📅 September 24, 2026 | 9:00–18:00
📍 The Penn Club of New York, 4th Floor, Chestnut Room
🔒 Attendance is by invitation only.
The Forum for World Education (FWE) is pleased to announce “Universities in the Age of Authoritarianism: Education as Diplomacy,” a one-day international conference on the role of universities in building dialogue, trust, and cooperation across borders.
Drawing on lessons from history, the conference will explore how universities have sustained scholarship and open inquiry through challenging times, and how education can serve as a bridge between nations today. Through student exchange, research collaboration, and academic partnership, universities remain among the most enduring platforms for mutual understanding.
We are honored to welcome William C. Kirby, T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies and Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard University, who will share his perspective on what history can teach us about the future of higher education.
The conference will bring together university leaders, scholars, diplomats, and educators for a day of dialogue on education as a force for international understanding.