Nolan on Guatemalan Adoption for the Center on Forced Displacement’s 2026 Conference
On April 13th, Professor Rachel Nolan, Assistant Professor of International History, opened Boston University’s Center on Forced Displacement’s 2026 Annual Conference with a powerful keynote and discussion of her book Until I Find You, moderated by Carrie Preston. Drawing on her historical research, Nolan reframed international adoption as more than a humanitarian practice, describing it…
Woodward Talks About Biometrics in Defense to Harvard University’s STS Circle
On April 13, 2026, Professor John D. Woodward Jr. delivered a keynote presentation: Biometrics in the U.S. Department of Defense: From an Abstract Idea to Identity Intelligence to the members of Harvard University’s Science, Technology, & Society (STS) Circle. The event was hosted by Professor Sheila Jasanoff, Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies at…
Book Talk at Pardee: Woodward Hosts Dr. David Tuch, Author of The Wireless Operator
David Tuch, author of The Wireless Operator uncovers the fascinating role his distant cousin Harold Derber played in modern drug trade.
Commemorative Symposium Honors the Life and Work of Pardee Professor Joseph Fewsmith
Family, friends, and colleagues gathered to celebrate the legacy of China expert and Pardee Professor Joseph Fewsmith.
Quinn Slobodian on Understanding Muskism and the Politics of Tech Power
Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed, published by HarperCollins, examines a new ideological framework shaping contemporary debates about technology and power. In this new book, co-authors Ben Tarnoff and Professor Quinn Slobodian move beyond Elon Musk’s outsized public persona to analyze the broader system implied by his business practices and political ambitions: one that promises…
Vivien Schmidt on Understanding Power Through Ideas and Discourse
In her newest publication, The Power of Ideas and Discourse in Political Analysis: A Discursive Institutionalist Perspective, Professor Vivien Ann Schmidt brings decades of influential scholarship on ideas and discourse into a single, ambitious volume that reframes how political scientists and social scientists understand power, legitimacy, and change. Drawing on work begun in the late…
Woodward Attends USS Massachusetts Commissioning Ceremony
John D. Woodward, Jr. Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Pardee School of Global Studies and the director of the BU Division of Military Education, represented Boston University at the commissioning ceremonies for the USS Massachusetts (SSN-798), the US Navy’s most advanced attack submarine. The ceremonies were held on March 28 in…
Nolan on Drug War Narratives, Violence, and the Limits of National Security Frameworks
On March 28th, Professor Rachel Nolan, Assistant Professor of International History and author of Pulitzer Prize finalist Until I Find You: Disappeared Children and Coercive Adoptions in Guatemala, took part in a panel discussion titled ‘Drug War Narratives and the Violence of National Security Paradigm’ that took place at Harvard University. The discussion was part…
Slobodian’s ‘Hayek’s Bastards’ Receives NBCC Award for Criticism
Congratulations to Professor Quinn Slobodian, whose book, Hayek’s Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ, and the Capitalism of the Far Right, has been awarded the 2025 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism! The NBCC Awards are among the most distinguished literary honors in the United States, recognizing outstanding writing and critical achievement across genres. Published by Zone…
Nolan Visits MN to Discuss Adoption, Migration, and “Home” in Book Talk
On March 19th, Professor Rachel Nolan, Assistant Professor of International History, discussed her book, Until I Find You: Disappeared Children and Coercive Adoptions in Guatemala, at The College of St. Scholastica as part of the Alworth Center for the Study of Peace and Justice’s annual lecture series. This year’s theme, Home, explores the many ways belonging…
Erosion of Trust puts Diplomacy under Siege, Say Pardee Professors Garcevic and Storella
In a panel discussion on “The End of Diplomacy? Multilateralism under Siege,” held March 26 at Emmanuel College, Ambassadors Riyad Insanally; Mark Storella, Pardee Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy; and Vesko Garčević, Pardee Professor of the Practice of International Relations; agreed that the current state of global affairs can be characterized as a geopolitical…
Storella Addresses the Future of Multilateralism in a Fractured World
Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy Mark Storella warned that a convergence of interrelated global challenges (including demographic change, public health, climate stress, artificial intelligence, and migration) is placing unprecedented strain on an already disrupted international system. Speaking at the First Annual Boston International Affairs Summit, Storella noted that what many analysts describe as a…
Scott Taylor on Africa After Davos: Agency, Integration, and Opportunity in a Transactional World
On March 6, 2026, Scott Taylor, Pardee School Dean and Professor of International Relations, participated in a webinar discussion titled Africa After Davos ’26: Overcoming Uncertainty and Insecurity, honoring the intellectual legacy of his former Dartmouth University professor, Richard Joseph, and engaged with urgent questions shaping African politics following the 56th Annual Meeting of the…
Hare Examines U.S. Diplomacy Toward Cuba and Venezuela
Upon invitation, Paul Webster Hare, former British ambassador to Cuba and a master lecturer at the Pardee School of Global Studies, addressed the Naples Council on World Affairs (NCWA) in Florida in a lecture, titled Diplomacy and Negotiation: Cuba and Latin America. Since 1980, the NCWA has served their local communities by providing education and…
Urban Refuge Wins Crowdfunding Award, Charts Next Phase
In January 2026, the Pardee School’s Urban Refuge project was announced as the recipient of over $5,000 through BU Crowdfunding support! Urban Refuge originated in 2016 as a classroom project developed by students in the “Forced Migration Policy Incubator” course taught by Dr. Noora Lori, Associate Professor of International Relations and Director of the Middle…
Mali Highlights the Value of African Language Study at BU
During a series of recent classroom visits across Boston University, Dr. Zoliswa O. Mali, Director of the African Language Program and Senior Lecturer at the Pardee School’s African Studies Center (ASC), shared information about Boston University’s expanding African Language Program, highlighting the unique academic and professional advantages students gain from studying an African language. Mali’s…
Garčević Speaks to NATO Political Committee
On Monday, March 9th, Ambassador Vesko Garčević, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Pardee School, was invited by the Political Affairs and Security Policy Division at NATO Headquarters in Brussels to address the NATO Political Committee. The 75-minute briefing included a presentation on the current state of play in the Balkans, followed…
Reflection of Nolan’s ‘Until I Find You’ in The New York Book Review
A recent review titled Torn Asunder, written by Oscar Lopez for The New York Book Review, spotlights Professor Rachel Nolan, Assistant Professor of International History, and her groundbreaking book Until I Find You, a Pulitzer Prize finalist that uncovers the little‑known story of how Guatemala became the site of one of the world’s most coercive and…
Garčević Analyzes Shifting Power in the Balkans
Upon the invitation of the Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services (ALLIES), the largest undergraduate international relations program at Tufts University, and the Tufts Slavic and Eastern European Association, Ambassador Vesko Garčević, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Pardee School, delivered a guest lecture on March 3 about the current…
Dean Taylor Highlights Empathy, Resilience, and Global Awareness in Featured Interview
In a recent episode of Diaspora Spotlight, Scott Taylor, Pardee School Dean and Professor of International Relations, joined host and Pardee alumni, Seynedhee Avenie (BA’24, MAIA’25), for a wide‑ranging conversation on the power of community, the importance of global awareness, and the evolving role of the African diaspora in shaping international affairs. The discussion blended…