This book is a reflection on the intersection of two complex problems of modernity that seem to be far from each other: the protection of refugees and the development of science. The authors of this book have personal emotional experiences in both seeking asylum and finding their place in Western academies. Remaining researchers, they comprehend their own life stories through the lens of reflection on the practical implementation of leading humanitarian ideas regarding the social status of refugees and equal access to professional activity in science. The book's authors invite you to a discussion: Are Western academies really open to global intellectual convergence and transparency of knowledge in a time of global civilizational transit?
The event will be attended by the co-editors Dr.Alfred Babo and Dr. Sayed Hassan Akhlaq.
Speakers
Dr., Prof. Svitlana Ovcharenko is a philosopher, cultural researcher, expert on aesthetic patterns of thinking and studies the immanence of these patterns for various aspects of socio-political reality and governance, in particular in information warfare. She is the author of the concept of “another rational” thinking. Since 2022, Svitlana Ovcharenko has been an associate researcher at the Global Governance Center of the Geneva Graduate Institute and collaborates with the Department of International Relations and Politics. She is a nominee of the Scholars at Risk program in 2025. In this project, she is preparing the course “Cultural Diplomacy” and completing the book “The Art of Thinking Illogically”. She is a co-author of the book for which she prepared the chapter “Parallel Lines Converging: Is the Iron Curtain of Science Opening and Closing? Will Parallel Scientific Universes Converge?”It is inspired by the experience of a refugee from the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Dr. Alfred Babo is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the International Studies Program at Fairfield University in the United States. Before joining Fairfield, he taught at the University of Bouaké in Côte d’Ivoire, as well as at Smith College and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in the United States. Dr. Babo is an interdisciplinary scholar with expertise in development anthropology, political science, African studies, and refugee studies. He has presented his research at national and international conferences and has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and books in the United States, Africa, Europe, and Asia. His current research projects and publications focus on the issue of refugees’ activism in Africa and acculturation in the US. His article “38 Paradise Road: Being an African Francophone Refugee Scholar in American Academia,” has been featured at the 2023 Conference Refuge at Risk: Concepts, Infrastructures, Futures, at the University of California Irvine.
Dr.Sayed Hassan Akhlaq is a philosopher and interdisciplinary scholar currently teaching at Coppin State University. His academic focus centers on philosophy and intercivilizational dialogue, with expertise in comparative studies, the history of ideas, modernity, and colonization. Beyond his teaching and research, Akhlaq is affiliated with several institutions dedicated to fostering cross-cultural understanding, including the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies(Villanova University), the American Councils for International Education (Washington, DC), and the Roya Institute for Global Justice (New York). Akhlaq has held scholarly roles at prestigious universities such as Princeton, Boston University, George Washington University, and the Catholic University of America, building a rich foundation for comparing intellectual traditions across Western and non-Western contexts. Prior to his work in the United States, he was active in Iranian and Afghan academia. His publications span both English and Persian, and Akhlaq is a prolific contributor to both scholarly and public discourse.
Chair
Anna Leander, Professor of International Relations/Political Science, Geneva Graduate Institute