RAPID SHELTER DISPLACED PEOPLE SPRING 2018
Guest Speakers

The list of speakers may be amended according to the evolution of topics and include faculty from a cross-section of academic fields. At the time of writing, these faculty have agreed to speak with the seminar and will speak to the seminar in the order given here.

  1. Vanessa Ochs, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and a core member of the Jewish Studies Program since its inception, teaches such topics as Jewish feminism, Jewish ritual, ethnographic fieldwork in religion, Abrahamic feminisms. Her course on Spiritual Writing is cross-listed in the Program in Creative Writing and she co-teaches the two-year pilot Forum in Creative Processes and Creative Practices. She is the Chair of the Professional Consulting Committee: UVA Chaplaincy Services and Pastoral Education at the UVA Health System.

  2. Professor Vickerman's research focuses on race, immigration, and religion, specifically around the following questions:  (1) How do perceptions of race help generate and sustain social inequality?; (2) how does post-civil rights upward mobility for African Americans impact the debate around American racism?; (3) how do host societies respond institutionally, philosophically, and in terms of policy as immigration causes their populations to become more diverse?; and (4) how does belief in the supernatural relate to questions of inclusion, order, and inequality?  His current research on African immigrants and refugees addresses a number of these questions.  It investigates why some of these immigrants, particularly refugees, are now moving to small towns and suburbs, and how they are adjusting.  Successful integration but also downward mobility for voluntary African migrants have emerged as recurring themes in this research; as have the peculiar difficulties experienced by refugees, and the notable recourse to religion among African immigrants, in general, as a resource for adjusting to life in the U.S.  Because of the latter’s importance, this research is also a study of the emergence, distribution, structure, and functions of African immigrants’ places of worship.

  3. Jenny Roe, PhD is the first Mary Irene DeShong Professor of Design and Health  and the Director of the Center of Design and Health  with a multi-disciplinary background in design and environmental psychology.  She is building new trans-disciplinary research collaborations between designers and public health professionals to address the global health challenges of the 21stcentury including obesity, cardiovascular disease and stress.  She currently offers courses for the School in Healthy Cities and Environmental Psychology.   Formerly, she was Senior Research Leader in Human Wellbeing and Behaviour Change for the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) where she worked with environmental scientists and health professionals to explore how best to build sustainable, resilient and healthy cities across the globe.  Jenny is an Environmental Psychologist whom explores the interactions between people and their environment, from micro settings (i.e. a room or individual building scale or even submarines in the case of one recent project) through to neighbourhoods and macro settings that include cities, whole cultures and geographies.

  4. Professor Reuben Rainey, PhD, has taught in the School of Architecture for 34 years and is a former chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture.  His present courses focus on the design of various types of healthcare facilities. As Co-Director of the School of Architecture's Center for Design and Health he is also engaged in a number of research projects centering on the design of patient-centered medical facilities and healthy neighborhoods and cities. A former professor of religious studies at Columbia University and Middlebury College, he entered the field of landscape architecture in mid-career. His publications cover a wide range of topics, including Italian Renaissance Gardens, 19th and 20th century urban parks, and the work of 20th-century American landscape architects. His co-authored book on the garden of the Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer received an honor award from the American Society of Landscape Architects. A documentary filmmaker as well, he co-produced the PBS seriesGardenStory, depicting the way gardens improve the lives of individuals  and their communities. A recipient of five teaching awards, he is also a member of the Council of Fellows of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Having recently completed an essay on Lawrence Halprin's FDR Memorial, he is currently at work on a book on the modernist landscape architect Robert Royston and a study of the design features of an innovative cancer hospital at the University of Florida, Gainesville. 

  5. Harriet Kuhr, Executive Director IRC (International Rescue Committee), Charlottesville, earned her BA in Anthropology and French from the University of Virginia. Kuhr joined the Peace Corps early in her career serving in the Congo (formerly Zaire). Prior to taking her present position in April 2010, she was the Manager of Resettlement Services with the IRC in Atlanta. Her previous professional experience includes more than 20 years working in the field of international cultural exchange.The International Rescue Committee provides opportunities for refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking, survivors of torture, and other immigrants to thrive in America. Each year, thousands of people, forced to flee violence and persecution, are welcomed by the people of the United States into the safety and freedom of America. These individuals have survived against incredible odds. The IRC works with government bodies, civil society actors, and local volunteers to help them translate their past experiences into assets that are valuable to their new communities. In Charlottesville and other offices across the country, the IRC helps them rebuild their lives.

  6. Elgin Cleckley, Assoc. AIA, NOMA, is an Assistant Professor of Architecture and Design Thinking at the University of Virginia, School of Architecture. Elgin teaches Design Thinking studios and foundation courses at the School of Architecture, with appointment in the Curry School of Education and the School of Nursing. Elgin previously was the 3D Group Leader and Design Coordinator at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada for 16 years, producing architecture, art pieces, and exhibitions for Canada and the world. Elgin holds a B.S. Arch from the University of Virginia (93’), and an M. Arch from Princeton University (95’). Elgin has taught at the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois, Chicago, working in architectural firms in Toronto, Seattle, Chicago, and New York City.

  7. Professor William Flavin, US Army War College, assumed the job as the Assistant Director at the US Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, located at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in July 2013 after serving as the chief of doctrine and education for PKSOI (US Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute) since 2007. Before his assignment to PKSOI in 2000, he was a senior foreign affairs analyst with Booz Allen and Hamilton on contract to assist the US Army Peacekeeping Institute for doctrine development. From 1995 to 1999, he was a Colonel in the US Army serving as the Deputy Director of Special Operations for the Supreme Allied Commander Europe at the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe. William Flavin has a BA in History from VMI and an MA in History from Emory University.  He was a senior fellow at CSIS for his Army War College year and then taught at the Army War College.  

  8. Kirsten Gelsdorf is Senior Lecturer and Director of Global Humanitarian Policy, Frank Batton School of Leadership and Public Policy. As Director of Global Humanitarian Policy, Kirsten brings 19 years of experience working in the humanitarian sector; most recently serving as the Chief of the Policy Analysis and Innovation section at the United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.Her career includes long-term field postings and operational deployments to numerous emergencies including the international responses to Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, the Ethiopian Famine, the South African Regional Food Crisis, the Liberian War, the Tsunami in Indonesia, Hurricane Katrina, the Pakistan Earthquake, the Timor-Leste Security Crisis, the Global Food Crisis and the Haiti Earthquake. She also served as a humanitarian advisor to President Clinton in his role as the UN Special Envoy for Haiti and as a policy advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the global food crisis in 2008. She has led major policy processes and authored numerous high-profile policy reports documents that have been implemented by Member States and adopted in key UN resolutions. She has been the guest editor of Journal special editions and a Senior Researcher for Tufts University. She has taught courses at UVA for the Batten School, Global Studies, and Liberal Arts Seminars. She has also taught as an Associate Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.