Knowledge Against Violence Speaker Series

The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Knowledge Against Violence speaker series provides timely research and analysis for an informed audience from leading violence experts.

Guest speakers, drawn from the Foundation’s network of scholars and practitioners, seek to illuminate the causes, manifestations, and responses to violence in areas such as war, crime, terrorism, intimate relationships, climate instability, and political extremism.

The 90-minute events are open to the public.

Follow the Foundation on X/Twitter and sign up for our newsletter to register for these and other HFG events.

Global Perspectives on Gender-Based Violence Series

In the fall of 2023, the Foundation hosted the “Global Perspectives on Gender-Based Violence” series. Conversations featured practitioners and HFG grantees connecting the latest research to practices and policies aimed at understanding and addressing gender-based violence. Videos of the series can be found below. Learn more about the series here.

Discussions

05/28/2025

Words of War: Does Negotiation End or Extend Conflict?

Join HFG for a virtual conversation on Wednesday, May 28 at 1 pm ET, in which UCLA, assistant professor Eric Min will discuss when, why, and how belligerents negotiate and under what conditions negotiation leads to peaceful resolution.

03/27/2025

Pathways to Conflict: The Impact of Climate Change on Violence

In “Pathways to Conflict: How Climate Change Fuels Violence” based on her forthcoming HFG Research and Policy in Brief publication, professor Valli Koubi answered questions about the conditions under which climate change and insecurity exacerbate violent conflict.

05/02/2024

“Local or Global? The Future of Peacebuilding in Africa”

A conversation with Séverine Autesserre, Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Political Science, Barnard College, Columbia University and João Honwana, Senior Advisor with the Mediation Program, Kroc Institute, University of Notre Dame.

03/21/2024

“Conflict and Climate: How Global Warming Leads to Global Violence”

A conversation with Marwa Daoudy, Georgetown University, Sarah Njeri, SOAS, University of London and Javier Puente, Smith College.

02/16/2023

“Protectors or Predators: Understanding Urban Gang Violence Around the World” Panel

Nicholas Barnes is a Lecturer in the School of International Relations at the University of St. Andrews, David C. Brotherton is Professor of Sociology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Adeem Suhail is an assistant professor in social anthropology at Franklin and Marshall College, and Rosette Sifa Vuninga is Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of the Western Cape’s Centre for the Humanities Research.

12/14/2023

“Sex Work: Does Legitimization Mitigate Violence?”

A conversation with Modupe Animashaun, Institute of Peace, Security and Humanitarian Studies, University of Ibadan, Michele Decker, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, and Claudia Torres-Patino, Harvard Law School, Harvard University.

11/28/2023

“Reckoning with Intimate-Partner Violence after the Pandemic”

A conversation with Diana Peel, Makerere University, Charlotte Ofori, Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana, and Lotte Houwink ten Cate, Department of History, Columbia University.

11/08/2023

“Weapons of War: Examining Gender-Based Violence in Conflict Zones”

A conversation with Abby Cordova, Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame and Romina Istratii, School of History, Religions and Philosophies, SOAS.

06/29/2023

“Beyond the Crisis: Reimagining Migrant Protection”

A conversation with Nicki Kindersley, Lecturer in African History at the School of History, Archaeology and Religion at Cardiff University.

03/30/2023

“Why Have Homicide Rates Gone up Since 2015? A Historical Perspective”: Dr. Randolph Roth

Randolph Roth is College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of History and Sociology at Ohio State University, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the author of the book American Homicide.

11/17/2022

“Understanding the Drivers of Violent Extremism in Africa” Panel

Daniel Agbiboa is Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. Rachel Sweet is Assistant Professor of Politics and Global Affairs at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, at the University of Notre Dame.

09/17/2022

“Rising Violent Crime in Mexico” Panel

Angélica Durán-Martínez is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Global Studies PhD program at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Guillermo Trejo is Professor of Political Science, and Director of the Violence and Transitional Justice Lab at the University of Notre Dame. Javier Osorio is an Assistant Professor in the School of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Arizona.

05/03/2022

“Why We Fight”: Dr. Chris Blattman

Dr. Chris Blattman is the author of Why We Fight: The Roots of War and Paths to Peace and Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies at The University of Chicago, in Harris Public Policy and The Pearson Institute.

03/23/2022

“Old Hatreds Die Hard: ‘New’ Developments in Far Right Extremism”: Dr. Pete Simi

Pete Simi is co-author (along with Robert Futrell) of the book American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement’s Hidden Spaces of Hate and an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Chapman University.

01/26/2022

“Intimate Partner Violence and Armed Conflict in Colombia”: Dr. Maria Restrepo-Ruiz

Dr. Maria Restrepo-Ruiz is a Research Associate with the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Connecticut.

12/09/2021

“Soldiers in Exile”: Dr. Godfrey Maringira

Godfrey Maringira is author of Soldiers and the State in Zimbabwe and Associate Professor of Anthropology at Sol Plaatje University, South Africa.

11/10/2021

“The Long History of Anti-Asian Violence in the US”: Dr. Beth Lew-Williams

Beth Lew-Williams is a historian of race and migration in the U.S., specializing in Asian American history and Associate Professor of History at Princeton University.

10/13/2021

“Violence and the Law at War”: Dr. Craig Jones

Craig Jones is author of The War Lawyers and a lecturer in political geography in the School of Geography, Sociology, and Politics at Newcastle University.