2011 Workshop

"On Teaching the Arab Spring"

Tuesday, October 25, 2011 , 4:00 - 5:15 p.m.
Connelly Center: President's Lounge

• Mark Schnellbaecher, CRS Middle East Regional Director
• Francis Galgano, Department of Geography and Environment
• Silvia Nagy-Zekmi, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
• Sayed Omran, Institute for Global Interdisciplinary Studies

2010 Workshop

"Haiti: Building Back Better"

Friday, September 24, 2010, 9:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m.
Connelly Center: Radnor and St. David's Rooms

• Annemarie Reilly, CRS Executive Vice President for Overseas Operations Headquarters Coordinator for CRS' Haiti Response
• Francis Galgano, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Geography and Environment
• Maghan Keita, Ph.D., Department of History, Director, Institute for Global Interdisciplinary Studies

This workshop will provide:

• An overview of Haiti in its environment and its historical and geo-political contexts
• An assessment of Haiti's existing assets and challenges
• An overview of CRS work in Haiti, its partners, and its strategic long-term plan
• An opportunity to explore possibilities for collaboration
• Resources for study, teaching and research

CRS has worked in Haiti since 1954, and at the request of the Vatican, is coordinating the Catholic Church relief, recovery, and development efforts in the country.

2009 Workshop

"The Economic Crisis: Truth & Consequences"

Friday, September 25, 9:15 a.m.- 1:30 p.m.
Health Services Building - Rm. 200

Workshop Description: Participants will come away from this workshop with material, local and global, practical and theoretical, that will assist them in understanding more thoroughly the current global economic crisis, as well as the national and global institutions that are at the heart of the crisis.

The workshop will begin by taking two cases: one global, and the other domestic. A panel of faculty from across disciplines in the university will then make an effort to deconstruct the economic crisis, examining the domestic and global institutions and the dynamics that continue to give rise to the kinds of cases cited. In the third segment of the workshop, building on the presentations, presenters and participants will discuss the fundamental lessons learned and insights gained that should be brought to bear on future U.S. economic, political, social, cultural, and ethical choices. This workshop promises to be an incisive examination of the current global economic dysfunction, an opportunity for vigorous discussion of the responsible choices the US faces, and faculty can expect to take away resources for further study, research, and teaching.

U.S. Case Study - C. Sean Closkey
C. Sean Closkey, is Executive Vice President of The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) and President of the Reinvestment Fund Development Partners, Inc.

The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) is one of the nation's largest and most productive Community Development Financial Institutions. TRF is a $500 million multi-purpose fund investing in affordable housing, commercial development, education and sustainable energy. TRF serves the Mid-Atlantic US with offices in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC.

The Reinvestment Fund Development Partners (TRF DP) was established in 2006 as a related entity of TRF. TRF DP is specifically designed as an urban real estate development company whose mission is: 1) to develop housing that is affordable to local residents and 2) to develop market rate housing that stabilizes and improves values in distressed urban areas. TRF DP is actively developing over 300 homes in the Mid-Atlantic US.

Before joining TRF in 2004, Closkey served as the Executive Director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency. His accomplishments include creating and implementing New Jersey's $2.5 billion Smart Growth Housing Policy. Prior to leading the NJHMFA, Mr. Closkey was Executive Director of St. Joseph's Carpenters Society in Camden. He holds a BS in finance from Villanova University and an MA in economics from the University of Texas at Austin.

Overseas Case Study - Shaun Ferris, Ph.D.
Shaun Ferris is Senior Technical Advisor for Agriculture and Environment for Catholic Relief Services (CRS).

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic community. It alleviates suffering and provides assistance to people in need in more than 100 countries without regard to race, religion, or nationality. Its overseas programming includes: agriculture, education, emergency response, health, HIV and AIDS, microfinance, peace building, social safety net, and food security. CRS has a staff of 5,000, an operating budget of over $600 million, and received an "A" Rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy.

As Senior Technical Advisor for Agriculture and Environment, Ferris is responsible for providing strategic and technical advice to CRS's field offices. One of his major responsibilities is to assist CRS in becoming an industry leader in agro-enterprise development. This involves writing and integrating best marketing practices into the activities being undertaken by CRS, so that future interventions have more reach and are more undertaken in a more market oriented framework. In the past 5 years, he has worked with CRS to design, developed and role out a range of participatory agro-enterprise best practices that are now being applied in more than 35 countries across the agency.

Dr. Ferris' main areas of interest include: (i) developing new business models for smallholder producers, (ii) market based business support services, (ii) strengthening value chains to enhance market access for poor rural communities, (iii) devising new financial mechanisms to support access to higher value markets (iv) improving access to information and ICT based knowledge services, and (v) developing new insights into the trade opportunities for tropical commodities.

Ferris is British/Australian and has a doctorate in Post-Production Science from Cranfield University, a MSc from Nottingham University, and a BS from Reading University.

Fall 2009 Faculty Workshop Faculty Panelists
Robert DeFina is a professor in the Department of Sociology. He earned his doctorate in economics from Washington University. For approximately ten years, Dr. DeFina worked as an economist in the Federal Reserve System, and as head of macroeconomic research for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. He teaches courses on: Social Inequality; Perspectives on U.S. Poverty; Work, Wages and Inequality; Comparative Social Policy; and the Social Safety Net. These areas plus housing segregation constitute his research interests. Dr. Defina was awarded the 2008 Villanova University Outstanding Research Award.

Elizabeth Petit de Mange is an assistant professor in the College of Nursing. She earned her doctorate in nursing from the University of Colorado. Dr. Petit de Mange teaches courses in Community Health, Physical Assessment, Nursing Process, and Pediatrics. Her research interests include: American Indian and Alaska Native Health, Access to Health Care, the Healthcare Needs of the Homeless, Cultural Competency, and Maternal Child Health.

Meredith Rapkin is a Clinical Teaching Fellow in the School of Law's Farmworker Legal Clinic. She received her JD from Temple University, where she was the Executive Editor of the Temple University Political and Civil Rights Law Review. She was awarded a Public Interest Law Fellowship from the Independence Foundation and was a staff attorney for the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.

A. Maria Toyoda is an assistant professor and chair of the Political Science Department. She earned her doctorate from Georgetown University. She is also Director of East Asian Studies. Dr. Toyoda teaches courses in Comparative Politics, International Relations and East Asia. Her research interests include: Financial Liberalization Mechanisms, Reform of Government Financial Institutions, Development Banking and Foreign Aid.

Brett Wilmot is associate director of the Ethics Program. He earned his doctorate in Religious Ethics from the University of Chicago. Dr. Wilmot has taught courses in Theological and Philosophical Ethics, Philosophy of Religion and Political Theory, Environmental Ethics, and Ethics and Globalization. His research interests include: Religion and Politics, Philosophical Ethics, and Theological Ethics.

2008 Workshop

Peace Building: Principles & Strategies
Integrating Peace Building into Courses and Research

September 26, 2008, 9:15 a.m.- 2:45 p.m.
Health Services Building - Rm. 200

2007 Workshop

The CRS Partnership
Friday, September 28, 2007