CIPA students are interesting people. They come to Cornell with a broad range of interests and experiences, eager to engage with each other and with faculty and staff. We regularly have returned Peace Corps Volunteers, Teach for America alums, former reporters for world-renowned newspapers, CEOs of successful NGOs, active members of the military, international students sponsored by their respective governments, and numerous other mid-career professionals from a wide variety of organizations. These are wildly talented people with fascinating stories to share.
The Cornell Public Affairs Society (CPAS), the governing student body organization, offers students a platform for sharing their interests and expertise with each other. It’s called “CIPA Speaks.” Students gather every few weeks to hear presentations by their classmates on a wide range of topics. So far this semester we’ve heard these six presentations, with more to come:
- Shan-E-Ahmed ’18—Red Hot Chili Peppers: Connecting Chili Farmers to Modern Markets
- Jonathon Cummings ’18—Governance in Jamaica’s Inner City Communities
- Claudia Heeyeon-Ro ’19—Comfort Women: The Despairing Truth about Korea’s Military Sex Slaves
- Elaha Mahboob ’19—Increase Technological Access to Empower Women
- Amanda Robinson ’18—Ranked Choice Voting: Creating a More Equitable Voting System in Maine
- Lizzy Sweitzer ’18—Right to Food: How Brazil Fuels its School Lunch Program through Family Farming
These talks are very popular, with rooms regularly filling to capacity. That’s a testament to the quality of the speakers and their presentations.
Time to start planning! If you join the CIPA program, what subject would you like to present on to your future classmates?