Columbia’s Global Center in Athens extends mission
Executive Vice President of Columbia Global, Wafaa El-Sadr, talks to Kathimerini about top US university’s initiative in the Greek capital, which joins 10 other international hubs
Columbia University announced the launch of a Global Center in Athens in November 2022. It was the 11th such center to be created by the world-renowned American institution – after Amman, Beijing, Istanbul, Mumbai, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Tel Aviv and Tunis – in an initiative aimed at forwarding the exchange of knowledge, expanding cooperation in addressing complex global challenges and promoting scientific joint inquiry.
The inaugural event of the program in the Greek capital – which is headed by Stefanos Gandolfo, a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford, where he earned his PhD in the organization of knowledge in pre-modern China – took place on October 1. “The Power of AI: Accelerating Climate Change or Driving Solutions?” was part of the center’s Distinguished Speakers series and brought together respected scientists who examined the role of new technologies in dealing with the impact of the climate crisis in Greece and, more specifically, on how AI can contribute to this end.
The executive vice president of Columbia Global, Wafaa El-Sadr, spoke with Kathimerini ahead of the conference, explaining that apart from climate change, future events will also focus on issues related to the global economy, health and culture.
What are the aims for the Columbia Global Center Athens?
The Athens Center is the 10th Global Center established by Columbia University. It is part of a bold initiative at the university that aims to connect its students and professors with their counterparts around the world. With the Athens Center, we want to develop research and programs where there is a vibrant exchange of knowledge and the co-creation of solutions to challenges that are particularly relevant to the Greece context. A prime example is the Healing Roots project that brings together a partnership between the University of Ioannina, the Region of Epirus, the Network for Children’s Rights and the Society of Psychosocial Research and Intervention with the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Together we will develop a refugee mental health roadmap that will guide the design and implementation of evidence-based mental health interventions to address the dual refugee and mental health crisis. This kind of collaboration between the center, universities, the government of Greece and nongovernmental organizations to address a critical challenge of displaced persons in Greece and the region is emblematic of the work the center aims to do. We also want to contribute to Athens’ intellectual life, promoting new ideas and participating in topical conversations about key issues and sectors for the region.
What criteria are used to choose the cities that host Columbia Global Centers?
They are chosen for their unique global significance, the importance of their context, the richness of their environment and, additionally, their alignment with the interests and expertise of the Columbia community of faculty.
What specifically drove the choice of Athens?
‘In consultation with partners in Greece, we have selected to focus our programming for starters on five areas: climate change, migration, public health and medicine, innovation and entrepreneurship, and classics and archaeology’
Establishing a Global Center in Athens extends the mission into an important and relevant region. With its universities, libraries, museums, archives and monuments, Greece is a living hub for research and education. In addition, establishing a Global Center in Athens builds on the long-standing connection between Columbia and Greece. Our program in Hellenic studies is one of the oldest and most active in the United States. The core curriculum that all undergraduate students at Columbia are required to take – anchored in Western literary, historical, political and art traditions – begins with Greece. All incoming first-year students receive a copy of “The Iliad” before they arrive on campus, in order to kick-start their undergraduate intellectual journey. Professors across Columbia have had years of collaborations in Greece in the areas of classics, Hellenic studies, archaeology, medicine and engineering, among others. The Global Center in Athens builds on this enduring relationship, deepening our engagement with Greek culture, history, innovation and scholarship.
What kinds of programs will the center present?
In consultation with partners in Greece, we have selected to focus our programming for starters on five areas: climate change, migration, public health and medicine, innovation and entrepreneurship, and classics and archaeology. Our goal is to pursue these areas individually but also looking at the interplay between them. By fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and research collaboration, we hope to bring new perspectives and solutions to pressing global issues.
What are some of the current programs and future plans?
In addition to the Healing Roots and Distinguished Speakers series, the center hosts the Advancing the Nursing Workforce in Armenia and Greece as Advocates for Care for the Displaced Populations project. With the growing number of refugees putting a strain on health systems in Armenia and Greece, this project will bring together the Athens Center with the Center for Healthcare Delivery Research and Innovations at Columbia University School of Nursing and the American University of Armenia to address this issue. In addition, the project leverages the perspectives of experts from the International Council of Nurses, the Hellenic National Nurses Association in Greece and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It is another excellent example of how, through partnerships, we seek to gain insights into a regional challenge so as to inform policy for long-term impact.
What is your vision for the Columbia Global Center Athens, say, five years from now?
My hope is that the Athens Center will be a vibrant hub of exchange for Columbia faculty and students with their Greek counterparts, deeply enmeshed in scholarly and practical work that brings together all sectors of Greek society.
Is there an intention to consider establishing a branch of Columbia University in Greece?
Our approach at Columbia for global engagement is centered on establishing Global Centers as a dynamic way to advance discourse around the issues shaping our world. We have no plans to establish a university branch in Greece. Rather, our approach through the Global Center allows us to remain flexible and responsive to evolving issues, while building strong partnerships and contributing meaningfully to both local and global society.
