Talk by Gerrard Khan '93 Follows 'Refugee Kids' Screening

In April of 2017, filmmaker Renee Silverman presented her film, Refugee Kids: One Small School Takes on the World, accompanied by a short presentation by the filmmaker and followed by a talk by Gerrard Khan ’93, the director of U.S. Programs at the International Rescue Committee. Khan discussed the refugee crisis, contemporary American politics, and the work of his organization, which supports people facing war, conflict, and natural disasters worldwide and helps resettle refugees in the U.S. This event was sponsored by the Gaudino Fund, the departments of history and political science, and the programs in American studies, global studies, and leadership studies.

Silverman’s film is a short documentary that follows students at the IRC’s Refugee Youth Summer Academy in New York City, a program for children seeking asylum from the world’s most volatile conflicts. It presents a gripping account of the students’ stories of escaping war and conflict and resettling in America, chronicling their triumphs and setbacks as their lives unfold over the course of a summer.