Seeking Refuge in a Changing World symposium

Seeking Refuge in a Changing World Symposium Schedule

Part of the Seeking Refuge in a Changing World collaborative

Thursday, April 19
120 Elmer L. Andersen Library

9:00 AM to 9:30 AM - Morning Refreshments and Registration (register in advance on Facebook)

9:30 AM to 9:45 AM - Opening Remarks, Evelyn Davidheiser, Director, Institute for Global Studies

9:45 AM to 11:00 AM - Keynote - Maria Cristina Garcia, Department of History and the Latino Studies Program, Cornell University - “Should the United States have a Climate Refugee Policy?”

11:15 - 12:30 Panel 1 - Refugee Resettlement

• Micaela Schuneman, Refugee Services Director, International Institute of Minnesota
• KaYing Yang, Director of Programs and Partnerships, Coalition of Asian American Leaders
• Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times

Moderator - Saengmany Ratsabout, Program Coordinator, Immigration History Research Center

12:30 - 1:30 Lunch

1:30 - 2:45 Panel 2 - Climate Refugees

• Jack DeWaard, Sociology, University of Minnesota
• Kate Knuth, Ph.D. Candidate, Conservation Science, University of Minnesota
• Mark Ritchie, President/CEO, Minnesota's World Fair Bid Committee, Expo 2027; former Minnesota Secretary of State

Moderator - Maria Cristina Garcia, Department of History and the Latino Studies Program, Cornell University

3:00 - 4:15 Panel 3 - Islamophobia

• Hassan Abdel Salam, Sociology and Institute for Global Studies, University of Minnesota
• Naaima Khan, Vice Chair of the Board, Islamic Resource Group
• Eaint Thiri Thu, graduate student, Master of Human Rights, Humphrey School of Public Affairs & College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota

Moderator - Erika Lee, Rudolph J. Vecoli Chair in Immigration History and Director, Immigration History Research Center

5:30 - 6:30 New Arab American Theater Staged Reading of “Tales of Time”

Cowles Auditorium, Humphrey School of Public Affairs
Followed by a talkback and a reception

TALES OF TIME (Ahmed Yusuf) is a short play about an uncle who has raised his second generation Somali-American niece. Now that she is an adult who is about to face the world, he is wrestling with whether to share an unforgiving past.

The Seeking Refuge in a Changing World symposium is organized by the Institute for Global Studies, African Studies Initiative, Center for Austrian Studies, Center for German and European Studies, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Human Rights Program, and the Immigration History Research Center.