57 Events

President Jimmy Carter along with George M. Seignious, right, director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency briefs community leaders on SALT II at the White House in Washington, Oct. 12, 1979.

AP/Charles Tasnadi

Seminar - Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

A Strange Arms Debate: Legitimation, Essential Equivalence, and Carter's Nuclear Strategy

Thu., Feb. 1, 2024 | 12:15pm - 1:45pm

One Brattle Square - Room 350

Speaker: Colleen Larkin, Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom

President Jimmy Carter entered office committed to reducing the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. foreign policy. He espoused the logic of mutually assured destruction and hoped for major arms control progress. Yet by the end of his presidency, he had embraced a competitive nuclear posture and accelerated the arms race. What explains this shift in Carter’s strategy? 

Open to Harvard ID Holders Only: Admittance will be on a first come–first served basis. Coffee &Tea Provided.

Seminar - Open to the Public

AI Cyber Lunch: "Reimagining Democracy for the Age of AI"

Wed., Jan. 31, 2024 | 12:00pm - 1:00pm

Rubenstein Building - David T. Ellwood Democracy Lab, Room 414AB

Everyone is talking about AI-accelerated misinformation, but few are thinking deeply about how AI will change democracy. In this talk, HKS Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy Bruce Schneier will go far beyond deepfakes to explore the full spectrum of how AI will impact democratic governance, from AI legislators to AI judges, from AI written laws to AI law enforcement. Some of the possibilities are further away than others, but glimmers of many of them are already emerging in the United States and around the world and all are grounded in current-day science and technology. Whatever our future brings, it's going to be a wild ride.

Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.

Registration: No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis. All are welcome to attend virtually via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link.

Recording: Please be advised that this seminar will not be recorded. The event organizers prohibit any attendees, including journalists, from audio/visual recording or distributing parts or all of the event program without prior written authorization.

Accessibility: To request accommodations or for questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

Seminar - Open to the Public

AI Cyber Lunch: Anne Boustead on "Measuring Encryption"

Wed., Nov. 8, 2023 | 12:00pm - 1:00pm

Rubenstein Building - David T. Ellwood Democracy Lab, Room 414AB

Law enforcement argues that "warrant-proof" encrypted devices and communications can hinder the investigation of serious criminal activities, but civil liberties and technology policy groups say that undermining consumer encryption threatens privacy, cybersecurity, and human rights. But what do the empirical data say?

Please join the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program and HKS Library and Research Services for an AI Cyber Lunch Seminar featuring Anne Boustead, Assistant Professor at the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona. In a talk entitled, "Measuring Encryption," Boustead will explore some of the legal and policy issues that could be informed by additional data on encounters with encrypted devices in the criminal justice system.

Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.

Registration: In-person attendance is limited to current Harvard ID holders. No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis. All are welcome to attend virtually via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: Please be advised that this seminar will not be recorded. The event organizers prohibit any attendees, including journalists, from audio/visual recording or distributing parts or all of the event program without prior written authorization.

Accessibility: To request accommodations or for questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

A lead in the Arctic Ocean sea ice runs beneath the icebreaker Polarstern.

Manuel Ernst

Seminar - Open to the Public

Arctic Governance and Cooperation Through Conflict

Tue., Sep. 12, 2023 | 12:00pm - 1:00pm

Belfer Building - Land Hall, 4th Floor

Once a symbol of international cooperation and peace, the Arctic now stands at a crossroads between geopolitical tension and diverse opportunities and challenges that require collaboration. Following Russia's actions in Ukraine and subsequent shifts in Arctic governance, how will nations advance significant policy issues, such as climate science and emergency response, without a functioning governance system?

Join the Arctic Initiative and its partners for an engaging discussion with a panel of international experts to unpack the Arctic's intricate challenges and their global ramifications, from international politics to climate impacts. 

Q&A to follow. Boxed lunches will be available to-go following the seminar.

Registration: In-person attendance is limited to current Harvard ID holders. No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis.

Members of the public are welcome to attend virtually via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: The seminar will be recorded and available to watch on this page.

Accessibility: To request accommodations or for questions about access, please contact Elizabeth Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

Co-Sponsors: Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI), the Center for Ocean Governance at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), and the Wilson Center's Polar Institute.

Seminar - Open to the Public

AI Cyber Lunch: Marc Rotenberg on "The Emergence of Legal Norms for the Governance of AI"

Wed., Mar. 8, 2023 | 12:00pm - 1:00pm

Wexner Building - Room 434 A-B

Please join the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program for an AI Cyber Lunch Seminar featuring Marc Rotenberg, founder and president of the Center for AI and Digital Policy. Rotenberg will give a talk entitled "The Emergence of Legal Norms for the Governance of AI."

Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.

Registration: In-person attendance is limited to current Harvard ID holders. No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis.

Members of the public are welcome to attend virtually via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: Please be advised that this seminar will not be recorded.

Accessibility: Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

U.S. Census envelope in mailbox

Public Domain

Seminar - Open to the Public

The Population Census in Brazil and the US: Importance, Challenges, and Confidentiality

Wed., Oct. 27, 2021 | 12:00pm - 1:15pm

Online

Speakers:  John AbowdAssociate Director for Research and Methodology and Chief Scientist, United States Census Bureau; Eduardo Rios Neto, President, Brazilian National Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE)

Moderator: Marcia Castro, Andelot Professor of Demography; Chair, Department of Global Health and Population, HSPH; Chair, Brazil Studies Program

Everyone is welcome. Please register via Zoom:
https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0U0low0_SaSFZUwYGVqUow

A deserted classroom in Pripyat, Ukraine, three decades after the Chernobyl disaster, 10 March 2013.

Wikimedia CC/DmytroChapman

Seminar - Open to the Public

Recent Lessons for the Recovery from Acts of Radiological and Nuclear Terrorism

Thu., Oct. 29, 2020 | 12:15pm - 2:00pm

Online

Speaker: Julius Weitzdörfer, Junior Professor of East Asian Law, Hagen University, Germany

Risks stemming from CBRN-terrorism (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) are characterized by relatively low frequency, yet extraordinary potential impact. To help reduce the enormous potential costs associated with radiological and nuclear terrorism, drawing on cases from Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, this seminar seeks to derive and improve recovery policies towards a well-rounded, holistic approach to mitigating the risks of nuclear and radiological terrorism.

Everyone is welcome to join us online via Zoom! Register in advance for this meeting: https://harvard.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAoc-yhrjwrEtEXOUTdHqGhMvLscB5VO38u

Cascade of gas centrifuges used to produce enriched uranium in the U.S. gas centrifuge plant in Piketon, Ohio, 1984.

DOE Photo

Seminar - Open to the Public

A-Bomb for the People: Domestic Drivers of Nuclear Latency

Thu., June 4, 2020 | 12:15pm - 2:00pm

Online

Speakers: Rebecca Davis Gibbons, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom; Ariel Petrovics, Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom

Though only nine states in the world today are believed to possess their own nuclear weapons, many more states have the capability to pursue a nuclear bomb if they choose. This capability – or nuclear latency – has recently drawn attention in international relations scholarship, which largely focuses on the effects of latency on international deterrence, compellence, and bargaining. While this research helps explain the security benefits and motives that may drive states to pursue nuclear capabilities short of the bomb, it has yet to determine how domestic politics play into these considerations. This project explores how public opinion factors into state decisions to pursue or forgo latent nuclear capabilities. In doing so, it seeks to offer new insight into when and why latency can become a salient topic to domestic audiences, and the implications of these domestic drivers for the future of nonproliferation.

Everyone is welcome to join us online via Zoom! Please register in advance for this seminar:
https://harvard.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwuc-qrqj4pG90vSX2_VoG35zaE6L6mkPQt

Seminar - Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

A Conversation with Three Indigenous Women Leaders

Tue., Oct. 29, 2019 | 4:00pm - 5:30pm

Littauer Building - Room 332

Moderator: Joel Clement, Senior Fellow, Arctic Initiative

Speakers: Gunn-Britt Retter, Head, Arctic and Environmental Unit, Saami Council

Deenaalee Hodgdon, Student, Brown University; Indigenous Activist

Raina Thiele, Founder and President; Thiele Strategies

Join the Arctic Initiative for an engaging and illuminating conversation with three indigenous leaders: Gunn-Britt Retter, Head of Arctic and Environmental Unit of the Saami Council; Deenaalee Hodgdon, Brown University student and indigenous activist, who is a Deg Hit'an Athabaskan and Supiaq woman from the villages of Anvik and South Naknek, Alaska; and Raina Thiele, Founder and President of Thiele Strategies who was born and raised in Alaska and is Dena'ina Athabascan and Yup'ikas.

Please RSVP to Brittany_Janis@hks.harvard.edu.

Seminar - Open to the Public

Governing AI — How Do We Do It?

Wed., Jan. 30, 2019 | 8:00am - 9:00am

Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369

Speaker: Mr. Tommy Ahlers, Minister of Higher Education and Science, Kingdom of Denmark

Moderators: Professor John P. Holdren, Co-Director, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program and Professor Daniel Schrag, Co-Director, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program

Please join us for an open discussion over breakfast on the usage and potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and the legislative challenges that usage of such new technology entails. The minister will present the challenges that he is wrestling with in this field and afterwards open up the floor for discussion.

Please RSVP to patricia_mclaughlin@hks.harvard.edu by 4 PM, Tuesday, January 29, 2019.