The Year of Elections around the World
The Year of Elections around the World
About the Series
In 2024, around half of the world’s population across more than 75 countries will participate in a national election–a record high. Hosted by the Office of the Provost, this event series will leverage the research and expertise of Barnard’s faculty to examine the critical issues shaping elections and dividing societies globally, including reproductive rights, immigration, climate change, and digital transformation. The event series will be open to the Barnard community. Students, faculty, and staff will be invited to engage with these contested issues by participating in a common forum. Participants will also have the opportunity to make their voices heard through both real-time and asynchronous activities that will be organized in the lead up to each conversation. Every country’s political and social landscape is unique, but we can learn from historical and comparative perspectives. Our goal is to spark a series of interdisciplinary discussions on the issues driving political trends in this year of elections around the world.
Fall 2024 Series Events
Global Reproductive Rights & Resistance
A Community Conversation & Workshop with Elizabeth Ananat, Kadambari Baxi, Cecelia Lie-Spahn, and Wendy Schor-Haim
The 2022 U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling overturned nearly 50 years of legal protections established by Roe v. Wade (1973), ending the constitutional right to an abortion in the United States. Currently, each state decides whether abortion is legal and under what conditions, and the impact of this ruling is felt unevenly and unequally by people who are or may become pregnant. This community event brings together the diverse expertise of our faculty, Barnard’s international student body, and the College’s history and archives surrounding reproductive justice and freedom to situate this landmark decision in a broader historical and global context.
To develop shared language for discussion, Barnard faculty will provide short presentations on the following concepts and terms:
- The framework of reproductive justice for analyzing unequal access to reproductive care,
- The history of fetal viability and its reverberations into the present,
- The practice of self-managed abortions in the U.S., and
- The impact of trigger laws and reimagining spaces and networks of reproductive care.
Following these short presentations, attendees will be invited to articulate questions together and draw connections and comparisons between these themes and the legality of reproductive healthcare in other countries and political contexts. This event will also showcase two exhibits: Trigger Planting 2.0 and Abortion in Context, both in Milstein. Participants are encouraged to engage with the exhibitions in the weeks leading up to the event.
You can RSVP using this form and can also find more information about this event on the event page.
Post-Election Community Forum
2024 U.S. Presidential Election Forum with Barnard Faculty Experts
Join Michael G. Miller, Associate Professor of Political Science; Jennie Kassanoff, Adolph S. and Effie Ochs Professor of American Studies and History and Professor of English; Umbreen Bhatti, Director of Athena Center; Mary Rocco, Director of Engaged Scholarship in the Office of Community Engagement and Inclusion in a college-wide forum to contextualize and discuss the status of the 2024 U.S. Presidential election. After short presentations and a panel discussion, we will engage in roundtable conversations to grapple with the implications of the election in local and national politics. Open to Barnard students, faculty, and staff.
You can RSVP using this form and can also find more information about this event on the event page.
Spring 2025 Series Events
Climate Change
Planned for Spring 2025
Details forthcoming.
Immigration & Migration
Planned for Spring 2025
Details forthcoming.
Digital Transformation
Planned for Spring 2025
Details forthcoming.