376 Events

Beth Noveck

Kathleen Dooher

Seminar - Open to the Public

AI Cyber Lunch: "Beyond Deliberation: Deepening Participation with AI"

Wed., Feb. 28, 2024 | 12:00pm - 1:00pm

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

Over the past decade, various forms of representative, small group conversations—known collectively as sortition—have gained in global popularity. Those willing to participate are selected from among a larger sample of the population to meet offline or on for informed policy conversations. Now AI companies, too, are staging these civic dialogues in the hope of appearing more responsive to public input. 

In this AI Cyber Lunch, Beth Noveck, Professor of Experiential AI and Director of the Burnes Center for Social Change at Northeastern University, will discuss how AI could help us fashion better deliberation and more powerful forms of democratic engagement. 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.

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.

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.

Aerial view of Fairbanks, Alaska

Quintin Soloviev/Wikimedia Commons

Seminar - Open to the Public

Building Climate Resilience in the Urban Arctic

Thu., Apr. 27, 2023 | 12:00pm - 1:00pm

Online

Contrary to popular perception, the Arctic is not a desolate wilderness: four million people call the Arctic home, two-thirds of whom reside in urban settlements. Like the region as a whole, the rapid pace of climate change is making life in Arctic cities—challenging at the best of times due to winter darkness, remoteness, and cold weather—increasingly difficult. Climate-induced hazards, such as permafrost thaw, sea ice loss, sea level rise, erosion, flooding, and wildfires, pose severe risks to urban infrastructure and the health and livelihoods of urban residents. 

Please join Harvard Kennedy School’s Arctic Initiative and the Arctic Mayors’ Forum for a virtual seminar that will explore how Arctic cities are addressing the current and future impacts of climate change, as well as the lessons that Arctic cities and other cities elsewhere in the world can learn from each other’s experiences. The panel will feature Ida Maria Pinnerød, Mayor of Bodø, Norway; Annika Myrén, Development Strategist of the City of Umeå, Sweden; and Bryce Ward, Mayor of Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska. Arctic Initiative Postdoctoral Research Fellow Nadezhda Filimonova will moderate. Q&A to follow. 

Attendance: This event is open to the public and hosted on Zoom. For those who cannot attend live, the seminar will be recorded and available to watch on this page (typically within two weeks). Those who register for this event will automatically receive a link to the recording as soon as it becomes available.

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

Seminar - Open to the Public

AI Cyber Lunch: Pamela Smith on "Justified Confidence: The Role of Trust in Elections"

Wed., Apr. 19, 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 Pamela Smith, President and CEO of Verified Voting. Smith will give a talk entitled "Justified Confidence: The Role of Trust in Elections."

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

Registration: No RSVP is required for in-person attendance. 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: 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

Energy Policy Seminar: Eyck Freymann on "Chinese Perspectives on Climate Geopolitics"

Mon., Mar. 27, 2023 | 12:00pm - 1:15pm

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

Join us for an Energy Policy Seminar featuring Eyck Freymann, joint Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Belfer Center's Arctic Initiative and Columbia University. Freymann will give a talk on "Chinese Perspectives on Climate Geopolitics." 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. The seminar will also be streamed 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 (typically one week later). Those who register for this event will automatically receive a link to the recording as soon as it becomes available.

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.

Sponsors: The Belfer Center's Environment and Natural Resources Program, the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, the Harvard University Center for the Environment, the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability

An unarmed U.S. Air Force LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches at 4:36 a.m. PST during an operational test Dec. 17, 2013, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Public Domain/USAF Airman 1st Class Yvonne Morales

Seminar - Open to the Public

The Delicate Balance of Error: Perceived Counterforce Feasibility and the Nuclear Taboo

Thu., Mar. 2, 2023 | 12:15pm - 2:00pm

Online

Speaker: David M. Allison, Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom

As geopolitical and technological shifts challenge the underpinnings of nuclear deterrence, the implications of a nuclear taboo become increasingly important. Crucially, if the prohibition against nuclear use is binding, improved counterforce capabilities should have no effect on support for use. This seminar presents the results of a series of experiments designed to identify taboo believers and measure the durability of their commitment to nuclear non-use by increasing their perceptions of the military effectiveness of counterforce strikes. 

Everyone is welcome to join us online via Zoom! Please register in advance for this seminar: https://harvard.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUvc-uorTkoG9C3zILDI0wrhkBFNJWCkWIU

Seminar - Open to the Public

Polar Cousins: Comparing Antarctic and Arctic Geostrategic Futures

Thu., Jan. 26, 2023 | 12:00pm - 1:00pm

Taubman Building - Allison Dining Room, 5th Floor

Once considered "flyover country at the edge of the world," the Arctic, the Antarctic, and their associated marine environments are emerging as regions for exploration, exploitation, and extraction - as well as active arenas for geopolitical competition between polar and near-polar states. How that competition plays out will have serious ramifications for environmental, political, economic, and human security and stability around the globe. 

Please join the Arctic Initiative for a book talk featuring Douglas Causey, Arctic Initiative Associate and Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and Christian Leuprecht, Class of 1965 Professor in Leadership at the Royal Military College of Canada. Drawing from their new book, Polar Cousins: Comparing Antarctic and Arctic Geostrategic Futures, co-editors Causey and Leuprecht will  discuss the impacts of geopolitics and climate change on national and international security interests in both polar regions, as well as the lessons learned from the Arctic experience for addressing challenges relating to governance, environmental protection, and maritime operations in the Antarctic.

Arctic Initiative Co-Director John P. Holdren will moderate. Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.

Attendance: In-person attendance is limited to Harvard ID holders; no RSVP required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first serve 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 (typically one week later). Those who register for this event will automatically receive a link to the recording as soon as it becomes available.

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

Satellite image of the Bering Strait and Diomede Islands

NASA

Conference - Open to the Public

Bering Strait: Navigation and Conservation in Times of Conflict

Wed., Nov. 2, 2022 | 12:30pm - 4:30pm

Online

The Bering Strait region is a particularly unique area - one of the Arctic's most productive and sensitive environments but also a region increasingly facing pressure and challenges. Amidst an upheaval in relations between Russia and the other Arctic states exist transboundary risks associated with increased vessel activity, which continue to advance despite these deteriorated conditions.  

Please join the Harvard Kennedy School's Arctic Initiative, the Wilson Center's Polar Institute, and the World Wildlife Fund for a virtual workshop on transboundary risk management in the Bering Strait region.

Registration: This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP using the link below. For those who cannot attend live, the seminar will be recorded and available to watch on this page.

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.