Talks with Professors

The Talks with Professors series, organized by the Undergraduate Committee on Global Thought (UCGT), allows students to engage in casual and meaningful conversations with distinguished scholars in a laid-back, informal setting. Topics of conversation have ranged from global science to academic freedom and the utilization of space in global cities.

Past Talks with Professors

Sports and Politics in a Time of Political Polarization

September 23, 2019, with Frank Guridy, Associate Professor of History and of African American and African Diaspora Studies


Politics of Art Museums in a Changing World

October 30, 2019 with Vishakha N. Desai, Vice Chair, Committee on Global Thought, Senior Advisor for Global Affairs to the President, Senior Research Scholar, School of International and Public Affairs


Decolonizing the History of Philosophy

December 5, 2018 with Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Professor of French and Romance Philology, and Member of the Committee on Global Thought


Cultural Analysis In and Of Mental Health Approaches to the War on Terror

October 4, 2018 with Neil K. Aggarwal, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Research Psychiatrist at New York State Psychiatric Institute, and Member of the Committee on Global Thought


Two Variants of Populist Politics: United States and India

Sept. 29, 2017 with Partha Chatterjee, Professor of Anthropology and Professor of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies


After Neoliberalism: State Terrorism through a Transnational Feminist Lens

Feb. 22, 2017 with Neferti Tadiar, Professor and Chair of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Barnard College


The Future of Global Organizations, Societies, and Cities

Jan. 27, 2017 with David Park, Dean of Strategic Initiatives, Arts & Sciences; Faculty Director, MA in Global Thought


Can Non-Europeans Think?

Nov. 21, 2016 with Hamid Dabashi, Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature, Columbia University.


Refugees, Space and Ideology

Nov. 16, 2016 with Professor Noah Chasin, Adjunct Associate Professor of Architecture, Urban Design Program, Columbia University.


Revisiting Palestine’s History

Sep. 21, 2016 with Professor Rashid Khalidi, Columbia University Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies, History and MESAAS.


The Freedom of Academic Inquiry

Apr. 11, 2016 with Professor Jonathan Cole, Columbia University John Mitchell Mason Professor of the University and Provost Emeritus of the University and Dean Emeritus of Faculties.


The West and Russia

Apr. 1, 2016 with Professor Kimberly Marten, Barnard College Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Political Science, a faculty member at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University.


Science and the World Order

Feb. 19, 2016 with Geert Somsen, Columbia University Adjunct Associate Research Scholar in History of Science.


The Nature of Time: Intersecting Physics and Philosophy

Dec. 1, 2015 with Professor David Albert, Columbia University Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy.


Urgent Issues in Global Urbanism

Apr. 2, 2015 with Professor Saskia Sassen, Columbia University Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology.


Globalization and the Scientific Community

Mar. 4, 2014 with Professor Brian Greene, Columbia University Professor of Theoretical Physics.


The City is a Global Space

Mar. 28, 2013 with Professor Sudhir Venkatesh, Columbia University Professor of Sociology.


Foreign Policy in 2012 Elections

Oct. 25, 2012 with Professor Michael Doyle, Columbia University Professor.