Global Stage

In this special episode of Global Stage, democracy promotion expert Thomas Carothers joins Kellogg Doctoral Affiliate Patrick McQuestion for a conversation from the Kellogg Institute’s Global Democracy Conference, held in Washington, DC, on May 12 and 13, 2025. Drawing from decades of experience, Carothers provides insight into the origins of development aid in the United States since the 1980s and the ideological dilemmas at home and abroad around the role of the US supporting democracy around the world. Carothers addresses the fundamental benefits of liberal democracy in contrast to autocratic alternatives, and the important role of universities in convening and bringing knowledge to bear on current affairs.

En este episodio de Global Stage, Lexi Gonzalez Madrid, afiliada doctoral del Instituto Kellogg, entrevista a Jessica Noffsinger, Vania Smith-Oka y Vanesa Miseres sobre su proyecto “Cafecitos: Historias de maternidad y migración a través del arte, la literatura y la construcción comunitaria,” financiado por Humanities Without Walls. Este proyecto colectivo a largo plazo, que se lleva a cabo en South Bend en alianza con la organización local La Casa de Amistad, crea espacios para que las madres migrantes compartan sus historias personales y conecten a través del arte y la literatura en un entorno multidisciplinario. Con su formación profesional en antropología y literatura, respectivamente, las profesoras Smith-Oka y Miseres explican cómo esta experiencia de aprendizaje única combina teoría y práctica con arte y expresión. La colaboradora Noffsinger describe la comunidad diversa y el ambiente familiar y enriquecedor que ofrece esta innovadora iniciativa. Además, la alumna doctoral en antropología Gonzalez Madrid expresa su agradecimiento por este proyecto, que la ha conectado con comunidades locales de madres migrantes fuera del aula.

In this episode of Global Stage, Kellogg Institute doctoral affiliate Lexi Gonzalez Madrid interviews Jessica Noffsinger, Vania Smith-Oka, and Vanesa Miseres about their project, “Cafecitos: Motherhood and Migration Stories through Art, Literature and Community-Building” funded by Humanities Without Walls. This long-term collective endeavor taking place in South Bend, in alliance with local organization La Casa de Amistad, creates spaces for migrant mothers to share their personal stories and connect over art and literature in a multidisciplinary environment. From their professional backgrounds in anthropology and literature, respectively, Smith-Oka and Miseres explain how this unique learning experience is one that blends theory and practice with art and expression. Collaborator Jessica Noffsinger describes the diverse community and nourishing family-friendly environment provided by this innovative endeavor. And PhD student Gonzalez Madrid expresses her appreciation for this project which has connected her to local communities of migrant mothers outside of the classroom.

En este episodio, Tamara Dávila, activista nicaragüense y Fellow de Derechos Humanos Kalamazoo College in Michigan, junto con Verónica Reina, defensora salvadoreña de derechos humanos y Directora del Observatorio de Derechos Humanos del Servicio Social Pasionista, comparten sus valoraciones sobre el estado actual de democracia y derechos humanos en la región de Centroamérica. Junto con la afiliada doctoral del Kellogg, Mayra Ortiz Ocaña, Dávila y Reina ofrecen una perspectiva única sobre los desafíos para garantizar los derechos a la libertad de expresión y asociación libre en sus países, las condiciones deterioradas y violentas de los cárceles y los niveles de violencia que sufren las poblaciones bajo los regímenes autoritarios nicaragüense y salvadoreño. Además, ellas reflexionan sobre sus experiencias como mujeres en el ámbito de defensa de los derechos humanos y los prejuicios a los que se enfrentan.

La autora venezolana y profesora en la Universidad de Cornell Irina Troconis analiza su libro "El Estado Nigromántico: Despojos Espectrales en el Estela de la Revolución Bolivariana de Venezuela" (Duke University Press, 2025) con Alejandro Giraldo Gil, afiliado doctoral del Instituto Kellogg. Troconis describe su uso del concepto de nigromancia para dilucidar el legado y la influencia continua del régimen chavista en Venezuela. Según la autora, el "estado nigromántico" es el espacio de colaboración entre el gobierno y el pueblo en diálogo con los muertos. Troconis profundiza en su proceso de investigación de campo, que comenzó en 2016 e implicó visitar lugares de conmemoración, momentos de descubrimiento y "cacería" de fantasmas, experimentando la sensación de estar atormentada en el proceso.

Venezuelan author Irina Troconis discusses her book The Necromantic State: Spectral Remains in the Afterglow of Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution (Duke University Press 2025) with Kellogg doctoral affiliate Alejandro Giraldo Gil. Troconis describes her use of the concept of necromancy to elucidate the legacy and ongoing influence of the Chavez regime in Venezuela. According to the author, the “necromantic state” is the site of collaboration between government and people in conversation with the dead. Tronconis elaborates on her field research process, which began in 2016 and involved visiting sites of memorialization, moments of discovery and “hunting” ghosts, and feeling the sense of being haunted in the process.

In this episode of Global Stage, Alma Tinoco Ruiz from Duke University and Laurel Marshall Potter from the University of St. Thomas talk about their own research as theologians. In conversation with Kellogg doctoral affiliate Matt Cortese, they discuss the reception of St. Óscar Romero in communities today, both in the US and in El Salvador. This podcast is the third in a special series based on the Romero conference that took place at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies in the spring of 2025.

In this episode of Global Stage, David Lantigua and Todd Walatka, professors in the Theology Department at the University of Notre Dame and co-directors of the Óscar Romero Working Group at the Kellogg Institute, talk about Notre Dame's role in the continued studies of St. Óscar Romero. In conversation with theology masters student Robert Hernandez, Walatka and Lantigua discuss the history of the Latin American/North American Church Concerns at Kellogg and the role of universities in studying a figure like Romero, who insisted on praxis and reality over ideas and theory. This podcast is the second in a special series based on the Romero conference that took place at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies in the spring of 2025.

En este episodio del podcast Global Stage, el Dr. Rodolfo Cardenal, sacerdote jesuita nicaragüense que ha vivido gran parte de su vida adulta en El Salvador, habla sobre la importancia de la vida de San Óscar Romero. Cardenal actualmente es director del Centro Monseñor Óscar Romero de la Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas. Romero fue asesinado el 24 de marzo de 1980 por hablar en contra del gobierno mientras celebraba la Eucaristía. En conversación con candidata doctoral en Teología y coordinadora de posgrado del grupo de trabajo de Óscar Romero del Kellogg Institute, Amirah Orozco, Cardenal habla sobre la importancia de recordar a Romero, las controversias en torno a su vida y muerte, y el futuro de los Estudios Romero. Este podcast es el primero de una serie especial basada en la conferencia que tuvo lugar en el Kellogg Institute for International Studies los días 24 y 25 de marzo de 2025.

In this episode of Global Stage, Kellogg Faculty Fellow Ricky Clark discusses his new book "Cooperative Complexity: The Next Level of Global Economic Governance," which explores how international financial institutions have developed new forms of collaboration to address global challenges. In conversation with Kellogg doctoral affiliate William Kakenmaster, Clark examines how institutional overlap drives competition among international financial institutions, the emergence of cooperation between these institutions in recent decades, and the downstream consequences of such cooperation for institutional efficacy. Clark explains the distinction between political and economic efficiency in co-financing, highlights his mixed-methods research design, and reflects on how these institutions learn from one another and respond to global crises.

In this episode of Global Stage, historians Gabriela Cano and Saul Espino Armendáriz discuss with Victoria Basulto, a PhD student in History and Kellogg doctoral affiliate, their recent publication, the Biographical Dictionary of Women from the Colegio of Mexico (Diccionario Biográfico de las Mujeres de El Colegio de México: Las generaciones constructoras) published by COLMEX in 2024. The authors discuss the methodological decisions behind editing this dictionary as well as the analytical motivations for their intersectional examination of gender and democracy within the context of higher education in Mexico.

In this episode of Global Stage, political scientist Rachel Schwartz discusses state-building, corruption, and accountability in post-war societies, focusing on Central America. In conversation with Kellogg Doctoral Student Affiliate and political scientist Isabel Güiza-Gómez, Schwartz presents the main argument and findings from her book entitled "Undermining the State from Within: The Institutional Legacies of Civil War in Central America" (Cambridge University Press, 2023), which examines how counterinsurgent states in Guatemala and Nicaragua did not just disappear with the end of civil war, but instead left behind enduring institutional legacies that have undermined the state’s ability to function – especially in areas like tax collection, public security, and property administration. Schwartz also reflects on her current book project on international anti-corruption commissions in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

En este episodio de Global Stage, la politóloga Rachel Schwartz discute sobre la construcción estatal, corrupción, y rendición de cuentas en sociedades de posguerra con énfasis en Centroamérica. En conversación con la afiliada doctoral del Instituto Kellogg Isabel Güiza-Gómez, Schwartz presenta el argumento central y hallazgos de su libro titulado "Socavar El Estado Desde Adentro: Los Legados Institucionales de la Guerra Civil en Centroamérica" (Cambridge University Press 2023, Editorial Sophos, 2025), el cual examina la forma en que los estado contrainsurgentes en Guatemala y Nicaragua no desaparecieron con el fin de la guerra civil, sino que, por el contrario, dejaron legados institucionales persistentes que han debilitado la capacidad del estado – en especial, en áreas como recolección de impuestos, seguridad pública y administración de la propiedad. Schwartz también reflexiona sobre su actual proyecto de libro acerca de las campañas internacionales anticorrupción en Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador.

In this episode of Global Stage, anthropologist Nusrat Chowdhury discusses her critical analysis of Bangladeshi “chhatra-janata” or student-people in popular protests, slogans, and graffiti that led to the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024. In conversation with Kellogg Doctoral Student Affiliate and sociologist Eisar Haider, she reflects on “crowd politics” of social movements beyond the generational differences in social movements, and the links between “signature” infrastructure projects and authoritarian populism. Chowdhury also describes the forms of resistance in language and the subaltern sources she noticed when undertaking ethnographic methods in her fieldwork.

In this episode of Global Stage, political scientist Nermin Allam (Rutgers University) describes her research on the intersection of women activism and authoritarianism. Interviewed by Kellogg Doctoral Affiliate Francesca Freemen, Allam unpacks the questions of how power is yielded, reproduced, and contested within patriarchal authoritarian regimes. Her new book project, “The Afterlife Goes On,” studies the legacy of women’s participation in the Egyptian uprising in 2011 against Hosni Mubarak.

En este episodio de Global Stage, Sandra Botero (Universidad del Rosario) presenta su libro del 2023, Courts that Matter: Activists, Judges, and the Politics of Rights Enforcement (Cambridge University Press). Botero describe como su formación en estudios legales y las conexiones con el Instituto Kellogg han influenciado su investigación sobre la política judicial y los espacios de monitoreo colaborativo. Además expresa su apoyo por los métodos de investigación interdisciplinario para entender las complejidades de la política judicial, la polarización y la reglamentación del internet y los derechos digitales.

In this episode of Global Stage, Sandra Botero (Universidad del Rosario) discusses her 2023 book, Courts that Matter: Activists, Judges, and the Politics of Rights Enforcement (Cambridge University Press). A former Kellogg Institute PhD Fellow and current visiting fellow, Botero describes how her background in legal studies and connections to the Kellogg Institute have influenced her research on judicial politics and collaborative oversight arenas. She also argues for the value of interdisciplinary research methods for tackling complex questions around judicial politics, polarization, and now in her current research on internet regulations and digital rights.

En este episodio de Global Stage, la profesora asistente de la Escuela Keough, Laura Gamboa, habla sobre su libro Resistiendo el Retroceso: Estrategias de la Oposición contra la Erosión de la Democracia. En conversación con la afiliada doctoral al Instituto Kellogg, Isabel Güiza-Gómez, Gamboa discute casos recientes de erosión democrática y resiliencia democrática en América Latina con énfasis en cuándo y cómo los actores opositores pueden exitosamente proteger el Estado de derecho y la competencia política a pesar de los intereses de los ejecutivos maximalistas para acumular poder.

In this episode of Global Stage, Keough School Assistant Professor Laura Gamboa presents her book "Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies Against the Erosion of Democracy." In conversation with Kellogg doctoral affiliate Isabel Güiza-Gómez, Gamboa discusses recent cases of democratic erosion and resilience in Latin America, emphasizing when and how opposition actors can successfully protect the rule of law and political competition despite maximalist executives’ interests in accumulating power.

In this episode of Global Stage, Kellogg Institute Visiting Fellow Marianne Kneuer discusses her new project on democratic erosion and post-erosion reconstruction. In conversation with Kellogg PhD Fellow León Heitler, Kneuer also describes the important position of the Kellogg Institute for answering questions related to democracy, as well as her personal experiences as a journalist and public servant that have shaped the normative convictions driving the formulation of her research questions.