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Social Issues

Maryam Keshavarz never dreamed of becoming a filmmaker when she was a Northwestern student in the mid-1990s. The daughter of Iranian immigrants didn’t know that world existed.

Learn what inspired Keshavarz

filmmaker Maryam Keshavarz on the set of The Persian Version
In recent years, deepfake videos have been used to demand ransom, distribute revenge porn and influence elections. With the clamor for AI regulation growing louder every day, professor Subrahmanian says it is time to reflect on the threats posed by deepfakes — as well as potential benefits.

Read Subrahmanian’s essay

V.S. Subrahmanian smiles for a headshot.
A transformative grant from the Howard and Paula Trienens Fund will advance global sustainability and energy solutions at one of Northwestern’s flagship research institutes. The grant from the Trienenses’ donor-advised fund was recommended by University Trustee Nan Trienens Kaehler ’79 MS and Thomas R.

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Michael R. Wasielewski stands with two students in front of a large array of solar panels.
As concern grows about climate change and its impact on the planet, scientists at Northwestern’s Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy are asking and answering urgent questions.

Learn about the research

A wet city street at night.
The 2023 Northwestern Alumni Medal recipients — Roberta Buffett Elliott ‘54, Chris Galvin ’73, ’77 MBA and Charles S. Modlin Jr. ’83, ’87 MD — are leaders in philanthropy, business and health care.

Meet the medalists

Roberta Buffett Elliott sits smiling with her hands on her lap.
Racheli Galay ’07 DMA is a founding member of Quartetoukan, a Jewish-Arab quartet whose music reflects the multicultural, multilingual society in Israel. A classically trained cellist who specializes in Jewish music, Galay has toured Israel, Germany and Spain with Quartetoukan since 2012, performing songs in Arabic, Hebrew, English and Yiddish that promote harmony and peace.

Read about Galay

Racheli Galay poses with her cello, smiling.
After booking his biggest acting role yet, Charlie Oh ’16 felt an itch to be part of something that better reflected the contemporary Asian American experience. He wrote a play about a Korean family on an all-American road trip, incorporating themes of identity, assimilation and legacy.

Read the story

The cast of Coleman ’72 acts as if they are sitting in a car together.
Kyra Kyles ’98, ’98 MS is CEO of YR Media, an educational center for aspiring music producers, podcasters, journalists and multimedia content creators. Kyles opened a new YR Media regional facility in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, offering training programs, paid internships and state-of-the-art audio and video production technology to young people from Chicago, Detroit and other Midwestern cities.

Read the story

Kyra Kyles stands in front of a mural with her hand on her hip.
Coined by Northwestern associate professor Moya Bailey, the word “misogynoir” gives name to the specific type of prejudice that Black women experience in today’s society. Bailey sat down with Northwestern Magazine’s Diana Babineau to discuss the origin of the word, how the phenomenon persists today and the Digital Apothecary lab’s latest research endeavors.

Read the Q&A

Moya Bailey stands smiling with her arms crossed next to large shelves of books at a library.
A generous gift from Harry J. Seigle ’71 JD will strengthen Northwestern Pritzker School of Law’s immigration law clinic, which represents children, young adults and parents in immigration court proceedings.

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Uzoamaka Emeka Nzelibe smiles softly for a headshot.