Tomorrow at Brown University
With Syrian refugees in Beirut (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
This upcoming interdisciplinary conference at Brown University on the current Syrian refugee crisis will focus on the war’s impact on brain development and mental health outcomes in young children. Since “understanding the cultural and historic context of the Middle East is paramount to any intervention success,” this conference on the science of stress will include historians and anthropologists in its quest to address the global Syrian refugee crisis.
I witnessed the disturbing effects of war trauma and shock while working with Syrian refugees in Lebanon as a professor, yogini, mentor, volunteer, and advocate. As I mentioned in an article on refugees and disability in the Huffington Post, the traumatic impacts of the Syrian war and refugee crisis will linger long after the war has ended — for generations to come.
