The Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) is a student-run organisation of the Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences. HPAIR organises Harvard University’s largest annual student conferences in the Asia-Pacific region. Since 1991, they have continuously gathered a growing pool of international students from top universities, renowned academics, business professionals, and political leaders to engage in their rigorous educational events. It has organised 54 conferences in 12 different host countries, touching the lives of more than 32,000 students and young professionals.
The 2018 HPAIR Asia Conference offers a once in a lifetime experience. It will bring together 600 delegates from more than 60 different countries and 150 speakers for a 5-day conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Asia’s astounding growth over the past decades has not been without challenges. Solutions to wide-ranging crises remain elusive; alarming human rights abuses against women, refugees, and minorities remain unanswered; rising wealth inequality, catalysed by globalization and corruption, is still unaddressed. The 2018 HPAIR Asia Conference will focus on the theme of Sustainable Disruption, as we search for ways to continue rapid innovation and progress while ensuring that we consider higher order consequences of these changes and their impact on the Asia-Pacific region well into the future.
Delegates will choose to join 1 of 6 tracks representing a diverse set of topics within Asian and International Relations. Delegates will engage in track-specific panel and seminar sessions featuring influential leaders from academia, business, and government. Besides track-specific programming, delegates will also attend keynote speeches given by world-renowned figures on broader challenges facing Asia today. Past keynote speakers have included Ban Ki-moon, Kim Dae-jung, and S.R. Nathan.
Throughout the event, delegates will also have the opportunity to form meaningful relationships with other conference attendees from all over the world. On Day 4, delegates will work in small teams on an Impact Challenge designed to tackle real-world problems and stimulate ideas for future collaborative projects. Former sponsors of Impact Challenges have included Huawei and Deloitte. Finally, delegates will have the chance to meet in more informal settings during events like International Night – a cultural showcase of talents, HPAIRx – a TEDx style series of talks, and Malaysia Night – an evening of festivities showcasing the very best of the host country.
The World Branding Forum is an official sponsor of HPAIR 2018. For more information, visit the HPAIR website.