What is diversity? What does it mean to the individual? What does it mean for the collective? How is it constructed? How diversity is viewed and understood is, in itself, diverse. Every November, the Institute celebrates diversity, taking a deeper look into its different facets.
This year, our awareness month on diversity is part of a larger, year-long campaign dedicated to respect.
Learn more about our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initiative.
Diversity, to me, is a daily practice of humanity. It asks me to meet difference with curiosity, not caution, and to hold space for the many ways of being that shape our shared world. My understanding of it is rooted in ubuntu: I am because we are. True diversity begins when we live that truth, when our individuality deepens, not divides, our belonging.
Vania Petlane, President, Welfare Committee, Graduate Institute Student Association (GISA)
Diversity, to me, has to do with the different ways we show up in the world as a result of our backgrounds, current realities, and where we want to go: our pasts, presents, and futures. These differences and complexities make any space deeper and richer, and a lack of them out of a compulsion to adhere to sameness or uniformity robs us of what we can become. Diversity, for me at the Institute, involves how we present in tangible ways as well as the intangibles of ideas, thoughts, and experiences, and ultimately how we perceive all these among ourselves.
Vayunamu J. Bawa, President, Graduate Institute Student Association (GISA)
Affirmer la diversité, c’est reconnaître dans une égale dignité nos communautés et leurs formes variées de présence au monde. Affirmer la diversité, c’est militer pour que ces différentes formes de présence au monde puissent s’exprimer et s’épanouir. Enfin et peut-être surtout, affirmer la diversité, c’est démontrer sa valeur – qui ne se révèle finalement que lorsque la diversité devient rencontre et hybridité.
Marie-Laure Salles, directrice
La diversité est l’égale possibilité offerte à tous et toutes d’exister et de vivre librement avec ses spécificités au sein d’un monde "pluriversel". C’est reconnaître la multiplicité du « ego sum » en favorisant une réelle inclusion des singularités au sein de nos morphologies sociales. C’est valoriser l'apport de tous et toutes par-delà les logiques de hiérarchie, grâce à un décentrement qui permet d’apprécier la contribution intrinsèque de chacun et chacune.
Dêlidji Eric Degila, professeur de pratique de relations internationales
Diversity is similarity. Yes, it’s an oxymoron. Diversity is a singular act of seeing the self in ‘others,’ a simple act of recognising the self in the face of an ‘other.’ Diversity is dissolution: letting one become many and many braided into one. Diversity is a point of saturation, a dense singularity revealing infinite possibilities. To embrace diversity is to embrace oneself as one possible manifestation of a diverse Universe.
Aditya Bharadwaj, Professor, Anthropology and Sociology
Chair, Department of Anthropology and Sociology
Co-Director, Gender Centre
Diversity is a celebration of strength, openness, and the profound possibility of connection. It represents an embracing of each person’s story, background, and experience as essential to our shared understanding. Within diversity lies the richness of learning from one another—discovering that differences don’t divide but instead weave a stronger, more resilient community. It encourages the freedom to challenge assumptions, listen with empathy, and see the world through new perspectives.
Hafssa Kouskous, PhD Researcher in International History and Politics
As we think about diversity this month, let’s remember that diversity has weak and strong versions. In its weak form, bringing diversity is simply seeing a colour palette or different accents in the classroom. Such a weak version can co-exist with stereotyping and stigmatisation. We “include” those who we see as “different” in our classrooms but still assume and often contribute to reproducing their subordination. In its strong and more desirable version, diversity creates a space in which different perspectives and ways of seeing in the world can be learned. The strong version of diversity needs the active engagement of everyone and institutional practices that encourage horizontal exchanges. Only embracing this strong version of diversity will allow us to remain a truly excellent and increasingly global Institute.
Graziella Moraes Silva, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Sociology
Co-Director of the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy
Diversity is the intrinsic expression of beauty. Think, for instance, of a swarm of parrots, a rainbow or butterflies. But beauty is also expressed in human diversity, in the multifaceted articulation of customs, languages, art, and foods. Today, however, as in the past, diversity has many enemies. Puritans, identitarians, nationalists and illiberals of all sorts long for a monochromatic world made up of certitudes and like-minded, homogenous groups. They are scared by alterity, difference and, ultimately, themselves. Humanity, however, may only express its full potential through the interplay of diverse worldviews, opinions and ways of thinking. To defend diversity, therefore, is to defend our shared human nature, what binds us all together, since this is the only way we can be meaningfully different. To put it in the words of Edward Said “Humanism is the only – I would go so far as saying the final – resistance we have against the inhuman practices and injustices that disfigure human history.
Dominic Eggel, Executive Director, Research Office
To me, diversity lives through respect — the quiet act of seeing others in their fullness. ; It asks for acknowledgement rather than agreement and sincerity rather than sameness. When we show respect to one another, our differences cease to be points of distance and become the building blocks of bridges that remind us we all belong.
Cécile de Gardelle, Coordinatrice des Initiatives diversité, équité et inclusion / Sustainability
I view diversity as a pedagogical tool with which to address overlapping and interrelated systems of geographical, racial, gendered, classed, sexual, and ability-centred discrimination as well as affirmative processes of academic and public engagement, collaboration, and transformation around education and equity. I see diversity as an interactive process of un-learning and re-learning centring on the generative power of difference and bridging the gap between institutional commitments, theoretical interventions, and immediate life concerns.
Umut Yildirim, Assistant Professor, Anthropology and Sociology
Diversity is first and foremost about treating and respecting all people equally and accepting their opinions, positions, experiences and feelings. It is the creation of a cohesive and united world, despite many differences. It's like playing with colors when drawing - only a combination of several shades can create a coherent, beautiful and sophisticated picture. It seems to me that diversity is manifested in the best way at the Institute. It was the diversity that really surprised me and caught my eye when I first started teaching at the Institute, because I had students from all parts of the world in my course. By communicating with each other and talking about the peculiarities of their countries, students learn about new cultures, traditions, historical and political aspects directly from each other. This is diversity in action.
Daryna Abbakumova, Visiting Professor, Department of International law
SNSF Research Fellow, CCDP
Growing up as a white, straight, cis-gender European man, I once viewed diversity through the common lens of being an opportunity to learn and become more open-minded—in short, something to be celebrated without question. Only in recent years have generous and patient friends opened my eyes to the fact that, while diversity might look like a growth opportunity for me, for many of the people I thought of as personifying this “diversity”, it can actually be a painful experience. I now understand that, if not paired with serious efforts towards equity and inclusion, diversity only benefits a privileged few. Celebrating diversity in itself is not enough and can actually overshadow the challenges faced by many. For people like me in a place like the Institute, embracing diversity means upholding a duty to proactively contribute to making our community more equitable and inclusive for all—something which requires difficult conversations, serious introspection, self-education, a great deal of listening, changing our mindsets and behaviors, and speaking up when we recognize harm. It is the only way to make a mission of diversity sincere and meaningful.
Cyprien Fluzin, PhD candidate in International Law
Célébrer la diversité, c’est célébrer la différence, la rencontre, l’échange, la découverte, la curiosité, la beauté, l’ouverture mais aussi la remise en question. Célébrer la diversité, c’est accepter l’autre comme il est. Célébrer la diversité, c’est cultiver au quotidien des valeurs qui permettent de construire un monde plus juste et en paix.
Sophie Fleury, responsable de la communication institutionnelle et interne
Diversity colours my days and life by the many things I can see, admire, taste, smell, hear, touch, understand and learn. It allows us to reflect on our amazing differences and how we can reinforce and nurture these resources. Diversity is also respecting the other's culture, gender, look, religion, language, beliefs, opinion, habits and dreams. Diversity is my family and it teaches us so much!
Eliane Minassian, Head Student Wellbeing & Support Service
L’Institut a le plaisir d’accueillir les élèves de 9P du Canton de Genève à l’occasion de la journée « Futur en tous genres », qui se tiendra le jeudi 13 novembre 2025 dans ses locaux.
Cette initiative vise à sensibiliser les jeunes à une répartition plus équilibrée des rôles et des métiers entre les genres, en leur offrant l’opportunité de découvrir la richesse des professions exercées au sein de l’Institut.
Horaires : Accueil à 9h15 – Fin de la journée à 15h00
Au programme :
Nous aurons le plaisir de recevoir 12 élèves issus de différents Cycles d’Orientation du canton.
Nous nous réjouissons de partager cette journée enrichissante avec eux·elles !
Pour en savoir plus sur cette journée « Futur en tous genres ».
