Conference to explore future of humanitarianism and refugee studies

The Program on Refugees, Forced Displacement, and Humanitarian Responses at the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale will host a full-day conference on “The Next Generation of Humanitarianism and Refugee Studies: Challenges & Opportunities” on Thursday, April 13, at the Maurice R. Greenberg Conference Center, 391 Prospect St.

The sessions are: “Legal and Health Challenges Facing Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the United States”; “A Shattered Humanitarian System: Unprecedented Crisis, Unprecedented Challenges; The Challenge of Rebuilding Health Systems in Conflict-Affected Situations”; “America’s Arab Refugees: Poverty, Vulnerability, and the Health Costs of Conflict”; and “New Horizons of Humanitarianism in Action.”

The keynote address will be given by Jodi Nelson, senior vice president of policy and practice, International Rescue Committee.

Panelists include:

Aniyizhai Annamalai, director, Adult Refugee Clinic and Director, Wellness Center, Connecticut Mental Health Center;

Marcia C. Inhorn, the William K. Lanman Jr. Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs, Yale;

Unni Karunakara, senior fellow, Yale’s Jackson Institute, and former international president, Doctors without Borders;

Kaveh Khoshnood, associate professor of public health, Yale University;

Clare Lockhart, senior fellow, Jackson Institute, and co-founder, Institute for State Effectiveness;

Dr. Katherine C. McKenzie, director, Yale Center for Asylum Medicine;


Dr. Hani Mowafi, assistant professor of emergency medicine, Yale;

Catherine Panter-Brick, professor of anthropology, Yale;

Stephen Poellot, legal director and co-founder, International Refugee Assistance Project;

Maya Prabhu, assistant professor of psychiatry, Law and Psychiatry Division, Yale University;

Asghar Rastegar, professor of medicine and director, Office of Global Health, and chief, Fitkin Firm, Yale New Haven Hospital;

Michael Skonieczny, lecturer in public health (health policy), and executive director, Global Health Leadership Institute, Yale;

Kristina Talbert-Slagle, assistant professor, Yale School of Public Health and director, Global Health Studies, Yale.

The conference is free; those who would like to attend should register in advance.

The Program on Refugees, Forced Displacement, and Humanitarian Responses at the MacMillan Center at Yale is an intellectual hub for research, teaching, and policy recommendations that takes a people-centered approach to the refugee experience — from internal displacement at home, to the transit experience inside and outside the camp, to challenges of resettlement and integration. Acting as a catalyst for innovation, it will be open to new and unconventional ideas of research or public outreach. Rigorous, interdisciplinary, evidence-based research will be conducted and linked to policy and practice.