Director’s Letter

Over the course of the fall semester, the MacMillan Center has been very fortunate to be able to host a number of policy and scholarly luminaries who lectured on a wide range of topics. In September, Myanmar democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi spoke at Yale as part of her first U.S. tour since leaving house arrest. She lectured about the rule of law and her country’s struggle for democracy. Samar Yazbek, a Syrian journalist and dissident, spoke about her experiences and offered thoughts on the war engulfing the Arab nation.

In October, Raghuram Rajan, recently named chief economic adviser to the government of India, delivered the Coca-Cola World Fund at Yale Lecture. He spoke about the challenges facing the post-crisis industrial world.

In November, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gave our George Herbert Walker Jr. Lecture in International Studies. He encouraged the United States to strengthen its partnership with the United Nations in addressing international issues such as hunger, human rights, climate change, education, and violence, and urged his Yale audience to engage in those same concerns as global citizens.

I am very pleased to announce that as of January 2013 the MacMillan Center will offer International Field Research Fellowships. We will provide up to $20,000 each for eight doctoral field research recruitment packages through our Area Studies Councils to support Yale’s efforts to attract the best possible Ph.D. students who plan to focus their work in international, comparative, and area studies fields.

Please take a moment to read about some of our many events highlighted in this newsletter. The videos of four of the lectures can be viewed through the links on the left. I also hope you have an opportunity to watch The MacMillan Report at www.yale.edu/macmillanreport. In its fifth season, the show features fascinating interviews with faculty talking about their latest research.

My warmest wishes to you and yours for a very happy holiday season!

— Ian Shapiro, Henry R. Luce Director