Student Spotlight: Kelberer Presents at Migration Conference
Vicky Kelberer, MA Candidate at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, presented at a recent conference on the refugee crisis and migration hosted by the University of South Florida Center for Strategic and Diplomatic Studies (CSDS).
The conference was hosted by Dr. Mohsen Milani, CSDS Executive Director, and was entitled “Western Responses to the Refugee Crisis and Migration from the Middle East and North Africa.”
Kelberer, Graduate Co-Chair of the Initiative on Forced Migration and Human Trafficking, presented on the topic “Urban Humanitarianism: Reassessing the UNHCR‘s Approach in Lebanon.”
“I presented my research on UNHCR’s policy response in Lebanon, specifically focusing on refugees in urban areas,” Kelberer said. “More than two-thirds of refugees live outside of camps globally, and there have been no refugee camps established for Syrians in Lebanon, yet refugee responses tend to be organized according to an ‘encampment’ model. My research explores ways to create a more responsive, agile, and effective urban refugee response model.”
Other speakers at the conference included Philip Mudd, Former Deputy Director of the CIA Counterterrorism Center and former FBI Senior Counterterrorism Analyst, Bjorn Rother, Advisor at Middle East and Central Asia Department of the International Monetary Fund and r. Ilan Goldenberg, Director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.
“It was an honor to be invited to speak alongside such accomplished scholars and practitioners in the field of global studies,” Kelberer said. “I was very impressed with the CSDS’s program this year, and learned a great deal from my fellow speakers as well.”