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Perry World House

Africa’s Iron Lady 
Former president of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf sits on a stage with NPR reporter Deborah Amos, with rows of onlookers in chairs and a sign behind them reading Perry World House

Former President of Liberia and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (left) speaks with National Public Radio international correspondent Deborah Amos at Perry World House on Sept. 28. 2021. (Image: Courtesy Amy Guo of Penn Lens)

Africa’s Iron Lady 

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former president of Liberia and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, came to Perry World House as part of the Global Order Colloquium.

Kristen de Groot

Perry World House turns 5
grand opening of perry world house

Students, faculty, dignitaries, and special guests came out for the grand opening of Perry World House on Sept. 20, 2016.

Perry World House turns 5

In a photo essay, Penn Today highlights some of the center’s memorable guests and events from over the half decade.

Kristen de Groot

Afghanistan’s future after the U.S. withdrawal
Meg Guliford, John Gans, Wazhmah Osman and Trudy Rubin sit in chairs on a stage with the words Perry World House on the wall behind them

The Perry World House event featuring Meg K. Guliford (left), John Gans (second from left), Wazhmah Osman (second from right) looked at the future of Afghanistan and was moderated by Trudy Rubin (right).

Afghanistan’s future after the U.S. withdrawal

Perry World House held a hybrid panel this week to look at what the future holds for Afghanistan, featuring in-person speakers and audience members, as well as virtual attendees watching online.

Kristen de Groot

What do variants and vaccines mean for COVID-19’s ‘new normal’?
people standing outside in a line wearing masks

What do variants and vaccines mean for COVID-19’s ‘new normal’?

The first of this fall’s Perry World House ‘The World Today’ series featured a conversation on the future of the pandemic with experts in vaccines, viruses, and public health.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Haiti in turmoil
Perry World House exterior

(Image: Eric Sucar)

Haiti in turmoil

Perry World House Visiting Fellow Henri-Paul Normandin, former Canadian ambassador to Haiti, reflects on the current situation and where Haiti goes from here.

Kristen de Groot

U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, explained
US soldiers holding guns are running behind a tank with an American flag on top in sand in Syria

The 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team on the ground in Syria. (Image: The National Guard)

U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, explained

Sara Plana, a 2021-22 Postdoctoral Fellow at Perry World House, shares her thoughts on the airstrikes targeting Iranian-backed militias and the bigger picture of what’s happening in the region.

Kristen de Groot

Belarus plane ‘hijacking,’ journalist’s arrest brings international condemnation
Six people stand in a square in Poland in front of a statue of a man in toga, some hold Belarusian flags, one woman holds a sign reading "SOS" and a man holds a photo of Belarusian journalist Raman Pratasevich

Marches and protests in solidarity with Belarusian dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich have popped up around Europe since his arrest on May 23. (Image: Courtesy of Paŭliuk Šapiećka)

Belarus plane ‘hijacking,’ journalist’s arrest brings international condemnation

Penn Today spoke to former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Alexander Vershbow, currently the Wolk Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Perry World House, to get some background, his take on the ordeal, and what should happen next.

Kristen de Groot

Locked down: Global mobility and COVID-19
illegal immigration displaced persons camp concept of little boy in black and orange clothes holding fence with barbed wire in desert on state border

The pandemic has led to extreme limits on human movement,  turning borders into barriers for refugees and asylum seekers. The topic was the theme of Perry World House’s 2021 Global Shifts Colloquium.

Locked down: Global mobility and COVID-19

At Perry World House’s 2021 Global Shifts Colloquium, Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, addressed how limits on human movement during the pandemic have affected refugees and asylum seekers.

Kristen de Groot

Logistics of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout
nurse holding the covid vaccine against blue background

A nurse holds a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, a mRNA-based vaccine approved for emergency use by the FDA in December.

Logistics of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Penn experts demystify the process of shipping a vaccine and, ultimately, getting it into arms.