As Irakli Kakabadze, the 2009 recipient of the Oxfam Novib/PEN Award and a visiting scholar at Cornell, nears the end of his residency, he teaches a class where students use art and theater to express their political opinions and try to find peaceful solutions to conflicts in the Republic of Georgia.

Fearing for his and his family’s lives, artist and activist Irakli Kakabadze fled from his native country Georgia. Now a visiting scholar at Cornell’s peace studies program and writer-in-residence of Ithaca City of Asylum, Kakabadze spoke last Saturday at the Unitarian Church of Ithaca to emphasize the importance of art and writing as an instrument for peace building.

Kakabadze says he believes artists — especially in countries like Georgia — unmask the unknown situation that is hushed up by the government to the public. They then became well known performers in Georgia and, as a result, victims of attacks from the state government.

Cornellians are often said to be living in the “10 square miles surrounded by reality” that is Ithaca. Yesterday afternoon, however, the Guerlac Room in A.D. White House was packed with students attending a panel discussion called “A New Cold War? The Crisis in Georgia and Its Implications for East-West Relations.”

In the event organized by the Cornell International Affairs Review, Prof. Valerie Bunce, government, joined Georgian author and political figure Irakli Kakabadze and spoke to about 100 people. About 20 members of the audience stood at the entrances of the small room throughout the two-hour discussion.

Cornell boasts of having one of the most diverse student and faculty populations in the world. With undergrads, grads and professors from over 120 countries, few are better suited to keep you up-to-date and informed on rapidly changing world events. This weekly section will highlight prominent global issues through a Cornell perspective.

Last Saturday, hundreds of Georgians in T-shirts emblazoned with the red crosses of the Georgian flag linked hands along New York City’s Fifth Avenue to protest the Russian attack on Georgia.