Columbia Global Debates meeting is hosted in Rio de Janeiro

December 13, 2013

Columbia Global Debates is a new format for public discussions on global issues filmed before a studio audience and streamed live around the world. The events featured presentations by Columbia professors and other experts in Rio de Janeiro, followed by questions from Columbia Global Centers around the world, the studio audience, and via Twitter from others watching the livestream on the Internet.

The first event was hosted in Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 29, 2013, by Columbia Global Centers | Rio de Janeiro and featured presentations by Mark Wigley, dean of Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and Eduardo Paes, mayor of Rio de Janeiro. Their presentations focused on different perspectives for urban planning in cities that have been through intense transformation.

The second discussion was held Oct. 30 and featured presentations by Thomas J. Trebat, director of the Rio Center, and Marcos Troyjo, a Brazilian entrepreneur, social scientist, writer and diplomat, spoke about the history of democracy and development in Brazil, from the 1970s until today. The presentations will be followed by questions from from the audience, via Twitter, and from Columbia Global Centers around the world. Troyjo, an adjunct associate professor in Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, filled in for Fernando Henrique Cardoso, sociologist and former President of Brazil, who was scheduled to speak in person but took ill shortly before the event and appeared on screen via a recorded greeting.