While much interdisciplinary training for early-career scholars entails teaching them how to assimilate different disciplines into their projects, the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy’s programme focuses on showing students how to build an interdisciplinary community. On Monday, 30 May, the Centre hosted its PhD Colloquium, which takes place every semester. Participants from various departments—including Anthropology and Sociology, International Relations and Political Science, and International Law—acted as either presenters or discussants, provoking a lively discussion in the process.

AHCD Co-Director Graziella Moraes da Silva welcomed participants. Research Fellow Yanina Welp then noted the Colloquium aimed to provide an informal productive environment to support research progress. Both students and senior researchers acted as discussants to the three presentations.

Sucharita Sengupta, Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology and Sociology, presented a paper on ‘Waiting to Belong? – Women, war of words and activism in Rohingya camps of Bangladesh’. Henrique Espósito, PhD Researcher in International Relations & Political Science, and Rossana Castiglioni, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and History of the Diego Portales University, Chile, acted as discussants.

Henrique Espósito and Livio Silva-Müller, PhD Researcher in Anthropology and Sociology, then presented a co-authored paper on ‘How has the Brazilian Amazon been constructed as a problem? The economy, the environment, the people, and the nation in the presidential speeches since 1985’. Tomáš Morochovič, PhD Candidate in International Law Department, and Matias López, Post-Doctoral researcher at AHCD, then responded to their paper with comments.

Lastly, Tomáš Morochovič presented his paper on ‘The Revolution will be Live-streamed’: Dispute Settlement Mechanisms and the Construction of Narratives of the Internet as a Space for Political Expression’, receiving comments from Meenakshi Nair, PhD Candidate in Anthropology and Sociology, and Claudia Heiss, Head of the Political Science Department at the Institute of Public Affairs, Universidad de Chile.

Subscribe to updates about AHCD activities geared towards PhD students or express your interest in partaking in a future Colloquium by emailing democracy@graduateinstitute.ch.