Welcoming and Supporting Refugees and Immigrants: Making the Case for an Intentionally Inclusive Iowa
The PPC is proud to support this lecture hosted by the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council (ICFRC).
To begin the fall 2022 lineup of programs, project director and board member Dr. Peter Gerlach and executive director Kathryn Wittneben will discuss the inspiration for the series, its intended impact across the state, as well as what it represents for the nature of ICFRC programming going forward.
Dr. Peter Gerlach is a visiting assistant professor in the International Studies program at the University of Iowa. He received his BA and MA degrees in English from Ripon College and the University of Northern Colorado, respectively. After serving in the U.S. Peace Corps in Mongolia, he earned a PhD in Cultural Foundations of Education from Syracuse University where he conducted dissertation research on the lived experiences of international students at Grinnell College. His teaching areas include international studies, international education, refugee and immigrant studies, and community engaged learning. Dr. Gerlach serves on the International Studies Academic Advisory Board and the Fulbright Committee at the University of Iowa and on the Board of Directors at the ICFRC, Global Ties Iowa, and the Refugee and Immigrant Association.
Kathryn Wittneben is the Executive Director of the ICFRC. She returned to the Iowa City area in the fall of 2020, after having served four years as Vice President of Advancement at the University of the West of Scotland near Glasglow, Scotland. Previously she was the Director of Development at the College of Public Health, University of Iowa Center for Advancement. She has taught International Politics and Economics at the University of Umea in Sweden, Washington State University and George Washington University in the U.S. She has worked as a senior economist on international economic trade issues for two Congressional Committees (Banking, Small Business) in the U.S. House of Representatives; led an international policy institute at MIddlebury College; and helped to develop two grantmaking foundations - Eurasia Foundation which supported economic reform and democratization projects in the former Soviet Union, and The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund (U.S.) which addressed challenges facing marginalized youth. Kathryn spent most of the 1990s working on economic reform and private sector development projects in the former Soviet Union and has addressed the Parliament of Ukraine and the CSCE on these issues. She has a BGS degree with majors in Political Science and Economics from the University of Iowa; and a MA in International Studies from the American University. She received the Scottish Women Award for Services to Education in 2018.
This event is free and open to the public; attendees must register beforehand.