University Life Discussions

November 3, 2022 - This conversation, with a range of Columbia experts, explored the unrest in Iran within the broader historical and geo-political context, where it may lead, and how it connects with other global challenges.

March 8, 2022 - In this keynote talk, Dr. Anne Marie Albano, Professor of Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry) at Columbia, focused on helping build resiliency, and provided actionable tools to transform anxiety into guidance and meaning. This event was in partnership with The School of International and Public Affairs.

February 2, 2022 - This Forum covered important updates about the University's COVID-19 safety measures and vaccine boosters. 

February 15, 2024 - The need for civic dialogue has never been greater. Our panel of experts, co-hosted by University Life and the Journalism School, explored how the often binary conversations around current events inform our understanding of democracy, the elements that prevent us from coming together for civil discourse, and where we go from here. This event is part of the Dialogue Across Difference Initiative.

March 30, 2023 - For decades, many universities have used race as a factor in admissions decisions. This panel discussion will explore the significant questions surrounding the two cases on this subject that are before the Supreme Court. President Lee C. Bollinger offered opening remarks grounded in his newly released book, in which he and his co-author make the case that America’s obligation to remediate past discrimination based on race is not only constitutionally permissible, it is morally mandated. 

October 6, 2022 - The Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling in Dobbs vs. Jackson effectively divided the country into two nations in terms of access to reproductive health care, and renewed concerns about other pillars of social progress – even those previously thought untouchable. In anticipation of the country’s first national election since January 6, 2021, we considered what is at stake in November’s elections.