Join us for a workshop discussing how AI threatens global security in an era defined by chemical, biological, and nuclear risks. 🗓️ May 21 from 9:30–11:15 a.m.   📍 Chambers Hall & online 👥 Attend in person: www.eventbrite.com/e/understand...    💻 Attend online: northwestern.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Kelli Morgan McHugh, Associate Professor at Northwestern University's School of Communication, found little to no literature on musical theatre vocal training for gender expansive performers while searching for resources for her trans and nonbinary students.

Join us for a workshop discussing how AI threatens global security in an era defined by chemical, biological, and nuclear risks. 🗓️ May 21 from 9:30–11:15 a.m.   📍 Chambers Hall & online 👥 Attend in person: www.eventbrite.com/e/understand...    💻 Attend online: northwestern.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

“America’s allies can no longer count on us being the hub of that international order,” Obama tells Northwestern @medillschool.bsky.social professor and Buffett Faculty Advisory Council member Peter Slevin in his new New Yorker piece on Obama in the age of Trump: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Join us for a discussion on threats to journalism at home & abroad with Thomas O. Melia. 📅 May 11 at 12:30 PM  📍720 University Pl. & online 👥 Attend in-person: www.eventbrite.com/e/buffett-co... 💻 Attend online: northwestern.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

@polisciatnu.bsky.social Professor @izading.bsky.social returned from leading the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs' student delegation to #COP30 this past fall questioning the concept of "soft power" resurfacing in public conversation... 1/2 🧵

The Buffett Institute successfully hosted their 2026 spring symposium, Brave New Futures. The event brought together international thinkers from a wide range of disciplines to explore how we might build a better future in uncertain times. Read more: spr.ly/63329BBP3AF

How effective are gender experts in advocating for women in peace negotiations? Elizabeth Good, a CISAC Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University and a former Buffett Dissertation Fellow, will address this question in her upcoming talk on May 5. To register, visit: spr.ly/63324BBP3gC

Join the China-America Reel Ecology Project (CARE) for the inaugural screening of seven short films, co-directed by Northwestern and Tongji University students, exploring China’s diverse ecologies across time and memory! 📅 April 30 from 5 PM - 9.30 PM 📍 The Block Cinema at the Block Museum of Art

In recognition of this year’s World Intellectual Property Day, we highlight the Fake Online Repository Generation Engine (FORGE), a project developed by the Northwestern Security & AI Lab and led by V.S. Subrahmanian, a Buffett Faculty Fellow and Walter P. Murphy Professor of Computer Science.

Discover Fulbright opportunities and make new connections at Northwestern’s Fulbright Week 2026! From April 20–24, 2026, @buffett.northwestern.edu will host a series of events about Fulbright grants and programs. View the full schedule here: spr.ly/63323BB1Pyd

Sera Young (@profserayoung.bsky.social), Professor of Anthropology and Global Health Studies at Northwestern who co-leads the @buffett.northwestern.edu's Making Water Insecurity Visible Global Working Group, was awarded the 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship in Geography and Environmental Studies.

The Block Museum, co-sponsored by @buffett.northwestern.edu's Shifting Shorelines Global Working Group, will be screening Franco Zeffirelli's documentary FLORENCE: DAYS OF DESTRUCTION (1966) on the deadly 1966 flood in Florence. 📅 April 24 at 7 PM 📍 The Block Museum of Art

What can the shorelines of Lake Michigan reveal about Chicago's history? Join @buffett.northwestern.edu's Shifting Shorelines Global Working Group for a discussion of Michael McColly's book Walking Chicago's Coast. 📅 April 24, 3:00-4:30 PM 📍Hagstrum Room, University Hall

How is AI making its way into courtrooms? Professor V.S. Subrahmanian, a @buffett.northwestern.edu Faculty Fellow, co-authored a study revealing that more than 60% of surveyed judges have used AI in their judicial work. Read more: spr.ly/63321B6AX5V

A game studio founder reimagining our understanding of fundamental truths through play. A research scientist rethinking the human-machine experience. An Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker, and a renowned climate activist. Meet these visionary international thinkers & more at our spring symposium.

The full study, including additional findings and judges’ comments, is available on the Sedona Conference website: www.thesedonaconference.org/publication/...

5. One in three judges permit AI use in chambers · 25.9% of judges permit & 7.4% of judges permit and encourage AI use in their chambers. · Approximately 20% of judges formally prohibit AI use, 17.6% discourage but do not formally prohibit AI use & 24.1% of judges have no official policy on AI use.

4. AI training has not been offered to most judges · 45.5% of judges said that AI training had not been provided by court administration, and 15.7% said that they were not sure. Three out of four judges offered AI training attended the training.

3. Legal research dominates use cases · Legal research is the most common AI use case, reported by 30% of judges. · Reviewing documents is the second most common AI use case, reported by 15.5% of judges.

· 38.4% of judges have never used any of the AI tools listed on the survey in their work. 2. Preference for legal-specific AI tools · Judges are more likely to use "AI for Law" tools (AI tools specifically designed for legal use cases) than general-purpose AI platforms.

1. AI adoption is broad but infrequent · More than 60% of responding judges reported using at least one AI tool in their judicial work. · 22.4% of judges reported using AI tools in their work on a weekly or daily basis.

In “Artificial Intelligence in Federal Courts: A Random-Sample Survey of Judges,” our team conducted a stratified random sample survey of U.S. bankruptcy, magistrate, district court, and court of appeals judges. Of the 502 judges that we surveyed via email, 112 responded (22.3% response rate).

New Research: A significant number of U.S. federal judges are already using #AI tools in their work.

A new study by Buffett Faculty Fellow VS Subrahmanian and Northwestern University Law's Daniel W. Linna surveyed a random sample of federal judges on their AI use and found the majority are using at least one AI tool in their judicial work. Read key insights: news.northwestern.edu/stories/2026...

We are all too familiar with the crises of our time: global warming, uncontrolled technological change, disrupted labor markets, eroding social norms, and new geopolitical conflicts, for starters. But what comes next? And how might we innovate for a better future?

The New Yorker's cover story this week by Daniel Immerwahr argues that Trump's foreign policy represents an acute shift away from decades of US ambition for international order, empire, & hegemony—& many of the constraints that previously limited US military action: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

In December 2019, dozens of Ghanaian-American returnees received citizenship in Accra’s Jubilee House—a spectacle emblematic of pan-African tech optimism. Our video of the week explores the contradictions of Africa's digital future. Ft. Reginold Royston at @buffett.northwestern.edu buff.ly/qLN9NJE

The styles of NYC and LA hip-hop will meet centuries-old storytelling traditions from Damascus at Neo-Hakawati Nights on Thursday, April 9 at 7:30 PM in the Louis Theater. Rapper and poet Omar Offendum will join multi-instrumentalist Zafer Tawil. RSVP required: www.eventbrite.com/e/neo-hakawa...

@fox32chicago.bsky.social interviewed our Making Water Insecurity Visible group leads @profserayoung.bsky.social & Julius Lucks about their research piloting at-home water quality sensors as easy to use as at-home COVID tests to check for toxins in drinking water. 🎥: www.youtube.com/live/tc2J7cQ...

@thedailynu.bsky.social highlighted Buffett Visiting Scholar Georgia Rose, psychology professor at the University of the West Indies, for her powerful talk at @buffett.northwestern.edu on how Jamaicans coped with the traumatic aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. 📖: dailynorthwestern.com/2026/01/07/c...

We capped our yearlong international diplomacy series with a 4-hour peace conference simulation designed by @polisciatnu.bsky.social's Prof. @danigilbert.bsky.social, challenging undergrads to negotiate a fictional peace deal under real-world pressures. 🧵

Congrats to NU undergrads Shraeya Iyer, Jeffrey Tu, & Isabel Su presenting at NetSciX (Feb 17–20), supported by @buffett.northwestern.edu scholarship! Talk: A Multiplex Lens on Influencer Performance, Group Synergy, and Network Centralization Co-Authors: Megan Chan & @noshir.bsky.social

“We normally perceive development as a technology-based route,” says Sarah—but real development is rooted in context, culture & history. That’s the vision behind @buffett.northwestern.edu's Elliott Scholars Program, blending theory + global internships. More: buffett.northwestern.edu/news/2025/re...

What does the US military operation in Venezuela mean for US–Latin American relations & international law? Faculty experts shared insights at the Buffett Inst.: buffett.northwestern.edu/news/2026/the-aftermath-of-operation-absolute-resolve-northwestern-faculty-discuss-us-latin-america-relations.html

How can lessons from past peace agreements shape today's? The last panel of our symposium on negotiating peace featured lawyer Barney Afako, former Ukrainian minister Pavlo Klimkin, OSCE's Kate Fearon, & @fbafolke.bsky.social's Pontus Ohrstedt on the successful implementation of peace agreements.

Last year, @buffett.northwestern.edu launched the Elliott Scholars Program to help students to bridge theory & practice in international development. Meet Mira, an inaugural Elliott Scholar who spent summer in Thailand with an Indigenous-led nonprofit—read: buffett.northwestern.edu/news/2025/re...

Some at our symposium on disinformation suggested the idea that fact-checking “doesn’t work” may be gaining traction. That alarmed Angie Holan of @factchecknet.bsky.social. She argues for being more precise about what’s failing & explains who benefits when we’re not: www.poynter.org/fact-checkin...

In November, ten Northwestern students attended COP30—the UN's climate change conference—in Brazil via a research seminar opportunity offered through @buffett.northwestern.edu. This week, they presented their research & reactions—read in @thedailynu.bsky.social: dailynorthwestern.com/2026/02/04/c...

Join NU Global Health Studies for a public lunch lecture to learn how the role of African intellectuals in early 20th century discussions among British colonialists & American progressives about Africans' health can offer lessons for global health today. RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/suffering-...

Join us for a conversation with founder & CEO of the Karam Foundation Lina Sergie Attar on her work to move humanitarian aid for post-war Syria beyond emergency relief toward long-term resilience 🗓️ Mon. Feb. 9 at 12:30 💻 Attend online: northwestern.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Interested in learning about accountability for social media companies? Don't miss our CEO @imranahmed.bsky.social speaking at @buffett.northwestern.edu's Global Disinformation in a Post-Moderation World Symposium. 📆 January 23rd 📍Chicago, IL Register today ⤵️ https://bit.ly/4qNnOag

Join us for tomorrow's discussion of Operation Absolute Resolve, the recent US military operation in Venezuela. This panel discussion will examine the origins, legitimacy, and consequences of US actions; the future of US–Latin America relations; and how these actions impact international law.

Looking forward to speaking with Ambassador Julie Smith on Tuesday.

Vicky Wang & Elizabeth Lowry spent last year working as Buffett Undergraduate Research Fellows under art history Professor Yuthika Sharma. Wang focused on organizing archival materials & developing foundational research skills while Lowry traveled to London & Paris to work in archives.

Interested in learning about accountability for social media companies? Don't miss our CEO @imranahmed.bsky.social speaking at @buffett.northwestern.edu's Global Disinformation in a Post-Moderation World Symposium. 📆 January 23rd 📍Chicago, IL Register today ⤵️ https://bit.ly/4qNnOag

As social media giants scale back content moderation and governments shutter counter-disinformation programs, some experts warn we are entering a “post-moderation era.” Join us for Global Disinformation in a Post-Moderation World, a two-day symposium on how these shifts are reshaping the globe.

Submit a new translation of important literary & scholarly works to the 2026–27 Humanities in Translation Prize by Friday,Jan. 16 📝 The winner will receive a cash prize and a commitment from @NorthwesternU Press to publish the finished work. 🔗 Learn more nupress.northwestern.edu/humanities-i...

Among our inaugural Buffett Undergraduate Research Fellows were Atarah & Luke, who spent a summer under the mentorship of Prof. KB Dennis Meade helping produce a documentary focused on a Revivalist religious community in Jamaica, synthesizing Kongo-derived spiritual traditions & colonial religions.

Our inaugural photo contest for undergraduates yielded some incredible shots of our Buffett Undergraduate Research Fellows, Elliott Scholars, and International Senior Thesis Grantees embarking on research and community-based internships in locations ranging from Argentina to Thailand to Germany.