Expert on Issues Affecting Forced Migrants to be Keynote Speaker at the School of Social Work's 13th Annual PhD Spring Symposium

Dr. Frederick Ahearn, an expert on psychosocial issues affecting forced migrants, particularly persons displaced by disasters, will be the keynote speaker for the 13th annual Indiana University School of Social Work’s PhD Spring Symposium.

Ahearn, a professor and co-chair of the Center for International Social Development at the National Catholic School of Social Service of the Catholic University of America, will discuss his research project on refugees in Nicaragua.

In his study, “Resettled Refugees: The Case of Post-War Nicaragua,” Ahearn investigated what happened in the aftermath of the Nicaraguan civil war as thousands of refugees from Honduras and Costa Rica returned to Nicaragua to begin life again under an UN-sponsored peace agreement.

When the Nicaraguan government failed to give the returnees land where they could begin a new life, a group of 600 families took over a piece of land in central Managua, the capitol. They named the area “Barrio 3-80” after the name of one of the Contra battalions that fought in the war.

Ahearn’s presentation will address the psychosocial adjustment of forced migrants (refugees, ex-soldiers, and displaced persons) and voluntary migrants (economic and internal urban migrants) who moved to the barrio.

The symposium will also showcase the ongoing work of IU School of Social Work PhD students.

The symposium will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, April 17 in the 4th floor Commons of the IU School of Social Work on the IUPUI campus. Dr. Ahearn will speak at 10 a.m.