Harvard Radcliffe Institute

Climate change poses unprecedented threats to global security. What natural resources are most in danger from international security tensions? How can the United States minimize resource conflicts? Can international cooperation be leveraged to mitigate security risks and increase equitable access to scarce necessities?

National security expert and interdisciplinary research scientist Swathi Veeravalli will address how complex crises are prompting more multidisciplinary cooperation across disparate government agencies and between national governments.

Xavier Cortada's art serves as a bridge between science and community, transforming public spaces into platforms for climate storytelling and experiential learning. His interdisciplinary practice demonstrates how socially engaged art can cultivate a broad base of people who champion environmental justice and help build the political will necessary for systemic change. A Miami-based artist, Cortada will discuss his innovative approach to stimulating public discourse and ultimately galvanizing action around sea level rise.

Sabine R. Huebner is a professor of ancient history at the University of Basel in Switzerland whose project at Harvard Radcliffe Institute aims to craft a groundbreaking monograph on third-century Roman Egypt, exploring the dynamic interplay of climatic shifts, political upheavals, and socioeconomic transformations during a pivotal era. Drawing on a rich tapestry of sources—including literary works, papyri, numismatics, epigraphy, and a variety of paleoenvironmental proxies—this ambitious study seeks to unveil new insights into the complexities of this transitional period in one of the Roman Empire’s critical regions.

Trained in anthropology and education, Gabrielle Oliveira works at the intersections of migration, education, family, and childhood studies. At Radcliffe, she will write her third book, which will focus on how migrant children conceptualize climate change, land loss, and mobility in schools in Venezuela and Brazil.

Join Big Chief Gerard (Bo) Dollis, Jr. for a conversation about music, community, and strength in the face of climate change, with a particular focus on Mardi Gras Indian traditions and performance. He will be joined in conversation by Emmett G. Price III, dean of Africana studies at Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

This program is the second in a pair of webinars to explore the impact and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the musical traditions of New Orleans. In the 20th anniversary year of the storm’s devastating landfall in southeast Louisiana, leading performers, artists, and scholars will share their perspectives on art, music, and justice in the context of climate change. How have the performers’ music, practice, and community changed over the last two decades? Can future climate crises be occasions for artistic growth, reimagined community, spurs to social action, and new forms of solidarity? What lessons can New Orleans and its ever-evolving music teach the world about resilience and renewal?

Big Freedia will be joined in conversation with Lauron J. Kehrer (Western Michigan University), a scholar of race, gender, and sexuality in American popular music and Loren Kajikawa (The George Washington University), a scholar of rap and hip-hop, as well as race, gender, and politics.

In this opening program for her Radcliffe exhibition, the artist Alia Farid will discuss her newly commissioned artwork Talismans (Kupol LR 3303). Crafted from petroleum-based plastics and thus freighted with the geopolitical and climate implications of this material’s manufacturing, Talismans (Kupol LR 3303) sets her ancestral stories against the backdrop of global events.