Fraught with geopolitical turmoil, the overwhelming volume of news about the world today is rife with misinformation. Whether aiming for careers in global affairs or wanting more of an accurate in-depth analysis, students at the University of Pennsylvania are looking to bypass the surface-level content of most mass media and, instead, learn directly from the experts who are actually working on contemporary issues.
Creating a space for this type of global engagement was one of the primary reasons Penn established Perry World House, which is fulfilling the need for in-depth examinations with an innovative, but informal, weekly conversation series, “The World Today.”
Launched in the fall of 2016, and held in PWH’s Global Policy Lab, “The World Today” is geared toward Penn students who are short on time but hungry for deeper knowledge behind what’s happening in the news cycle.
“Students tell us that they appreciate having a space where they can come on a regular basis to learn about and engage in global areas of concern,” says LaShawn R. Jefferson, deputy director of PWH. “It’s a place where students can ask any kind of question they have. There’s no judgment or sense of this is something you can only come to if you’re an expert.”
Each event starts at 4:30 p.m. and runs for an hour. It consists of a 20- to 30-minute presentation about an issue of immediate global concern, followed by a question-and-answer session that does not require advanced reading or preparation.
“The World Today” harnesses the full spectrum of Penn’s geopolitical expertise to generate dialogues that do more than just impact public policy. These conversations help to inform the next generation of policymakers coming out of Penn with the knowledge they need to collaborate with other experts in order to address urgent issues.
“We’re trying to give students access to a variety of topics that are globally pressing,” says Kate Leader, the series organizer and program manager, adding that her colleagues at Perry World House engage students, faculty, and staff from as many of Penn’s schools and centers as possible. “Because interdisciplinarity is so much a part of not only our DNA but our mandate as a provost’s center, we approach all of our work with that in mind.”
In spring 2017, expert guests included Practice Professor of Law Sarah Paoletti, a global human-rights expert and director of Penn Law’s Transnational Legal Clinic; PWH Visiting Fellow Tom Wyler, former member of the Office of Policy and Strategic Planning at the Department of Commerce and former counselor to the secretary; and Arun Kumar Singh, former Indian ambassador to the United States.
Last fall speakers included Yevgenia Albats, a Russian investigative journalist who was a shared inaugural PWH visiting writer-in-residence with Kelly Writers House, and PWH Visiting Fellow Derek Chollet, executive vice president and senior advisor for security and defense policy at the German Marshall Fund of the U.S.
This spring, the series continues to include a wide-range of topics. Rangita de Silva de Alwis, the associate dean of international affairs at Penn Law who teaches international women’s human rights law, discussed “Attacks on Women’s Education as a Marker of Violent Extremism: The Need for a Breakthrough Security Council Resolution and Feminist Foreign Policy.”
Later this semester, PWH Visiting Fellow Graeme Wood, a correspondent with The Atlantic and the 2015-2016 Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, led a dialogue which focused on “Lessons from ISIL for Jihadists and their Enemies.” And on March 27, Frank Hoffman, an alumnus of the Wharton School and a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, addressed “Sharpening the U.S. Competitive Edge: America’s New Defense Strategy.”
“The beauty of PWH,” Jefferson explains, “is that it fosters one-on-one direct contact by carving out time for that to happen and by providing a place where policy makers, practitioners, and academics can be in dialogue about common issues, concerns, and policy proposals. People don’t meet face to face as much as they need to, but everything in this life begins with a relationship.”
Since its inception, “The World Today” discussion topics have tackled international conflict, terrorism, refugees, China as a rising global power, and the new elements of the American Defense Strategy.
“President Amy Gutmann’s commitment to global engagement and the broader globalization of Penn, particularly through her Penn Compact 2020 has put considerable urgency, resources, and institutional political will behind this enterprise. It has manifested itself in different and complementary ways across the University, and ‘The World Today’ is one of those ways,” Jefferson adds. “Penn is leading the charge in the international policy arena.”
