Ongoing Crisis In Syria to be Explored in Two-Part Gandhian Forum for Peace and Justice Program at William Paterson University on March 29

Experts Samer Abboud, associate professor, Arcadia University, and Robin Yassin-Kassab, journalist and commentator, to speak at 2 p.m. on “Making Sense of Syria”

--Panel discussion on Syrian refugee crisis to be held at at 3:30 p.m.

The ongoing war in Syria, and the continuing impact of the massive outflow of Syrian refugees will be explored on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 in a two-part program at William Paterson University in Wayne presented by the Gandhian Forum for Peace and Justice. The program will be held in University Commons Ballroom C on campus. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.

 Two leading experts—Samer Abboud, associate professor of historical and political studies, Arcadia University, and Robin Yassin-Kassab, journalist and commentator—will discuss “Making Sense of Syria” at 2 p.m. They will address the reasons behind the crisis and discuss the prospects for peace and justice.  Abboud, author of the book Syria, is a a widely published scholar on the Middle East.  He is a fellow at the Center for Syrian Studies, St. Andrew’s University, Scotland, and has been a research fellow at the Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin and a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Middle East Center in Beirut. Yassin-Kassab is the author of a novel, The Road from Damascus. His work has appeared in published anthologies such as Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline, as well as in the Guardian, National, Foreign Policy, Daily Beast, Newsweek, and al-Jazeera. He is a co-editor and regular contributor to the website PULSE.

A panel discussion, “The Refugee Crisis: Compassion, Justice, and Public Policy,” will follow at 3:30 p.m., and will address the situation of Syrian refugees and their reception in the United States and Europe.  Panelists include Jeanne LoCicero, deputy legal director, ACLU-New Jersey; Mahmoud Mahmoud, director, Church World Service, Jersey City; Amber Horning Ruf, assistant professor of sociology, William Paterson University, who conducts research on Syrian refugees; Nancy Sadek ’11, human resources and finance manager, Charity Navigator; and Domenick Stampone ’94, mayor of Haledon, and signatory to a letter from U.S. mayors on Syrian refugees.  The panel will be moderated by Fanny Lauby, William Paterson University assistant professor of political science and an expert on immigration issues.

William Paterson University’s Gandhian Forum for Peace and Justice seeks to engage high school, college, and university students and teachers and community members in innovative and practical ideas, actions, and programs that promote peace and justice through cooperative engagement, dialogue, and respect for opposing views and opinions.

This program is co-sponsored by William Paterson University’s Department of Anthropology, Department of English, Department of History, Department of Political Science, Department of Sociology, Asian Studies Program, Cotsakos College of Business, College of Education, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Office of the Provost.