Global Studies Program Students Attend IR Lecture at BU

Students and faculty in the Global Studies Diploma Program (GSP) recently traveled down the Green Line to Kenmore Square to sit in on a lecture at Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies. Twelve of the 15 students in the program were able to attend the lecture with GSP Director, Kelly Neely, World Languages Department Chair Nicole Rudolph, and Assistant Head of Academic Affairs, Joe Iuliano. The lecture, titled “Digital Sovereignty: Brussels Buzzword or New Approach?” was sponsored by the Pardee School’s Center for the Study of Europe and delivered by Dr. Swati Srivastava, who is a visiting professor at Harvard University this year. Her “Europe in the World Lecture” was based on her recent research on the EU, technology, sovereignty, and international relations.

 

As presented by BU, Dr. Srivastava “is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Purdue University. In 2023-24, she [is] on fellowship as a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University’s Institute for Rebooting Social Media in the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor of Global Politics at Humboldt State University and an Andrew Mellon Foundation and American Council of Learned Societies doctoral fellow.”

Author of Hybrid Sovereignty in World Politics (published in 2022), Dr. Srivastava pursues research that focuses on the role of private actors in global governance. Currently, she is investigating the nexus of sovereign power, Big Tech, and the political interests of the EU balanced with and against the national interests of its member states. It is a complicated stew of political identities, understandings, and interests with significant economic and political policy implications and choices for the EU and the world.

Her focus area, sovereignty, is a core concept in international relations and a complex term, which has found a growing application in international relations scholarship in recent years, evolving its meaning well beyond the standard understanding of state-to-state relations. In addition to pulling from insights gained in their GSP coursework, the Brimmer students prepped for this thoughtful lecture during their bi-weekly GSP lunch the day before with a discussion about the several definitions of sovereignty and some background information on Dr. Sriviastava’s work.

At the end of her presentation, Dr. Srivastava took questions from the audience, which included undergraduate and graduate students who were impressively well-versed in their understanding of the EU and international relations. This portion of the event, which kept our student thinking as well, was moderated by Dr. Kaija Schilde, Associate Professor of International Relations, Director for the Center of Study of Europe, and Jean Monnet Chair in Security and European Defense at the Pardee School.

 

Following this event, Meera Gandhi, ’26, who is in her first year in the Global Studies Diploma Program and is concentrating in political science, commented, “As someone who's never experienced a college level lecture, it was an exciting experience. I found myself comparing it to my own classes at Brimmer and anticipating the day when I would be able to have all my classes be college lectures!" And Amelia Bowman, ’25 in her second year in the program and concentrating in political science as well, added, “The lecture on Digital Sovereignty was beyond informative. It was an amazing experience to take the knowledge cultivated in my International Relations class and apply it to the current state of the EU. The main focuses of the lecture were to examine the differences between lived sovereignty and idealized sovereignty, look at current events and future policies, and explore the prehistories of European power and its influence on the world.”

 

The late afternoon event afforded the group an opportunity to enjoy a post-lecture dinner together at Wahlburgers. With the good fortune of express Greenline trips in both directions, good weather, an intellectual workout, and a comfort-food meal in their bellies, the GSP students enjoyed a memorable learning and social experience on this night. Next up for these students, is a Zoom call with GSP Alum Tristan Durocher, ’21, who will speak with GSP and AP Environmental Science students next week live from COP28 (the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference) in the United Arab Emirates.