Perry World House announced its list of visiting fellows for the 2024-2025 academic year, including Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege.
The Perry World House is Penn's hub for global affairs. Each year, the Visitors Fellows and Visiting Scholars Program brings policy leaders, scholars, and practitioners to engage with the Penn community through campus research, guest lectures, and public programming.
This year’s cohort of 19 people represents nine countries and diverse backgrounds, such as government, think tanks, NGOs, higher education, and the private sector. The fellows bring experience in areas including climate change, human rights, and international security.
“Perry World House’s newest cohort of visiting fellows was chosen because of their extraordinary knowledge and accomplishments in their fields—all of which align with our new thematic program areas,” Executive Director at Perry World House Marie Harf wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “We are thrilled to welcome them to Penn’s campus and the Perry World House community and are confident that they will enrich our academic and policy pursuits throughout their tenure with us.”
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is the leader of Belarus’ opposition and is widely recognized as the rightful winner of the 2020 Belarusian presidential election. She has become a global symbol of the peaceful struggle for democracy, earning numerous awards for her leadership. Tsikhanouskaya has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and is frequently listed among the most influential people in Europe.
Tsikhanouskaya spoke at PWH on Sept. 26 about the local and global fight for democracy.
Denis Mukwege is a Congolese gynecologist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, known for his work treating victims of wartime sexual violence. He is an outspoken human rights activist campaigning against the use of rape as a weapon of war. Mukwege founded the Panzi Hospital and Foundation, where he has helped thousands of survivors of sexual violence.
Antonio Carpio is a former Justice of the Philippines Supreme Court, with a distinguished record of authoring hundreds of judicial decisions. He is an expert on the West Philippine Sea issue and has lectured widely on maritime disputes. Carpio was awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit in 1998 and remains an influential voice on international law in the region.
Other notable visitors and scholars in this year’s cohort include former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and John Hopkins University professor Mara Karlin, Maldives climate change expert Khadeeja Naseem, and former mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees.
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