“There are about 1100 billionaires in the world,” David Rothkopf CC’77 said, “and their wealth is equal to that of the bottom 2.5 billion people.” He was the focal point of “Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making,” a panel discussion packed with high powered folks, including PrezBo himself, who delivered […]

Recent days have shown that Pakistan finds itself at a very crucial turning point.  The assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and increased dissatisfaction with the performance of President Pervez Musharraf, have upset stability in what was already a volatile region. And Monday’s parliamentary elections, in which Bhutto’s opposition party took the majority of […]

Bwog correspondent Christopher Morris-Lent  attends a Friendly Fire-Columbia Political Union-sponsored event and encounters a man who savors the taste of defeat . On Friday afternoon, a ragtag group of people streamed into the hallowed space at the top of Earl Hall to see Mike Gravel, once a senator from Alaska and now running a quixotic […]

Bwog Lecture Hop editor Pierce Stanley observes as religion is reconciled with just about everything, for once. Coming on the heels of a Super Duper Tuesday that saw former Arkansas governor turned evangelical preacher Mike Huckabee decisively win five Republican primaries in the South and the recent dropping out of Republican contender Mitt Romney—a figure […]

In which Bwog lecture hopper Phil Crone reports back from the Heyman Center’s discussion on climate change  Altschul Auditorium was host last night to a panel discussion featuring PrezBo, Joseph Stiglitz, and various experts on the ever more apocalyptic science of climate change. What exactly PrezBo, a freedom of speech scholar-cum-university president, was doing heading […]

In which Bwog staffer Armin Rosen sits in on a peaceful disagreement over peace.  If you thought Ahmadinemania offered Columbians the best oratorical fireworks of the year, then you, dear reader, clearly weren’t at the Satow room for today’s Peace in Darfur conference. A mid-afternoon speech by anthro professor Mahmood Mamdani (whose Major Debates in […]

In which Bwog daily editor Alexandra Muhler sits in on a discussion about Latin American literary identity. Last night, Columbia – or should I say, co-LOOM-bee-ah – hosted the Planeta Lecture: Spanish-Language Literary Voices and the United States.  The event’s four featured authors explored the relationship between New York City and Latin America, far beyond […]

In which Bwog correspondent Christopher Morris-Lent learns about the most over-referenced year ever at last night’s Historical Perspectives talk.  It’s 7:00 in 301 Philosophy, I’m well-fed by a catered spread, and before me sits an ensemble cast culled from the cream of the Columbia history department, each here to describe different aspects of the year […]

Armin Rosen spent the past couple nights seeing what The Tribe is up to. Jewish philosophical smack dooooooown! It’s about time the philosophical salon made a comeback: on Tuesday night, a couple dozen List College students gathered in the Mathilde Shechter music room for some laid back Judaically-focused philosophical disputation. The night’s topic was the […]

Bwog lecture hopper Pierce Stanley reports back on the Heyman Center’s discussion on the limits and applications of academic freedom. So it appears that with the exception of Methods and Problems of Philosophical Thought, Akeel Bilgrami, the suave and erudite former Rhodes scholar is bringing his A game to Columbia these days. The Johnsonian Professor […]

Topic: A Discussion on Academic Freedom Speakers: Professors Eric Foner (History), Todd Gitlin (Journalism), and David Eisenbach (History), Ph.D Student Alex Gourevitch (Political Science), moderated by Ph.D Student Ian Zuckerman (Political Theory)  Drinks of Choice: Poland Spring Water (Foner, Gitlin, Eisenbach), Canada Dry Club Soda (Eisenbach), Jana Artesian Water (Gourevitch) Vitamin Shoppe Iceland Spring Water […]

Armin Rosen reports on the big semi-annual, semi-mandatory sophomore class lecture. The title of this post is actually a wee bit inaccurate. This wasn’t just the biggest walkout of the year–it was also the biggest walkout of last year, and was probably bigger than any walkouts that were held the year before that one, too. […]

Bwog was psyched to attend a verbal joust with Joe Stiglitz, his arch-nemesis William Easterly, and ethicist-in-chief Peter Singer on the question of foreign aid in 417 IAB this evening. When we arrived, the place was so packed that even a multinational corporation couldn’t have barged its way in. Those turned away flooded aimlessly into […]

Wish you were in Paris right now? Bwog foreign correspondent Sumaiya Ahmed reports on Columbia’s big weekend in the City of Lights. This weekend, Columbia students in Paris were treated to another sort of World Leaders Forum organized by the Columbia Alumni Association. The three day affair included Nobel laureate and 7th Secretary-General of the […]

The World Leaders Forum might be over, but Bangladesh’s problems sure aren’t! Armin Rosen reports on the last of this round of WLF events. Like Turkmenistan, Bangaldesh finds itself straddling a perilously thin line. In Turkmenistan, a solid tradition of dictatorship makes it all too easy for president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to lead the central Asian country away […]