Atlas Conference 2026: Student Research Highlights Resilience in a Changing Global Order
Written by Fabian Salvador (BA IR and Latin American Studies ’26)
On Friday, April 24, 2026 the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies hosted its annual Atlas Conference where graduate students presented their research on a variety of issues. As a student-led initiative, this event celebrated the countless hours dedicated to writing, editing, and travel endured by the five amazing student participants. This year’s theme honed in on resilience and the ability of today’s global order to confront and overcome challenges of the past, present, and future.
The conference highlighted a diverse range of student-led research from masters candidates in the School of Public Health to a PhD candidate in BU’s Socio-Cultural Anthropology Department. Topics varied from addressing the dangers of antibiotic resistance in public health to the reintegration of women refugees into greater Syrian society.
Hosted by Editor-In-Chief of the Atlas, Jack Whitten (MAIA ’26), in collaboration with Conference Co-Chair Tatiana Azouri, the event illustrated well the importance of combatting misconceptions and using one’s technical or cultural knowledge to contribute to social progress in meaningful ways. These presentations inspired thoughtful discussion during Q&A sessions and encouraged everyone who was in attendance to reevaluate the ways in which they are resilient amidst today’s many international troubles.
Given its interdisciplinary nature, a tapestry of global issues was woven together with every slide deck. Erin Gable (MAIA ‘26) delved into her research on the Syrian refugee displacement crisis, noting her discovery that “there is a demographic blind spot” in how these matters tend to be studied. She stresses the vitality of “integrating women into Syria’s government” to limit the violence against them while expressing that if women are not integrated, the economy “will decline or be behind by twenty years.” Right after, Kalasiddhi Thapa (MPH ‘26), touched on the development of MESY, an AI Chatbot that provides “mental health information and resources” to struggling youth in New Delhi. Though not directly applicable, at least yet, Kalasiddhi’s project which leverages AI to help destigmatize mental illness in social settings can support refugees as well during their reintegration.
As its third iteration, the 2026 Atlas Conference culminated with a strong sense of direction and faith in the capacity of human society toward further advancement. It is thanks to the work of students like those who presented at the conference that global dialogue and intercultural discourse continues to be fostered today, and even more sore in academic spaces like those in the Greater Boston Area.