Past Events
Buffalo Soup & Social
This civic showcase is a crowdfunding dinner in support of local immigrant-run businesses.
Attendees pay-as-they-can (with a suggested donation of five to twenty-five dollars). All proceeds are then entered into a micro-grant “pool” and four immigrant-run businesses tell their stories and pitch their projects and ideas for the chance to win that micro-grant. Attendees can ask presenters questions prior to voting on their favorite project, and the winner is awarded the entire donation pool. In addition, all participating presenters will be generously compensated for their time.
The dinner will then conclude with an informal social event, allowing attendees and presenters to mingle and discuss ways to further support immigrant-run businesses in Buffalo and Western New York.
The event is part of the Buffalo SOUP initiative started by five PPE undergraduate students two years ago.
BUSINESSES FEATURED:
Abyssinia Ethiopian Cuisine, 617 Main St
Asian Boutique, 1432 Niagara St
Moneybags Dumplings, 69 Chenango St
Zay's Fashion, 370 Amherst St
PARTNERS: The University at Buffalo's School of Public Health and Health Professions Office of Global Health Initiatives. Powered by BootSector.
SPONSORS: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation.
Community Deliberative Forum
PPE Program is proud to present its inaugural Community Deliberative Forum, which is designed to explore what it means to create an inclusive community that is capable of welcoming new arrivals to the area, particularly immigrants and refugees.
More than 10% of the population of the city of Buffalo was born outside of the United States. Nearly half of them arrived in the US since 2010. Some have moved here for work, for study, or to reunite with family. Others came here to flee persecution, violence, and war. Last year alone, 1,312 refugees arrived in Erie County, primarily from Afghanistan, Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Syria.
The influx of new arrivals leads to new opportunities. After more than half a century of population decline, the city of Buffalo is growing again. The new arrivals bring new ideas, skills, and entrepreneurial spirit leading to economic growth and technological innovation, to more diverse music, art, food, and culture, and to a more vibrant and engaged community.
At the same time, welcoming new arrivals comes with its own set of challenges. Many immigrants and refugees arrive with limited financial resources and often need help navigating an unfamiliar legal system, a new language, and new cultural and social norms. For some, the trauma of leaving behind their family and their homes carries physical and emotional scars that need time and help to heal.
This deliberative forum is designed to explore what it means to create an inclusive community that is capable of welcoming new arrivals to the area, particularly immigrants and refugees. The goal is to identify possible actions that we can take, both as individuals and as a group, in order to provide the create a robust support system and to address existing gaps and barriers to inclusion.
This event was made possible through the support of Grant #63350 "Diversity, Dynamism and Inclusion: A New Multi-Method Approach for Studying Liberalism" from the John Templeton Foundation.
2023-24 PPE Speaker Series
Many of today’s most pressing problems – climate change, political polarization, equal access to education – are complex in nature, giving rise to both practical and ethical concerns. The burgeoning field of Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) harnesses the expertise and methods from both the social sciences and philosophy to make meaningful progress on these multifaceted issues. This speaker series serves as a collaborative nexus, bringing together social scientists and philosophers to discuss and disseminate cutting-edge research at the heart of PPE.
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Frontier Workshop: Creativity, Exploration, and Generativity in the Open Society
On June 18 and 19, 2024, UB Philosophy hosted the first annual “Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Frontier Workshop” on the theme of creativity, exploration, and generativity in the open society. Philosophers of science and political philosophers came together from around the country to discuss the nature and dynamics of the “open society” — a society in which members are free to challenge existing beliefs, values, and rules. Presentations covered topics ranging from evolution to artificial intelligence, and participants continued these discussions outside of the conference room as they enjoyed meals and a boat tour on Lake Erie. The philosophy department and the PPE program plan to host a similar workshop every summer.
