided on became the organizing committees: Leadership and Governance, Urban Planning, Economic Integration, Social Cohesion, Youth and Education, Health, and Resilience. Read more...

The IGL is pleased to announce that the Cummings Foundation has awarded the Institute a $100,000 grant for its proposal on “Human Rights, Human Security and Preparing the Next Generation of U.S. and Global Policy Leaders” and that two IGL alumnae have assumed leadership of the IGL External Advisory Board, Maria (Figueroa) Kupcu, EPIIC’92, and Jennifer (Hooper) Selendy, EPIIC’90.

Cummings Foundation
Recent major events in the world – from the wars in Syria and Yemen to ongoing refugee and migration crises such as in Myanmar – have left U.S. and international foreign policy experts and policymakers reactive, with U.S. and global actors determining their positions and responses as the human crises grow, trying to balance stability with the reality of rapid change. Yet, all too often, the consequences of these deliberations are borne by the people on the ground who are facing violence and displacement. As U.S. and international foreign policy establishments re-examine global priorities, interests and policies in the midst of rising populism, nationalism, xenophobia, authoritarianism and anti-globalization movements, the human security challenges are likely to worsen for millions of people in the coming years. The international environment is in a state of flux, with new rising powers and non-traditional actors, and the potential for increasing global disruption and human rights abuses. Read more...

Tufts Amnesty International is a student-led organization that joined the Institute for Global Leadership in 2009. The organization brings the mission of Amnesty International, the world’s largest human rights organization, to the Tufts community and Greater Boston area.

“It’s easy to feel useless in a world where human tragedy is so frequent, yet so distant. Tufts Amnesty International allows me to do my part in amplifying the tribulations of those whose basic human rights have been violated to the few people with the power to help them,” said Sophomore and treasurer Arlen Belitsky. Read more...

Students are encouraged to engage in experiential education by conducting original, policy-relevant research, developing innovative projects, and participating in a broad range of internships. These opportunities allow for the application of theory to practice and lead to a better understanding of the global community.

This summer, the IGL funded 34 undergraduate and graduate students to participate in internships, conduct research, and work on projects in 13 countries. The internships ranged from the Immigration Hub with alumna Kerri Talbot in Washington, DC to Endeavor in Dubai to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research in Geneva. The research included studying the possibility of an East African Federation in Kenya to the maritime industry in Greece. Projects took students from doing narrative storytelling on the deindustrialization and rebuilding of cities such as Johnstown, PA to working with PHASE Nepal on the feasibility of health initiatives in Nepal to installing digital libraries in Ecuador. Read more...

Nichole Sobecki (A’09) is a photographer and filmmaker based in Nairobi, Kenya. She is an alumna of IGL programs – EPIIC 2006 The Politics of Fear, Exposure – Human Rights and Photojournalism 2005-09 – and was an adviser to the IGL’s Program for Narrative and Documentary Practice. She is represented internationally by VII Photo Agency.

Nichole graduated from Tufts University and began her career in Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria, focusing on regional issues related to identity, conflict, and human rights. Read more...

ALLIES hosted its annual FieldEx (Field Exercise for Peacekeeping and Stability Operations) in April, in North Kingstown, RI. FieldEx is a kinetic simulation organized by ALLIES undergraduate students. ALLIES is the IGL’s civil-military initiative.

The scenario for this year featured a secularizing monarchy, the House of Kulak, and the state government struggling to contend with hardline religious rebels, the Matthians, for control. The event saw students from across the spectrum of academic disciplines involved in this dynamic, crisis exercise, navigating political and armed conflicts, not just between factions, but also within factions. Each faction also had to contend with resource distribution in its economy, as well as to grapple with escalation mechanics and tactical operations for attaining territorial control – all simulated on a paintball field. This was happening amidst a substantial civilian population with their own agency and ambitions. Read more...

After more than a month at the Immigration Hub in Washington, DC, I have come to fully recognize the importance of the organization’s work, and I am honored to have a place in it. The ongoing humanitarian crisis at our border and the horrific conditions in immigration detention facilities are making national headlines, and it seems that much of the country is waking up to a crisis that has been building for years. I feel privileged to be working on the front lines of what I consider to be the most pressing humanitarian and moral crisis facing our country right now. Read more...

You would not think it, but I find it relatively easy – too easy - to imagine I am just a typical, all-American, home-for-summer camp counselor again. Sure, instead of meeting at the community pool we sit in an abandoned olive grove, and the kids chatter in Farsi or Arabic or Congolese Portuguese or Cameroonian French, but we still sing those same, all too catchy songs and get sticky with glue crafting low budget toilet roll rocket ships.

However, that façade of normality quickly and often jarringly collapses at unexpected moments; when I am swarmed by children clawing for macaroni intended for their necklace but which will be eaten before it is ever thread; the violent and racially charged rock fight that suddenly ensues over the broken toy shopping cart which would be considered trash back home. Interactions like this serve as constant reminders of the severity of the situation on this tiny island in the far eastern Aegean. Read more...

The Institute is pleased to announce that the inaugural Jonathan Moore Memorial Lecture on Ethics and Global Leadership will be held on Wednesday, December 4, at 6:00pm in the ASEAN Auditorium at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Ambassador Samantha Power will give the inaugural lecture.

Ambassador Samantha Power is the Anna Lindh Professor of the Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and the William D. Zabel ’61 Professor of Practice in Human Rights at Harvard Law School. Learn more...
December 4, 2019

In 2019-20, EPIIC will be studying “Preventing Genocide and Mass Atrocities”, bringing in more than 16 guest lecturers to the first semester of class. Since the Holocaust, we have often repeated “never again”, but too often the world has failed to prevent genocidal violence, making “never again” an empty slogan. The ongoing conflicts in Syria and Myanmar have ensured that genocide and mass atrocities are once again headline news. Why do people commit genocide and kill in large numbers? How do they commit mass atrocities? What can be done to prevent and halt such conscience-shocking atrocities? The 2019-2020 EPIIC Colloquium will examine the historical, political, economic and social causes of genocide and mass killings. It will consider several empirical cases, including in North America, South West Africa, the Ottoman Empire, Germany, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Sudan, Libya, Syria, and Myanmar. The course will assess how the international community can prevent genocide and mass atrocities by analyzing the role of international courts and ad hoc tribunals; the development of norms such as the Responsibility to Protect; the role of the United Nations; and the responses of regional institutions such as the European Union and the African Union.
This year’s EPIIC symposium will be March 26-28, 2020.

The Institute will be offering a course on “Microfinance and Financial Inclusion” taught by Adam Grenier. Microfinance is a powerful tool in the anti-poverty toolkit to help people in challenging economic conditions have a more prosperous life. In this course, we address how small improvements can be made and take a comprehensive look at microfinance and its impact on people and societies. After forming a solid understanding of the various solutions offered under the microfinance umbrella (credit, savings, insurance), we examine opportunities for domestic and international microfinance initiatives. Students actively participate in the microfinance experience by lending to an actual business owner of their choice, analyzing real-time case studies from around the globe, and interacting with Boston-area microfinance professionals and beneficiaries. Additionally, in partnership with the nonprofit Human Connections, the instructor leads an optional experiential learning trip to Latin America to complement the classroom curriculum and bring you closer to the realities of microfinance. Grenier lived and worked in Sierra Leone in 2008 as a Fellow with Kiva.org. Over the past nine years, he has traveled to Colombia, Mongolia, Mexico, and Ecuador – the latter two with Tufts students as part of the Global Engagement Trip program - to continue his research in microfinance in an effort to bridge the academic with real world lessons. Grenier is also a Certified Financial Planner with Fidelity Investments.
September 9, 6:30PM - 9:00PM, Eaton Hall, Room 207

The Institute for Global Leadership – in collaboration with UNICEF USA, the Massachusetts Coalition to End Human Trafficking and New England International Donors – will hold a screening of the new film “Jhalki”, along with a panel discussion led by the filmmaker. “Jhalki,”is set against the backdrop of bonded child labour, trafficking and lost childhood in India. The panel will feature: Bhramanand Singh, the film’s director and founder of Mobius Films; Danielle Heitmann of the Massachusetts Coalition Against Human Trafficking and RIA House; Peter Qualliotine of CEASE Boston/World Without Exploitation; and Stacy Reed, RIA House Counselor and Survivor Leader.
September 16, 5:00pm - 9:00pm, ASEAN Auditorium