Not just any relocation: Buffett’s new home is a gathering spot for the globally focused
Buffett Institute for Global Affairs has moved into 720 University Place
October 30, 2024
| By May Malone
The Buffett Institute hosted Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of the think and action tank New America and former Director of Policy Planning in the U.S. State Department, for a discussion in the Buffett Reading Room. Photo by Justin Barbin
“This is more than a physical relocation,” said Deborah Cohen, director of the Buffett Institute and Richard W. Leopold Professor of History in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. “With new communal spaces, student programming, faculty talks and a schedule of public events, we have transformed this space into a hub for students and faculty across the University who are dedicated to understanding and shaping the world.”
On the second floor of the Institute’s new home is the Buffett Reading Room, a communal space to work and socialize that also serves as a venue for public events, ranging from discussions with international leaders to book talks with Northwestern faculty. Additional events will focus on building community at the Institute and fostering cross-disciplinary connections, including thematic Buffett Faculty Lunches for which faculty can propose topics, as well as Buffett First Friday Lunches for students, faculty and staff featuring a research talk from a different faculty member each month.
The ground floor features Buffett’s Atlas Lounge, named after its new peer-to-peer Atlas Mentorship Program for international students. Open to all undergraduate international students, the lounge is located next to office spaces that will be available to Buffett-affiliated student groups. Student organizations can apply for affiliation with Buffett, opening doors to opportunities for support from and involvement with the Institute.
For graduate students, the Buffett Institute will host workshops, colloquia, speaker events and writing retreats designed to promote professional and research development in a variety of global fields. The colloquia will offer the opportunity for graduate students to present their research to fellow students and faculty. Works-in-progress workshops will provide students an opportunity to gain interdisciplinary feedback from their peers.
The Buffett First Friday Lunch in October featured Karen J. Alter, Norman Dwight Harris Professor of International Relations at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. She discussed her work on export controls and how academics can work in government. Photo by May Malone
The Institute is also launching a yearlong initiative focused on international diplomacy in turbulent times. The event series opens in November with a discussion on the future of diplomacy. A negotiation workshop led by professor Nour Kteily will guide participants through exercises designed to bridge divides. Additionally, a winter quarter lecture series will explore the landmark peace processes of the last few decades.
The initiative will culminate in April with the Buffett Symposium, From War to Peacemaking: The Role of International Diplomacy. The two-day event will bring together diplomats, policymakers and academics to examine the high-profile peace processes of the 1990s — especially the Dayton Agreement, Oslo Accords and Good Friday Agreement — with a view to the ongoing conflicts of our moment in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine.
Graduate students seeking to get better acquainted with Buffett’s spaces and opportunities are invited to Buffett’s open house on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
In May, the Buffett Institute will host an interactive peace conference simulation designed by professor Danielle Gilbert.
“This simulation will give undergraduate students the chance to take on the roles of negotiators in a fictionalized peace process, complete with the pressures and constraints faced by real-world diplomats,” Cohen said. “The exercise will challenge students to bridge divides and come to an agreement, offering them hands-on experience with the nuances of international negotiation.”
The building at 720 University Place is not an ADA-accessible space. Increasing physical access to buildings and facilities is a goal of the University, but not all buildings and venues have been updated at this time.
May Malone is director of communications at the Buffett Institute.
