# Spring 2019, Volume 33 Number 2 ## expand\_more ![Image of Spring 2019 Centerpiece cover](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/wcfia/files/ctrpiece_s19-draft2_cover_image_150px.jpg?itok=XvrhE91x) The spring 2019 issue of *Centerpiece* highlights the Center's recent activities. In the [Message from the Director](/publications/centerpiece/spring2019/director "Message from the Director"), Michèle Lamont highlights the recent sharp decrease in students enrolling in foreign-language programs—and how the Weatherhead Center plans to address this new trend. For our first feature, we provide an edited excerpt of the transcript from our April 2019 Jodidi Lecture, "[Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad in Conversation with Jennifer Leaning](/publications/centerpiece/spring2019/feature_jodidi2019_murad_leaning "Jodidi Lecture | Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad in Conversation with Jennifer Leaning")." Nadia Murad, corecipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, talked with Faculty Associate Jennifer Leaning about her harrowing escape from ISIS, and her shift from being a survivor to becoming an activist. In the second feature, “[In Conversation with Pia Raffler](/publications/centerpiece/spring2019/feature_raffler "In Conversation with Pia Raffler"),” we talk to Raffler, assistant professor of government, about the political economy of development. We share updates from the [Program on U.S.-Japan Relations](/publications/centerpiece/spring2019/prog_usjapan "Program on U.S.-Japan Relations") and one of our newest research clusters, the [Weatherhead Research Cluster on Religion in Public Life in Africa and the African Diaspora](/publications/centerpiece/spring2019/cluster_africa "Weatherhead Research Cluster on Religion in Public Life in Africa and the African Diaspora"). **Download**: [Spring 2019, Volume 33 Number 2](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/wcfia/files/ctrpiece_s19-final-lowres.pdf "Download the Spring 2019 Centerpiece") \[ PDF: 918 KB \] ### [Message from the Director](/publications/centerpiece/spring2019/director "Message from the Director") *by Michèle Lamont* As always, our Center has been bustling with activity as the academic year ends. In the first week of April, we cosponsored the [Harvard Summit for Gender Equity](https://titleix.harvard.edu/harvardhearsyou) and hosted an amazing [Jodidi Lecture](/lectureships/jodidi "Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture Series") delivered by 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad. We also cosponsored an important [event on the global Roma diaspora](/event/fxb-roma-conference-day-1 "Conference | Neglected Voices: The Global Roma Diaspora (Day 1)") for International Roma Day... ### [In Conversation with Pia Raffler](/publications/centerpiece/spring2019/feature_raffler "In Conversation with Pia Raffler") *by Michelle Nicholasen* Assistant Professor of Government Pia Raffler understands the fraught relationship between politicians, bureaucrats, and voters. Her research on the political economy of development asks the question: How do voters hold their politicians accountable, and, in turn, how do politicians exert oversight of bureaucrats?... ### [Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad in Conversation with Jennifer Leaning](/publications/centerpiece/spring2019/feature_jodidi2019_murad_leaning "Jodidi Lecture | Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad in Conversation with Jennifer Leaning") *The Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture* On August 3, 2014, Islamic State militants launched an attack on the Yazidi people in Sinjar, northern Iraq, the homeland of approximately 500,000 Yazidis. ISIS killed and captured thousands of people in the small religious community because the militants consider them to be infidels and their religion to be devil worshipping. Many Yazidis fled to nearby Mount Sinjar, a sacred place in their community for over a thousand years... ### At the Center - [Of Note](/publications/centerpiece/spring2019/of_note "Of Note") - [New Books](/publications/centerpiece/spring2019/newbooks "New Books") - [In Memoriam](/publications/centerpiece/spring2019/in_memoriam "In Memoriam") - [Student Programs](/publications/centerpiece/spring2019/prog_student "Student Programs") - [Program on U.S.-Japan Relations](/publications/centerpiece/spring2019/prog_usjapan "Program on U.S.-Japan Relations") - [Weatherhead Research Cluster on Religion in Public Life in Africa and the African Diaspora](/publications/centerpiece/spring2019/cluster_africa "Weatherhead Research Cluster on Religion in Public Life in Africa and the African Diaspora") - [New Faculty Associates](/publications/centerpiece/spring2019/new_faculty "New Faculty Associates") - [Photo Gallery | Spring 2019 Events](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/wcfia/files/ctrpiece_s19-final-lowres.pdf "Download the Spring 2019 Centerpiece") --- Attachments- [ picture\_as\_pdf Download the Spring 2019 Centerpiece ](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/wcfia/files/ctrpiece_s19-final-lowres.pdf) --- See also:- [ Centerpiece ](/content-types/centerpiece) - [ Centerpiece: Spring 2019 ](/newsletter-issues/centerpiece-spring-2019)