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111. Egypt's Tahrir Youth: Leaders of a Leaderless Revolution with Rusha Latif (Episode 51)

Author:
Rusha Latif
Publication Date:
01-2026
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:
In today’s episode, guest host Nermin Allam, director of Women’s and Gender Studies and associate professor of political science at Rutgers University – Newark, speaks with Rusha Latif, author of Tahrir’s Youth: Leaders of a Leaderless Revolution, to reflect on remembering and commemorating the January 25th uprising. The January 25th uprising, which led to the ousting of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, remains one of the most consequential moments in Egypt’s modern political history. The uprising restructured political imagination, reordered lives, and briefly redefined what felt possible. Every year, January 25th asks something of us. It asks us to remember. It asks us to reckon. And it asks us to return carefully and critically to a moment that continues to unsettle our present. This episode is part of that reckoning. As we mark the anniversary of the uprising, we are joined by Rusha Latif to revisit the experiences of the young people who animated that moment and who carried its weight forward long after the chants faded and the public space closed. The conversation invites us to resist simplification and to honor the complexity of a revolutionary moment whose political afterlives still shape how we understand protest, possibility, and loss. It invites listeners to consider what it means to commemorate a revolution in a time when its promises remain unfinished. Biography Rusha Latif is an Egyptian-American researcher and writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work focuses on social movements and revolutions in the Middle East, with an emphasis on leadership, organization, and collective action across lines of class, gender, religion, and ideology. Her research has been featured on NPR, Al Jazeera, and Jadaliyya. Her book, Tahrir’s Youth: Leaders of a Leaderless Revolution is published by the AUC Press, in 2022).
Topic:
Arab Spring, Political Science, and Revolution
Political Geography:
Middle East and Egypt

112. Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color with Prof. Michael R. Fischbach (3/3/26)

Author:
Michael R. Fischbach
Publication Date:
03-2026
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:
Journalists and others have taken note of the many Black students, religious leaders, and others who took part in demonstrations and other forms of Palestine solidarity during the recent Gaza war. This was in fact not a new phenomenon: Black solidarity with the Palestinian people dates back decades, when Black Power figures like Malcolm X and groups like SNCC and the Black Panther Party embraced the Palestinian cause in the 1960s 1970s. This lecture examines the historical roots of Black support for the Palestinians during that tumultuous period of American history and connects it with events today.
Topic:
History, Solidarity, 2023 Gaza War, and Black Power
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza

113. Critical Perspectives on Relations Between Iran, Israel and the United States (3/17/26)

Author:
Juan Cole and Mojtada Mahdavi
Publication Date:
03-2026
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:
Critical Perspectives on Relations Between Iran, Israel and the United States with Dr. Juan Cole, University of Michigan & Dr. Mojtada Mahdavi, University of Alberta (3/17/26) Israel and the United States' military attacks on Iran have prompted heated debates on the legality, political motives, and global economic impact of this latest war in the Middle East. Join the Rutgers Law Center for Security, Race and Rights for a critical analysis of the history, politics, and international relations between Israel, the United States and Iran by experts on Iran and the broader Middle East.
Topic:
International Relations, International Law, Armed Conflict, and Global Economy
Political Geography:
Iran, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, North America, and United States of America

114. Hindutva in America: A Threat to Equality & Religious Pluralism (11/12/2025)

Author:
Safa Ahmed
Publication Date:
01-2026
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:
Hosted by the Rutgers Law chapter of the American Constitution Society (ACS) and the Center for Security, Race, and Rights (CSRR). Join us for an engaging discussion on the rise of Hindutva—a Hindu nationalist ideology—and its influence in the United States. This conversation will explore how religious nationalism manifests within diaspora communities, its impact on civil rights and pluralism, and the role of law and policy in addressing related challenges.
Topic:
Nationalism, Diaspora, Ideology, Civil Rights, Pluralism, and Hindutva
Political Geography:
India, North America, and United States of America

115. The Special Collection of the Extensive Correspondence of Chin-Tang Lo

Author:
Juliet Tierney, Allison Bernard, and Chengzhi Wang
Publication Date:
02-2026
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
February 25, 2026 — Chin-Tang Lo, professor emeritus of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures of University of Hawaii, donated his papers to Columbia University's C.V. Starr East Asian Library. The special collection includes about 600 letters exchanged with prominent scholars in East Asia such as Hu Shih, Chien Mu, and Masaru Aoki. As a friend of and a researcher on Lo, Juliet Tierney introduces Lo as a multifaceted scholar and a significant contributor to many fields of modern Chinese studies. Speaker: Juliet Tierney (陈艳群) was born in Changsha, Hunan province of the PRC. She graduated from Hunan Normal University majoring in Music. Since 2000 she has lived in Honolulu, Hawaii. She previously worked as a journalist for World Journal（世界日报）and is now a freelance writer. She has published two collections of essays. Discussant: Allison Bernard, MA Program Director and Lecturer in Discipline, EALAC, Columbia University Moderator: Chengzhi Wang, Chinese Studies Librarian, C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University
Topic:
Area Studies, Scholars, and Correspondence
Political Geography:
China

116. Becoming Ungovernable: Hill Peoples, Decentralized Resistance, and Buddhist Nationalism in Myanmar

Author:
David Thang Moe and Andrew J. Nathan
Publication Date:
03-2026
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
March 4, 2026 — Drawing on firsthand experience, current research, and his forthcoming monograph "Beyond Buddhist Nationalism" (Oxford University Press), David Thang Moe argues that the regime in Myanmar tries to rule without truly governing. He examines questions of ungovernability, centralized nationalism, decentralized resistance, ethnic reconciliation, and visions of democratic nationhood. Speaker: David Thang Moe, PhD, is a Visiting Scholar at Columbia and a Research Scholar in Southeast Asian Studies at Yale, with additional affiliations at Harvard, MIT, Boston University, and the University of Connecticut. A leading Burmese scholar, he specializes in Buddhist nationalism, ethnic conflict, and decentralized resistance. He is the author of "Beyond the Academy" (2024) and the forthcoming "Beyond Buddhist Nationalism." He has delivered talks globally, met US senators to advocate for Myanmar’s democracy, and been featured in outlets including Voice of America, The Straits Times, and the Yale Journal of Politics.
Topic:
Nationalism, Governance, Buddhism, Resistance, and Hill Peoples
Political Geography:
Southeast Asia and Myanmar

117. Paradoxes of Chinese Feminism

Author:
Yao Lin and Andrew J. Nathan
Publication Date:
02-2026
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
Yao Lin examines the paradoxical aftermaths of the Chinese #MeToo movement under party-state authoritarianism. While it profoundly transformed public discourses on sexual harassment and discrimination, the party-state’s silencing of leading activists created room for the rise of algorithm-savvy, censorship-adapted “jīnǚ (lit. radical feminist)” online opinion leaders who promulgate classist, trans-exclusive, and pro-Party-State versions of feminism. Those developments cannot be fully comprehended within dominant frameworks of intersectional analysis or affective politics, and call for a distinctly regimatic approach of analysis. Speaker: Yao Lin, Visiting Scholar, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, researches and teaches across political theory, comparative politics, philosophy, and law. He currently works on several projects, including studies on Chinese and transnational feminisms, and on diasporic resistance to authoritarianism. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University Department of Political Science, and J.D. from Yale Law School.
Topic:
Authoritarianism, Feminism, Censorship, and #MeToo
Political Geography:
China and Asia

118. Feeling Political: Art as Public Sphere in the Cross-Strait Worlds

Author:
I-Yi Hsieh and Nick Bartlett
Publication Date:
03-2026
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
February 18, 2026 - The recent boom-and-bust of art museums in China has attracted worldwide attention. Revealing the industry’s instability (rooted in entanglements with the financial sector), the wave of museum closures in the People's Republic of China indicates the changing horizon of art institutions as public spaces for political cacophony. I-Yi Hsieh's talk draws on her book "Flora and Fauna: Domestic Nature and Private Collecting in Reform Era Beijing" (2025) and the exhibition "Contested Waters" (2024–2025) to further the conversation by addressing art as public sphere in the cross-strait worlds. Hsieh introduces her book’s ethnographic lens capturing the rise of private collecting as an alternative to the diminishing public realm for political expression, while, on the other side of the Taiwan Strait, Taiwanese artists and art institutions increasingly showcase projects with a focus on geopolitical tensions. It is the worst of times and the best of times for political art in the cross-strait worlds.
Topic:
Politics, Arts, Museums, and Public Space
Political Geography:
China and Asia

119. Sufficiency for All - Exploring Small-Scale, Low-Tech, Pro-Poor Initiatives

Author:
John Donaldson and Nick Smith
Publication Date:
02-2026
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
February 19, 2026 — Professor John Donaldson discusses an alternative “small works” approach to poverty reduction that highlights slower, more sustainable growth and challenges dominant assumptions about scale, technology, and well-being. Speaker: John Donaldson, Associate Professor of Political Science at the School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University (SMU), researches politics, rural development and poverty reduction in China and around the world. He primarily focuses on the disconnect between economic growth and poverty reduction, as well as sustainable poverty reduction. In addition to numerous other academic and policy publications, he is the author of "Small Works: Poverty and Economic Development in Southwestern China" (Cornell University Press, 2011). Moderator: Nick Smith, Assistant Professor of Architecture and Urban Studies, Barnard College.
Topic:
Poverty, Science and Technology, Economic Growth, Well-Being, and Sustainable Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus

120. Social Policy Responses During COVID-19 in East Asia and Beyond from a Comparative Perspective

Author:
Julia Shu-Huah Wang and Qin Gao
Publication Date:
01-2026
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
January 21, 2026 — Julia Shu-Huah Wang examines how Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong responded to COVID-19 compared to other countries. Drawing on two projects, she analyzes (1) model family data from East Asia, the U.S., and Europe to trace social policy changes before, during, and after the pandemic, and (2) country-level indicators across two decades from over 140 countries using panel regression. The presentation highlights cross-national differences in the design and effectiveness of social policy responses. Speaker: Julia Shu-Huah Wang, Associate Professor, National Taiwan University Moderator: Qin Gao, Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice; Acting Director of the Asian American Initiative; Associate Dean for Doctoral Education; Director of China Center for Social Policy, Columbia School of Social Work
Topic:
Social Policy, Crisis Management, Public Health, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
China, Taiwan, Asia, and Hong Kong