The Borah Symposium introduces audiences to the most contemporary global problem solvers of our time. Held every year since 1948, this University of Idaho event proffers new ideas for overcoming the obstacles to world peace.

The 2021 Borah Symposium

The Borah Foundation and Committee are proud to announce the 2021 Borah Symposium, "Pandemics: Looking Back, Facing Forward" from Oct. 11, 2021 to Oct. 13, 2021, in Moscow. The symposium will look at how pandemics may change culture, create social change, intensify inequalities, promote peace, divide nations, or exacerbate international tensions. Using the most recent pandemic as a jumping-off point, the 2021 Borah Symposium investigates the influence of pandemics on issues of peace and conflicts. Furthermore, the symposium will focus on steps that can be taken now to resolve newly presented inequalities, promote peace and global unity, and ensure the world is safer as we continue to live through this pervasive crisis.

Learn about our past symposiums in our archives: Symposium Archives

More About the Symposium

The symposium honors the legacy of former U.S. Senator from Idaho William Edgar Borah (1864-1940) by considering the causes of war and the conditions necessary for peace in an international context. Themes and speakers for the annual events are selected by the faculty-student Borah Foundation committee, with administrative and fiscal support provided by the staff of the Martin Institute. Each symposium adopts an interdisciplinary, non-partisan focus in an effort to reach as many members of the university and community as possible.

The William Edgar Borah Outlawry of War Foundation, a separately endowed entity at the University of Idaho, was established by the State Board of Education using funds donated by Salmon O. Levinson in 1929.