Universities Responding to the Refugee Crisis

Main Links
- About AUB
  About AUB
  
  Founded in 1866, the American University of Beirut is a teaching-centered research university based on the American liberal arts model of higher education. AUB has over 8,000 students and 800 faculty members. The University encourages freedom of thought and expression and seeks to graduate men and women committed to creative and critical thinking, lifelong learning, personal integrity, civic responsibility, and leadership.
- Academics
  Academics
  
  AUB is accredited in the US by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and includes six faculties: Arts and Sciences, Medicine, Engineering and Architecture, Agricultural and Food Sciences, Health Sciences, and Business. AUB offers more than 130 programs leading to bachelor's, master's, MD, and PhD degrees. The main language of instruction is English.
- Admissions
  Admissions
  
  Learn more about how you can join the American University of Beirut. AUB seeks applicants with a proven record of academic excellence, intellectual vitality, and civic responsibility. In accordance with its founding mission and its equal opportunity policy, the University admits students regardless of race, color, religion, gender, age, disability, or nationality.
- Research
  Research
  
  The vibrant and dynamic research environment at AUB enhances the educational experience for all and serves the wider communities—local and global—by advancing knowledge in a wide range of disciplines.
- Outreach
  Outreach
  
  Recognizing and honoring our responsibility for others has been an integral part of AUB’s mission since the earliest days. Today, AUB is at the forefront of addressing the most pressing concerns of this country, this region, and its people.
- Boldly Campaign
  BOLDLY Campaign
  
  To ensure the University can continue to inspire current and future generations of smart and able students who can rise to this challenge, we are embarking on a transformative capital campaign, BOLDLY AUB: The Campaign to Lead, Innovate, and Serve.
AUB Community
- A - Z
- Find People
- Libraries
- Alumni
Public
- Telehealth
- AUBMC
- Give
Useful Tools
- E-learning
- AUBSIS
- Webmail
- Title IX Online Training

About

4th Conference of the Alliance of Lead Universities on Migration (ALUM)
Conference hosted by the American University of Beirut (AUB)Organized by AUB's Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, the Alliance of Lead Universities on Migration, the LSE Institute of Global Affairs, and the AUB4Refugees Initiative

Date: November 6 - 7, 2017

Location: Olayan School of Business – Maamari Auditorium (AUB Lower Campus)

Overview:

With this conference, members of the Alliance of Lead Universities on Migration (ALUM) aim to present and deliberate the critical role that universities can play in the current refugee crisis in Lebanon, and how they can ameliorate the situation of refugees by providing realistic ideas and policy proposals to the multiple challenges refugees face in their current predicament. We will be focusing on the implications of the ongoing challenging political context related to the current migration/displacement of so many people, and how the current public perception has been evolving over the years. We will also focus on the various health challenges facing refugees, including nutrition and basic healthcare provision. A crucial point that will be discussed is education, and the challenges refugees face in accessing primary, secondary, and tertiary education. Lastly, we will explore the role the private sector can play in job creation for those that are displaced.

To access OSB Maamari Auditorium, kindly enter through gate G66 and walk to building 0566. Click here for AUB Map
Click here for a full overview of the speakers’ biographies

Event Summary

Program

Day 1

Monday November 6, 2017

8:30am - 9:00am	Registration
9:00am - 9:30am	Introductory Remarks Nasser Yassin, Director of Research, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, AUB & Erik Berglof, Director of the Institute of Global Affairs, LSE Opening Remarks Dr. Mohamed Harajli, Provost of the American University of Beirut Ms. Mireille Girard, UNHCR Representative, Lebanon H.E. Mr. Marwan Hamadeh, Lebanese Minister of Education and Higher Education
9:30am - 10:15am	Keynote Speech by Professor Marek Belka, Former Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Poland and Chairman of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund Development Committee
10:15am - 10:30am	Coffee Break
10:30am - 12:00pm	Session 1 – Migration, Displacement and the Public Perception Chair: Tamirace Fakhoury, Department of Social Sciences, Associate Director of the Institute of Social Justice and Conflict Resolution (ISJCR), Lebanese American University Presentations: Sari Hanafi, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Media Studies, AUB Valerio Dotti, Department of Economics, Washington University, St Louis Ayşen Üstübici, Departments of International Relations and Sociology, Koç University Policy-makers & Expert Opinion: Khalil Gebara, Policy and International Affairs Advisor to the Lebanese Minister of Interior and Municipalities Thaer Ghandour, Journalist & Media and Policy Advisor
12:00pm - 1:30pm	Session 2 – Political and Institutional Constraints to Migration and Displacement Chair: Gibril Faal, Co-founder of GK Partners and founding director of Africa-Europe Diaspora Development Platform Presentations: Carmen Geha, Department of Political Studies and Public Administration, AUB Dominik Hangartner, Department of Government, LSE and Faculty Co-director of the Immigration Policy Lab Carlo Devillanova, Department of Policy Analysis and Public Management, Bocconi University Nate Breznau, Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES), University of Mannheim Policy-makers & Expert Opinion: Carole Sharabati, Director of the Political Science Institute, Saint-Joseph University
1:30pm - 2:30pm	Lunch Break
2:30pm - 4:00pm	Session 3 – Return Migration and Vulnerable Groups Chair: Eleonore Kofman, Co-director of the Social Policy Research Centre, Middlesex University Presentations: Nourhan Abdel Aziz, Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, American University in Cairo Rebecca Bryant, Department of Cultural Anthropology, Utrecht University Brad Blitz, International Politics, Law Department, Middlesex University Policy-makers & Expert Opinion: Ziad El Sayegh, Expert on Public Policies and Refugees and Senior National Policy Advisor to the Ministry of State for Displaced Affairs Muslih Irwani, Chair of the Center for Peace and Human Security, American University of Kurdistan Marco Borraccetti, Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna
4:00pm - 4:30pm	Coffee Break
4:30pm - 6:00pm	Roundtable 1 – Advocacy, Policy and Research Impact on Issues of Migration and Displacement Chair: Sobhiya Najjar, Journalist and News Reporter, LBCI How can universities maximize their policy impact on issues of displacement, including influencing international fora such as G7, G20, UNGA? How can research-based activism be reinforced to support policy interventions? What is the role of academic activism in times of conflict? How to increase student engagement in areas of migration & refugee crises? Showcase some examples of impactful activist research Speakers: Elie Al Hindy, Department of Political Science, Notre Dame University, Lebanon Unni Karunakara, Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, Yale University Rabih Shibli, Director of the Center for Civic Engagement and Community Service, AUB Lilli Banholzer, Department of Political Science, Mannheim University Shaden Khallaf, Senior Policy Advisor, UNHCR MENA Maria Gabriella Trovato, Department of Landscape Design and Ecosystem Management, AUB Angelo Martelli, LSE & Rapporteur from INET Young Scholars meeting
6:30pm	Reception Location: Common Room - West Hall, AUB Speech by Dr. Iman Nuwayhid, Dean of AUB’s Faculty of Health Sciences, Co-chair on the Lancet-AUB Commission on Syria

Day 2

Tuesday November 7, 2017

8:30am - 9:00am	Welcome Coffee
9:00am - 9:45am	Keynote Speech by Dr. Francisco Marmolejo, Tertiary Education Global Coordinator and Lead Tertiary Education Specialist of the World Bank
9:45am - 11:15am	Fourth Session Health and Nutrition of Migrants and Refugees Chair: Francesco Aureli, WHO Senior Advisor and former G7 Italian Sherpa on Migration Presentations: Fouad Fouad, Director of the Refugee Health Program, Global Health Institute, AUB Kaveh Khoshnood, Director of Undergraduate Studies, School of Public Health, Yale Lamis Jomaa, Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, and Co-director of the Refugee Health Program, Global Health Institute, AUB Policy-makers & Expert Opinion: Shadi Saleh, Associate Vice President for Health Affairs at AUB and the Founding Director of the Global Health Institute at AUB
11:15am - 11:30am	Coffee Break
11:30am - 1:00pm	Fifth Session Refugee Education Chair: Sonia Languille, Higher Education Support Program, Open Society Foundation Presentations: Maha Shuayb, Director of the Centre for Lebanese Studies Keith David Watenpaugh, Co-director of UC Human Rights Collaboration, University of California, Davis Hana Addam El-Ghali, Education and Youth Policy in the Arab World Program, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, AUB Sahar Almakhamreh, Head of Social Work Department, School of Applied Humanities and Languages, German Jordanian University Policy-makers & Expert Opinion: Massa Mufti, Co-founder and Chair, Sonbola Group for Education and Development Agatha Abi-Aad, Associate Education Officer, UNHCR Pam DeLargy, Advisor to the President, Arizona State University
1:00pm - 2:00pm	Lunch Break
2:00pm - 3:30pm	Roundtable 2 – The Constructive Role of Business Initiatives and Scholarship in the Refugee Crises Chair: Charlotte Karam, Associate Dean of Programs, Olayan School of Business (OSB), AUB How can businesses better mobilize and organize capacity to build momentum toward more efficient and effective solution-oriented initiatives? What are the potential mechanisms to facilitate business’s ability to foster innovation and find sustainable solutions to refugee problems? Do business and management scholars have a public role in advocating the interests of non-shareholder stakeholders through advocacy, teaching and scholarship? Speakers: Nadim Munla, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Lebanon Hoda Younan, Country Manager, Lebanon and NEPA New Markets, Microsoft Harry Van Buren, Jack and Donna Rust Professor of Business Ethics, University of New Mexico Randa Salamoun, Business Information Decision Systems, OSB, AUB Yasser Akkaoui, Chairman, Lebanese Center for Policy Studies Bijan Azad, Business Information Decision Systems, OSB, AUB
3:30pm - 4:30pm	Announcing the Beirut Declaration on the Role of Universities in the Refugee Crisis Nasser Yassin, Director of Research, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, AUB & Piroska Nagy-Mohacsi, Programme Director in the Institute of Global Affairs, LSE
4:30pm - 5:00pm	Closing Remarks Nasser Yassin, Director of Research, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, AUB & Erik Berglof, Director of the Institute of Global Affairs, LSE

Events

Videos

Opening & Introductory Remarks
Keynote Speech by Professor Marek Belka

Professor Marek Belka, Former Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Poland and Chairman of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund Development Committee

Session 1 - Migration Displacement and the Public Perception
Session 2 - Political and Institutional Constraints to Migration and Displacement
Session 3 - Return Migration and Vulnerable Groups
Roundtable 1 - Advocacy Policy and Research Impact on Issues of Migration and Displacement
Speech by Dr. Iman Nuwayhid

Dr. Iman Nuwayhid, Dean of AUB’s Faculty of Health Sciences, Co-chair on the Lancet-AUB Commission on Syria

Keynote Speech by Dr. Francisco Marmolejo

Dr. Francisco Marmolejo, Tertiary Education Global Coordinator and Lead Tertiary Education Specialist of the World Bank

Session 4 - Health and Nutrition of Migrants and Refugees
Session 5 - Refugee Education
Roundtable 2 - The Constructive Role of Business Initiatives and Scholarship in the Refugee Crises
Announcing the Beirut Declaration on the Role of Universities in the Refugee Crisis

Contact Us

For various questions, please try contacting us via social media first!
read more

Privacy Statement

We take data privacy seriously and adhere to all applicable data privacy laws and regulations.
read more

Copyright and Disclaimer

Written permission is needed to copy or disseminate all or part of the materials on the AUB website.
read more

Title IX, Non-Discrimination, and Anti-Discriminatory Harassment

AUB is committed to providing a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment to all members of its community.
read more

American University of Beirut