Colloquium

The eighth Global Colloquium of University Presidents is being hosted by Yale University on April 12-13, 2016.  The colloquium is convened by the presidents of its six sponsoring institutions—Brown University, Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University—on behalf of and with the support and participation of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Participants in the 2016 colloquium include presidents and vice chancellors as well as faculty experts from universities in Brazil, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, India, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Peru, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will chair the meeting which will center on the theme of “Preservation of Cultural Heritage: Challenges and Strategies,” focusing on issues of key importance to societies, universities, and major museums worldwide—and that also are ranked highly on UNESCO’s agenda.

The field is a vast and multifaceted one, and topics will include (among others) response and prevention to natural or man-made disasters, sustainable conservation in the time of climate change and green museum debate, conservation education and training, cultural heritage computing and access, illicit traffic, forgeries, and the legal and economic sides of preservation with respect to diverse global perspectives.

The colloquium will begin on Tuesday, April 12, with an opening address by the Secretary-General. Wednesday morning will include a plenary session and parallel sessions for the presidents and faculty experts focusing on more specific topics.

The program will conclude with a plenary session on Wednesday afternoon with reports on the working session discussions. A full report on the colloquium will be issued at a later date.