Displacement in a Changing World: Global Dialogue Across Campus and Continents
Seventy-five years ago, the world made a solemn promise: No person forced to flee their home would face the world alone. Join Columbia Global as we examine how that promise has been kept — and broken.
The 1951 Refugee Convention became the cornerstone of international protection — yet today, that promise is under increasing pressure, as humanitarian funding, multilateral institutions, and political will are strained and tested.
In 2026, Columbia Global is convening a year-long global dialogue on forced displacement, bringing together perspectives from across Columbia and around the world.
This fall, that conversation comes to campus. Join us at the Lee C. Bollinger Forum for a series of public dialogues, connect with New York organizations working with displaced communities, and explore events and perspectives from across Columbia and Columbia Global’s worldwide network.
At the Bollinger Forum: Columbia Global's Fall 2026 Displacement Dialogues
Throughout the fall, Columbia Global will bring leading scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and people with lived experience to the Lee C. Bollinger Forum to explore how displacement is changing—and how institutions, communities, and individuals are responding.
Across Columbia: Explore Displacement Events Across Columbia
Columbia Global’s fall programming is part of a broader university-wide conversation on forced displacement. Explore lectures, conferences, workshops, and other events taking place across Columbia’s schools, institutes, and campuses.
From the Global Centers: Perspectives from Columbia's Global Network
“Refugees are already contributing to all our societies. They are the cheap labor, they are consumers, they are magnets for international aid, and they are drivers of the economy… the shift is in quantifying and recognizing these contributions.”
- Lina Abou-Habib, Director, Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship, American University of Beirut
Throughout the year, the Columbia Global Centers have brought the conversation on forced displacement into dialogue with experts and communities around the world. Explore these conversations from across the network.
- Displaced People at a Crossroads: The Refugee Convention at 75 (New York panel, April 1)
- A System Under Strain: Can Refugee Protection Keep Pace with Global Displacement? (Middle East webinar, April 14)
- Between Commitment and Implementation: Refugee Protection in East Africa (East Africa webinar, April 21)
- Forced Migration in Latin America: Challenges and Creative Solutions (Latin America webinar, April 28)
- Borders, Responsibility, and Refugee Governance In a Changing Protection Landscape (Europe webinar, May 4)
Columbia Global: Advancing Work on Displacement
The fall conversation builds on Columbia Global’s ongoing work to advance research, education, innovation, and opportunities for displaced scholars and students.
Explore Columbia Global initiatives and resources, including the Committee on Forced Migration, programs supporting displaced students and scholars, Emerging Scholars, and research and funding initiatives focused on displacement.
