The Norris and Margery Bendetson EPIIC International Symposium

EPIIC poster

Migration in a Turbulent World

The 34th Annual Norris and Margery Bendetson EPIIC International Symposium

March 7-9, 2019

OPEN to the PUBLIC

The 2019 EPIIC International Symposium will be three days of far-reaching discussions on issues critical to understanding the pressing challenges on migration, from the tensions between state sovereignty and global migration to the policies that allow the continued existence of slavery and human trafficking, from the impacts of South-to-South migration to the vanguard role cities play in migration, from the securitization of migration to the roles gender and climate change are playing and will play in future policies.

The Boston Globe made this assessment of past EPIIC Symposia: “At a time when the national discourse seems forever reduced to its lowest common denominator…to sound bites and slogans…EPIIC is a refreshing antidote. Far from looking to simplify the world, the symposium aims to teach students to view life in a way that respects complex human systems.”

Download the program

Watch full videos of the symposium sessions

Symposium Schedule

Thursday, March 7

ASEAN Auditorium
The Fletcher School
160 Packard Ave, Medford, MA 02155

4:00pm Welcome Abiodun Williams, Director, Institute for Global Leadership; Professor of the Practice of International Politics, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy

Keynote Address: Sustainable Migration
Sir Paul Collier, Author, Exodus: How Migration Is Changing Our World; Director, International Growth Centre and Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Blavatnik School Of Government, University of Oxford
7:00pm Barriers to Belonging: Integration, Adaptation and Exclusion
  • Fouad Ben Ahmed, Liaison between residents and the Local Government in Département 93, Bondy, Paris
  • Karen Jacobsen, Henry J. Leir Professor in Global Migration, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
  • The Rt Hon David Lammy, MP, Labour Member of Parliament, Tottenham, United Kingdom
  • The Hon Ratna Omidvar, C.M., O.Ont., Senator for Ontario, The Senate of Canada; Co-Author, Flight and Freedom: Stories of Escape to Canada

 

Friday, March 8

Breed Memorial Hall
51 Winthrop St, Medford, MA 02155

9:30am Hidden in Plain Sight: 21st Century Slavery and Human Trafficking
  • George Naufal, Research Fellow, Institute for the Study of Labor (Iza), Bonn, Germany
  • E. Benjamin Skinner, Founder And President, Transparentem; Author, A Crime So Monstrous: Face-To-Face With Modern-Day Slavery
  • Peter Tinti, Journalist; Co-Author, Migrant, Refugee, Smuggler, Savior
12:30pm Gender and Migrati♀n
  • Alia Mata, International Organization for Migration, Northern Triangle
  • Kathleen Newland, Senior Fellow and Co-Founder, Migration Policy Institute
  • Hannah M Postel, PhD Candidate, Demography and Social Policy, Princeton University
  • Astrid Ziebarth, Senior Migration Fellow, German Marshall Fund
2:30pm Defining Refugees in a Changing Climate
  • Michel Bamani, Vice President and Counsel, State Street
  • Nina Hall, Assistant Professor of International Relations, School for Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University; Author, Displacement, Development, and Climate Change: International Organizations Moving beyond their Mandates
  • Hardin Lang, Vice President, Programs and Policy, Refugees International; Veteran of six United Nations Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Field Missions
  • Mariam Traore Chazalnoel, Associate Expert, Migration, Environment and Climate Change, International Organization for Migration
6:30pm

Keynote Address: The Need for Better Managing International Migration

H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajcák, Minister of Foreign And European Affairs, Slovak Republic; President, United Nations General Assembly Seventy-Second Session
7:30pm The Paradox of Sovereignty and Global Migration
  • Mark Krikorian, Executive Director, Center for Immigration Studies
  • Liav Orgad, Director, “Global Citizenship Governance” Research Group, European University Institute; Associate Professor, Lauder School of Government Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya
  • Laura Rótolo, Staff Counsel and Community Advocate, ACLU of Massachusetts

 

Saturday, March 9

ASEAN Auditorium
The Fletcher School
160 Packard Ave, Medford, MA 02155

9:30am Cities: Migration’s Frontline
  • Atyia Martin, Chief Resilience Officer, City of Boston
  • Samer Saliba, Urban Technical Advisor, International Rescue Committee
  • Justin Steil, Assistant Professor of Law and Urban Planning, MIT
11:30am How South to South Migration Is Shaping Our World
  • Leila Abu-Gheida, Regional Director, West Africa and Middle East Regional Office, FHI 360
  • Nizar El Fakih, President and Founder, Proiuris NGO, Venezuela; Former Consultant Lawyer on Venezuela, Human Rights Watch
  • Ayesha Jalal, Mary Richardson Professor of History, Tufts University
  • Çağlar Özden, Lead Economist, Development Research Group, World Bank
2:30pm Expert-led, Small-Group Discussion Sessions
4:30pm Movement and Order: The Securitization of Migration
  • Ryan Burke, Associate Professor and Curriculum Director, Department of Military and Strategic Studies, U.S. Air Force Academy
  • Adam Goodman, Assistant Professor, Latin American and Latino Studies and History, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Kerri Talbot, Director of Federal Advocacy, Immigration Hub; Former Chief Counsel, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez
  • Monika Wohlfeld, German Chair for Peace Studies and Conflict Prevention, The Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies (MEDAC), University of Malta