Risk, Suffering, and Response: A Panel on the Haiti Earthquake Crisis

In organizing this panel, I reached out to many people who in turn connected me with yet others. Many of the people I contacted were in Haiti at the time, just returning from Haiti, or on their way there and therefore could not join the panel. Some with close connections to the island have been personally affected by the tragedy and its toll on human life and therefore could not accept the invitation to participate.

My goal is to bring together experts on a range of topics relevant to the earthquake crisis in Haiti who can provide insights for more effective ongoing and future policies, programs and other activities. My hope is to support the people of Haiti in recovering and rebuilding and understanding of the Haitian context, Haitian values, and Haitian priorities.

The panel will be recorded and this will be posted on the Elliott School website next week.

Risk, Suffering, and Response: The Haiti Earthquake Crisis 2010

Monday, January 25, 2010
1957 E Street NW, Lindner Family Commons
12:00 p.m. – 2:00 pm

RSVP: anthropologyworks@gmail.com

Moderator: Barbara D. Miller, associate dean of faculty affairs, professor of anthropology and international affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Robert Maguire, Randolph Jennings senior fellow, United States Institute for Peace, Associate Professor of International Affairs, Trinity University, “Assessing Damage and Moving Forward”

Erica James, associate professor of anthropology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “Dilemmas of Humanitarian Assistance in Haiti and in the Haitian Diaspora”

Julia Frank, associate clinical professor of psychiatry, The George Washington University, “Buffering the Emotional Impact of Disasters: How to Avoid Making Things Worse”

Drexel G. Woodson, associate research anthropologist, School of Anthropology / Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, University of Arizona “Shaky Ground(s): Will the Earthquake Prompt Haitians and Foreigners to Negotiate a Pact for Sustainable Reconstruction?”

Kyrah Daniels, junior curator, National Museum of American History, “Haiti: Spirits Unbroken”

This panel is co-sponsored by the Culture in Global Affairs Program and the International Development Studies Program in the Elliott School of International Affairs and the Department of Global Health in the School of Public Health and Health Policy.