Forum on the Syrian Refugee Crisis Draws Large Crowd

Almost 100 people packed the Virginia International University Village Drive Conference Room for a conference on one of the most relevant current affairs issues. Dissecting a Complex Conflict: ISIS, the Syrian Refugee Crisis, and the Humanitarian Response, hosted by the Center for Democracy and International Affairs (CDIA) and the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), featured experts from the fields of security, human rights, international refugee policy, and refugee resettlement. The panel was moderated by SPIA's own professor, Dr. Emrullah Uslu, an expert in Middle East politics. The speakers included Dr. Birol Baskan, Assistant Professor, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Qatar, Dr. Radwan Ziadeh, Visiting Scholar, Lehigh University and Fellow, Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), Tessa Mayerick, External Relations Officer, United Nations Refugee Agency, Dr. Patricia Maloof, Program Director, Migration & Refugee Services, Catholic Charities, and Aerlande Wontamo, Senior Resettlement Manager, Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area. To find out more about this event and how you could help Syrian refugees, please visit the CDIA Blog.

SPIA Students Publish Book Chapter

Students in Dr. Weaver's Public Policy Analysis and Implementation class have published their class project as a chapter in the book Crisis Management: A Leadership Perspective. Their chapter is entitled "An Exploratory Study: FEMA Regional Headquarters Presence and Past Disasters and Their Impact on State DHS Grants." Congratulations to Yetunde Banjo, Samiullah Samsor, Sanam Srujana, Mary Vayaliparampil, and Dr. John Weaver! The book will be available in the VIU Library in the Fall 2015 semester.