Alliance Program

09/11/2026

Columbia Remembers: 25 Years After 9/11

Twenty-five years after September 11, 2001, we remember the nearly 3,000 people whose lives were taken that day, and we honor their families and loved ones, survivors, first responders, and all those whose lives were forever changed.

For New Yorkers, September 11th is inseparable from the memory of this city. Its impact lives in our families, neighborhoods, institutions, and communities. For many, the events of that day remain deeply personal; for younger generations, they are also encountered through the stories of parents and grandparents, photographs, memorials, classrooms, and the city itself.

Those different experiences exist alongside one another. They remind us that the memory of September 11th is made up of countless individual lives and perspectives—and that the ways communities remember are continually shaped by the people who carry those memories forward.

This idea resonates with the Alliance Program’s Vis à Vis episode “Can Memory Change the Present?”, featuring sociologist Sarah Gensberger of Sciences Po and Columbia University historian Carol Gluck. Their conversation explores collective and public memory, and how our understanding of the past is shaped by families, communities, institutions, relationships, and the societies in which we live.

Gensburger’s research also asks us to consider whose memories are preserved, whose stories are heard, and how social circumstances influence the ways people participate in remembrance.

Today, we remember those who were lost and those who carry their memory. We remember the people who cared for strangers, the communities that supported one another, and a city confronted with profound grief.

Twenty-five years later, New York continues to remember—publicly and privately, collectively and individually. And as those memories are carried forward, we continue to listen to one another.

We invite you to explore collective remembrance further, and listen to the episode, “Can Memory Change the Present?”

Vis a Vis · Episode

09/08/2026

Join us on September 16 at 6:00 PM for “80 Years Later: Can Multilateralism Be Re-Invented?”, a transatlantic panel exploring the future of international cooperation, diplomacy, and global governance.

At a time of increasing geopolitical fragmentation and declining trust in international institutions, our panelists will consider whether multilateralism can adapt—and what a more stable and equitable international order might look like.

Speakers:
Elizabeth N. Saunders
Professor of Political Science, Columbia University

Jean-Marie Guéhenno
Kent Visiting Professor in Conflict Resolution, Columbia | SIPAA; former UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations

Tim Heinkelmann-Wild
Lecturer, LMU Munich; Max Weber Fellow, European University Institute

Moderated by Dr. Emmanuel Kattan, Director of the Alliance Program.

📅 September 16 | 6:00 PM
📍 Deutsches Haus, Columbia University | 420 W 116th St

This event is presented by the Alliance Program and the Centre Marc Bloch Berlin, in partnership with Deutsches Haus at Columbia University, as part of the 80 Years Later series.

Registration is open—please join us and share this event with anyone interested in international affairs, diplomacy, global governance, and the future of multilateralism.

👉 Register here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/80-years-later-can-multilateralism-be-re-invented-tickets-1999281339305

07/09/2026

The Alliance Program is proud to announce the new dual master's program between the Paris Climate School at Sciences Po and the Columbia Climate School

Dual degree, dual cities!

Columbia Climate School and the Paris Climate School at Sciences Po are launching a new dual master’s program at the intersection of climate science and ecological governance.

Earn two world-class master’s degrees in just two years:
Year 1️⃣ in Paris at the Paris Climate School of Sciences Po: MA in Ecological Transition, Risks, and Governance
Year 2️⃣ in New York at Columbia Climate School: MS in Climate

“Climate change requires solutions that span disciplines, borders and systems. Students will earn two world-class degrees, join two global networks and develop the skills to understand climate risks, evaluate solutions and help turn climate knowledge into action at both local and global scales,” says Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson.

“Climate change is a global challenge that demands global cooperation; this program embodies that spirit by connecting two major intellectual and diplomatic hubs, and by equipping future leaders to drive meaningful change at scale,” says Paris Climate School Dean Laurence Tubiana.

🗓️ The program will welcome its first cohort in fall 2027, with admissions opening in September 2026.

➡️ Learn more: https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2026/07/08/columbia-climate-school-and-sciences-po-to-launch-dual-degree-focused-on-climate-action/

📷 Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson and Sciences Po President Luis Vassy. Credit: Alix Schroder

07/09/2026

We are delighted to announce the five Joint Research Projects selected for the 2026–27 Academic Year.

Spanning democracy and media, art and diplomacy, global finance, ecology and belonging, and advanced materials, each project pairs researchers across our partner institutions — Columbia University, Sciences Po, École polytechnique, and Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

Join us in congratulating this year’s selected grantees and learn more about the projects we’re supporting.

06/10/2026

🎊🎓 Congratulations to Dr Nitous Anthousi on her PhD defense on Wednesday, June 3rd, at Amphithéâtre Bachelard, Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne. Dr Anthousi’s thesis “Espèces d’hétérotopie”, pursued under the joint direction of Jean-Marie Dallet (Paris 1), and Neni Panourgia (Columbia University), is an analysis of art creation under conditions of confinement in Ellis Island and the Island of Leros, Greece. Dr Anthousi was an Alliance Doctoral Mobility Scholar in 2024.

🎊🎓Félicitations à Nitous Anthousi à l’occasion de sa soutenance de thèse mercredi 3 juin, dans l’Amphithéâtre Bachelard de Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne. La thèse de Dr Anthousi, “Espèces d’hétérotopie”, une création-recherche portant sur la création artistique dans des conditions d’enfermement à l’île de Leros et à Ellis Island, a été dirigée par Jean-Marie Dallet (Paris 1), en co-direction avec Neni Panourgia (Université Columbia). En 2024, Dr Anthousi a bénéficié d’une bourse de mobilité doctorale dans le cadre du programme Alliance.

06/06/2026

🧠 What is “immense memory,” and how did Enlightenment thinkers understand the brain and memory? Dr. Joanna Stalnaker explores the perspectives of Deffand, Voltaire, Diderot, and more in our latest episode of Vis À Vis. Link in bio.

06/05/2026

💭 One of the mottos of the Enlightenment was “sapere aude,” dare to know. With this motto, Enlightenment thinkers like Diderot, Voltaire, and Rousseau rejected fanaticism, conventional thinking, and, in many cases, the authority of the Church, submission to religious principles and belief in the afterlife. As they faced death, therefore, it seemed natural that these thinkers would turn to their legacy. If there was no prospect of Paradise, at least they would survive in the minds of future generations through their writing. But a new book, entitled “The Rest Is Silence: Enlightenment Philosophers Facing Death” by Dr. Joanna Stalnaker, published this year by Yale University Press, argues otherwise. It shows that, as they faced their ultimate hour, Enlightenment thinkers did not think about their legacy and glory after death. On the contrary, their last works seemed to embrace nothingness and oblivion.

🎧 Listen to the full interview with Dr. Joanna Stalnaker about her new book, The Rest Is Silence: Enlightenment Philosophers Facing Death (Yale University Press: 2025), on Spotify at the link in our bio.

06/01/2026

🤔💭 How did Enlightenment thinkers understand their own passing? What can their perspectives tell us about the nature of life and death in the post-Enlightenment era? And what does boredom and nothingness have to do with it all?

📚🔗Hear Dr. Joanna Stalnaker’s perspective on these questions and more at the link in our bio.

05/29/2026

🎉 Congratulations and Félicitations to the Selected Alliance Program Doctoral Mobility Grantees for 2026-2027!

The Alliance Program is delighted to welcome this year’s recipients of the 2025-2026 Doctoral Mobility Grant. We congratulate all grantees and warmly invite them to join our vibrant academic communities in New York City and Paris as they embark on their research exchanges this upcoming academic year.

🔗 Read more about the selected Grantees and the Doctoral Mobility Program at the link in our bio.

05/29/2026

💭🏛️ We are thrilled to share our latest episode of the Vis À Vis podcast!

This episode celebrates the new book release of The Rest is Silence: Enlightenment Philosophers Facing Death (Yale University Press: 2025) by author Dr. Joanna Stalnaker, in conversation with Alliance Director Emmanuel Kattan.

Listen to the new episode at the link in our bio.