Around the Institute

Socrates in Colombia

June 5, 2019  • Institute Staff

In March, the Socrates Program and the John P. and Anne Welsh McNulty Foundation joined forces to bring the Institute’s seminars to South America for the first time. Leaders from Colombia, the United States, Chile, Panama, Japan, El Salvador, the United Kingdom, and Mexico gathered for debate and dialogue in Cartagena, Colombia. MIT Media Lab’s William Powers led a seminar on “Order Amid Chaos: Major Trends Shaping the Future of Technology, Business, and Society,” and Georgetown University’s Sonal Shah led “Can the Market Fix the Market?” Participants considered artificial intelligence, market limitations and biases, and new policies for South America and the world. They also explored the coastal city of Cartagena and took in its rich history and culture. The Socrates Cartagena Seminars are part of an effort to establish an international Institute partnership in the Andean region. Topics and challenges explored within seminar sessions became launching points for continued debate and inspiration for future programming. The McNulty Foundation, Luis Javier Castro, Sonia Sarmiento, Julia Rojas, and Francisco Staten and Jennifer Burris sponsored the Socrates Cartagena Seminars.

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