On Tuesday, the School of International and Public Affairs hosted its first inaugural summit for the Institute of Global Politics, where Secretary Clinton and Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo gave opening remarks. Dean Yarhi-Milo said, “We need to break out of the echo chamber, and move beyond the U.S. centric approach that has sometimes limited our ability to solve global challenges.”
“Secretary Clinton has inspired us to be more ambitious, bold, and creative. Coming to faculty meetings, and even chairing a search committee. She even has her own coffee, “The Hillary”– and this is on top of co-teaching one of the largest and most in demand classes at SIPA. And yes, I’m trying to explain to her that it’s not normal for students to applaud when a professor walks into the classroom, and I’m under no illusion that they’re clapping for me.”
Secretary Clinton has made it clear that the goal of the Institute is to be intentional in including women and women’s voices in global affairs. “Not as an afterthought, but integrated into the Institute from the beginning”, Secretary Clinton said during the first half of the day.
Female representation was strong and present throughout the day, with the panels as well as the Institute’s first class of fellows featuring global leaders like voting rights activist Stacey Abrahms, former US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, and Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa.
Shahar Azran
In one of the most prescient conversations, Ressa spoke about the future of artificial intelligence. In 2019, she was arrested by Philippine authorities based on accusations that she published a false article targeting a prominent businessman. The international community saw this arrest as an attack on press freedom, which launched uprisings and the creation of Reporters without Borders.
Now, Ressa is the co-founder of the digital-only news site, Rappler, fighting for press freedom in the Philipines. In her work, she is vocal about the role artificial intelligence plays in journalism, but also across social media and global politics.
