Fulbright Program

International Migration During Uncertain Times: What Triggers the Flow

Held Virtually - March 18 @ 7 - 8 PM

This collaborative event between the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs at Colby College and the Maine Chapter of the Fulbright Association will focus on the very topical subject of international migration and the global circumstances (such as the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and food insecurity) that drive its flow. The event represents a unique and important opportunity to bring outside experts in the field together with Fulbright alumni, Colby faculty, and their students. Additionally, the topic is certainly global in scope, targeting mutual understanding between peoples of the world, and therefore, important and timely for a 75th Celebration of the Fulbright Program. 

The panel discussion, to be held from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., will be moderated by Professor Christel Kesler, Associate Director of the Goldfarb Center at Colby, and will consist of three presenters: Erol Yayboke, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); Dr. Susan Rottman, anthropologist and faculty member in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Southern Maine; and Kathleen Newland, Senior Fellow and co-founder of the think tank the Migration Policy Institute.


Panel Member Bios

Erol Yayboke

Erol Yayboke is deputy director and senior fellow with the Project on Prosperity and Development (PPD) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). His specific research interests include U.S. foreign assistance, the role of the private sector in the developing world, good governance, migration and forced displacement, conflict-aware stabilization, climate change, development economics, and innovation-led economic growth. Previously, he served in several capacities with the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and was a program/research manager on the Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD) team at the Center for International Development at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Mr. Yayboke also has long-term field experience working for organizations (Global Communities, Save the Children, and AECOM International Development) in Iraq, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and the Somali Region of Ethiopia, serving in various senior country and project management roles.

Dr. Susan Rottman

Dr. Rottmann obtained her B.A. degree in Comparative Religion from Cornell University in 2001, her M.A. degree in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2006, and her Ph.D. degree in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2012. She has received several major research grants, including a Fulbright-Hays DDRA and grants from the Social Science Research Council, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, the American Research Institute in Turkey and the Institute of Turkish Studies. Currently, Dr. Rottmann is studying gender and belonging for migrants between Syria, Turkey and Europe through inter-disciplinary field research as a Primary Investigator for the European Union-funded HORIZON 2020 project, RESPOND – Multilevel Governance of Mass Migration in Europe and Beyond. Her recent book, In Pursuit of Belonging: Forging an Ethical Life in European-Turkish Spaces (Berghahn Books – 2019) draws on an established tradition of life story writing in anthropology to convey the struggle to forge an ethical life as a Muslim woman in transnational space. She loves to incorporate her research into her teaching and to include students in her research. She encourages students to be curious and critical, to bring their experiences into the classroom and to apply what they learn about social science to their own lives.

Kathleen Newland

Kathleen Newland is a Senior Fellow and Co-Founder of the Migration Policy Institute. Her work focuses on the governance of international migration, the relationship between migration and development, and refugee protection. Prior to MPI’s establishment in July 2001, Ms. Newland co-directed the International Migration Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment. Earlier, she was a Lecturer in international political economy at the London School of Economics (1988–92) and Special Assistant to the Rector of the United Nations University (1982–87). She has worked as a consultant to the International Labor Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the Office of the Secretary General of the United Nations, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the World Bank.