Kathie Friedman , Associate Professor of International Studies,JSISUW and Rita Zawaideh, founder of Salaam Cultural Museum

World Affairs Council and Center for Global Studies, JSIS

alutterloh@world-affairs.org

Since the outbreak of civil war in March 2011, an estimated 9 million Syrians have fled their homes with over 3 million taking refuge in the neighboring countries of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq. After nearly four years of conflict, what are the current challenges facing the displaced Syrian people, half of whom are children?

First, educators will hear from Dr. Kathie Friedman, Associate Professor of International Studies at UW, on the gaps in protection for forced migrants in the region. With little opportunity for income-generating activities, food insecurity, and lack of access to social services, what efforts are being made to stem chronic vulnerability of Syrian refugees? Alternatively, how is the resettlement of this large population affecting the societies and economies of their host countries and what are humanitarian agencies doing to alleviate these pressures? Next, we will be joined by  Rita Zawaideh, 2013 Globalist of the Year award recipient and founder of Salaam Cultural Museum. Rita, who travels frequently to the Syria-Jordan border, will share her on the ground experience working with Syrian refugees and suggest ways to help your students understand and identify with the hardships caused by the Syrian conflict.
*We will also be collecting school supplies for Rita to take back to the Malki-SCM Children’s Center in Amman on her next trip. If you are able, please bring a small donation of supplies such as pencils, notebooks, crayons, etc.
Kathie Friedman KasabaKathie Friedman Kasaba, PhD, is an associate professor at the Jackson School of International Studies and an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Sociology and the Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies. She is a faculty member in the interdisciplinary PhD program in Near and Middle Eastern studies. Friedman is the former chair of the Jewish studies program and previously directed the master’s program in international studies and the undergraduate honors thesis programs at the Jackson School. Her main area of study and research is comparative forced migrations and immigration, particularly to the United States and the European Union, with a focus on ethnic and political incorporation. Friedman’s publications include Memories of Migration: Gender, Ethnicity, and Work in the Lives of Jewish and Italian Women, New York 1870–1924; Creating and Transforming Households: The Constraints of the World Economy (coauthored); and a chapter titled “On Halloween We Dressed Up Like KGB Agents” in Sociology Confronts the Holocaust: Memories and Identities in Jewish Diasporas.
rita-zawaidehRita Zawaideh is a humanitarian and founder of the Salaam Cultural Museum. She was the winner of the 2013 Globalist of the Year Award and is the owner of Caravan-Serai Tours, a wholesale land tour company which designs tours for individuals and groups.. She travels frequently to the Middle Eastern region, and has just returned from leading a humanitarian mission in Lebanon. She has been working with a team of U.S. doctors and local volunteers distributing medical supplies and care along the Syria-Jordan border. She also founded the Arab American Community Coalition to help foster understanding between Arab Americans and the rest of the American society.

Cost: $30 includes presentations, light buffet, resource packet, and 3 clock hours.
The entrance to the Great Hall at Greenlake is at the intersection of Woodlawn Ave NE and NE Maple Leaf Pl next to Mockingbird Books. Please join us in the Fireside Room on the second floor.