Faculty Voices of Experience

Remnants Of War: JMU's Role In Alleviating The Deadly Legacy Of Post-Conflict Pollution

What is the role of academe in post-conflict recovery - and how can the ways of the international humanitarian community be brought into the classroom? In his capacity as Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR) Director, Dr. Ken Rutherford is integrally involved in post-conflict missions and projects in several countries. Dr. Rutherford will share the cross-disciplinary work of CISR, the global community of practice CISR developed in landmine/unexploded ordnance and victim assistance, and the challenges faced by CISR in its work. Participants will learn the role of higher education in post-conflict recovery and will consider ways in which the international humanitarian community can be brought into the JMU classroom.

Facilitator:

Ken Rutherford, Professor of Political Science; Director, Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR)

Biographical Sketch:

Ken Rutherford is a Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR). In his capacity as CISR Director Ken Rutherford is conducting or participating in post-conflict missions and projects in Burundi, Colombia, Iraq, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Lebanon, Palestine, Rwanda, Syria, Uganda, Vietnam and Yemen. After losing his legs to a landmine in Somalia, where he was conducting humanitarian relief work, he co-founded the Landmine Survivors Network, the largest global organization for and by landmine survivors. He is also a renowned leader in the Nobel Peace Prize-winning coalition that spearheaded the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and the global movement that led to the 2008 Cluster Munitions Ban Treaty. Professor Rutherford is the author of Disarming States: The Global Movement to Ban Landmines and Humanitarianism Under Fire: The US and UN Intervention in Somalia, and co-editor of Human Security and Landmines: International Politics and War's Hidden Legacy and Reframing the Agenda: The Impact of NGO and Middle Power Cooperation on International Security Policy.