Eleanor Roosevelt speaking to CU students during the Conference on World Affairs in 1955.
Originally founded in 1948 as a forum on international affairs, the Conference on World Affairs offered a week of panel discussions open to students and the public, without charge, featuring thought leaders from around the world. The CWA expanded rapidly in its early years to encompass the arts, media, science, diplomacy, technology, environment, spirituality, politics, business, medicine, human rights, and more.
Roger Ebert, who participated in the CWA for four decades, always referred to the CWA as "the Conference on Everything Conceivable." Each year in early April, speakers and performers are invited to exchange ideas in a variety of panels and performances to create an annual week-long community of learning.
Past Participants Include:
Patch Adams
American Physician, Comedian, Social Activist, Clown, and Author
Notable Past Participant • 2002 Speaker • 2003 Speaker • 2006 Speaker
Harold Agnew
American physicist, former Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory
Notable Past Participant • 1965 Speaker
Jose Antonio Vargas
Journalist, Filmmaker, and Immigration Rights Activist
Notable Past Participant • 2016 Speaker
Harry Belafonte
American singer, songwriter, actor, and social activist
Notable Past Participant • 2007 Speaker
Joe Biden
47th Vice President of the United States and former United States Senator
Notable Past Participant • 2007 Speaker
Roger Ebert
American Film Critic and Historian, Journalist, Screenwriter, and Author
Notable Past Participant
Daniel Ellsberg
Scholar, Anti-War Activist, Government Official, Journalist
1978 Speaker • 1979 Speaker • 2003 Speaker • Notable Past Participant
Buckminster Fuller
American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, and inventor
1956 Speaker • 1957 Speaker • Notable Past Participant
Amanda Gorman
Inaugural youth poet laureate of the United States
2018 Performer • Notable Past Participant
Arianna Huffington
Greek American Author, Syndicated Columnist, and Businesswoman. Co-founder and former Editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post
Notable Past Participant
Molly Ivins
American Newspaper Columnist, Author, Political Commentator, and Humorist
Notable Past Participant
Henry Kissinger
American Diplomat and Political Scientist. Served as National Security Advisor and United States Secretary of State
Notable Past Participant
Amy Klobuchar
U.S. senator from Minnesota and 2020 presidential candidate
2019 Speaker • Notable Past Participant
Charles Krauthammer
Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist
Notable Past Participant • 2005 Speaker
Paul Krugman
Nobel Laureate, American economist, professor and New York Times columnist
Notable Past Participant • 2007 Speaker
Annie Leibovitz
American Portrait Photographer
Notable Past Participant
Rachel Maddow
American Television Host, Political Commentator, and Author
Notable Past Participant
Arthur Miller
American Playwright, Essayist, and prominent figure in twentieth-century American theatre
Notable Past Participant
Ralph Nader
American Political Activist, Author, Lecturer, Attorney, and former Presidential Candidate
Notable Past Participant
Yitzhak Rabin
Israeli politician, statesman and general • Fifth Prime Minister of Israel
Notable Past Participant • 1969 Speaker
Mike Reiss
Emmy Award-Winning Writer & Producer, The Simpsons
2019 Speaker • 2021 Speaker • Notable Past Participant
Elliot Richardson
American lawyer and politician • Member of the cabinet of Presidents Nixon & Ford • U.S. Attorney General
1986 Speaker • Notable Past Participant
Eleanor Roosevelt
American Politician, Diplomat, Activist, and former First Lady of the United States
Notable Past Participant
Susi Snyder
President, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons; Humanitarian Disarmament Programme, PAX, Utrecht
2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • Notable Past Participant
Hope Solo
Olympic and World Cup Champion • Human Rights Activist
2019 Speaker • Notable Past Participant
Ted Turner
American media mogul and philanthropist • Founder of the Cable News Network, the first 24-hour cable news channel
1988 Speaker • 1992 Speaker • Notable Past Participant
Steve Wozniak
American Inventor, Electronics Engineer, Programmer, and Technology Entrepreneur who co-founded Apple Inc.
Notable Past Participant • 2016 Speaker