SwatTalk: Peter Katzenstein ’67 and David Laitin ’67

Politics and Political Science in a Changing World
with
Peter Katzenstein ’67 and David Laitin ’67

In 1964, Peter Katzenstein and David Laitin met when they were assigned to be roommates in a Mary Lyons quint. It was the start of a friendship that has spanned more than 60 years — through Swarthmore, graduate school, and their own remarkable academic careers.

Katzenstein is a professor of international studies at Cornell University, where he focuses, among many other topics, on the implications of a changed American role in global politics. Laitin is a professor of political science at Stanford University, where his recent work seeks to identify policies that enhance the successful integration of immigrants into their host societies. In 2020, Katzenstein was awarded the prestigious Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Political Science.” In 2021, Laitin won the Skytte.

Please join Katzenstein and Laitin for a conversation with Swarthmore political science professor Ayse Kaya about the relationship between the study and practice of politics.