Jacinda Ardern to study leadership, online extremism at Harvard University
Months after resigning, former prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Instagram that she will study and speak at Harvard University on topics such as leadership, governance, and online extremism.
Ardern said in a post that she will be joining the Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School likely during the next New Zealand general election.
“While I’ll be gone for a semester (helpfully the one that falls during the NZ general election!) I’ll be coming back at the end of the fellowships,” Ardern wrote in her Instagram post. “After all, New Zealand is home!”
The former Labour party leader, who has been invited as a 2023 Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow and a Hauser Leader, will study online extremism at the law school, and then build leadership and governance skills at the Kennedy school.
According to Ardern, her upcoming semester at Harvard University is important in her Christchurch Call work because “it is an opportunity to take up the first tech governance leadership fellowship at the Berkman Klein Center.”
Ardern mentioned the Christchurch Call, an intergovernmental and tech company pledge she created after the Christchurch terror attacks to prevent the online spread of terrorist and extremist content.
In 2022, Ardern was given an honorary Doctor of Law degree at Harvard University, earning a standing ovation when she spoke about topics such as gun control and democracy.
In a statement, Harvard University said that Ardern’s semester will revolve around studying how to improve content standards and platform accountability for extremist content online, and it will also focus on examining algorithmic harms and artificial intelligence governance.
Ardern will also continue her work on Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, where she is part of the board. The prize awards five £1m prizes every year to organisations that provide solutions to major environmental problems.
Berkman Klein Centre co-founder Prof Jonathan Zittrain said it was “rare and precious” for a former head of state to be able to immerse deeply in a complex and fast-moving digital policy issue both during and after their service. He said Ardern’s hard-earned expertise and ability to bring diverse institutions and people together are invaluable as we all look for solutions to some of the most complex online problems.
Douglas Elmendorf, Dean of the Kennedy School at Harvard, said that Ardern showed the world “strong and empathetic political leadership.” According to him, Ardern will bring incredible insights for students and will produce vital conversations about public policy that leaders on all levels face.