IIHA

Spring 2025 Humanitarian Studies Open House
2025-02-13 11:00 - 14:30 UTC | 2546 Belmont Ave, Bronx, NY 10458
Fordham undergraduate students have the opportunity to learn about the bachelor’s in humanitarian studies, masters in humanitarian studies, and our accelerated program. Attendees will also receive a tour of the institute and the chance to meet Director of Graduate Studies, Ruth Mukwana, and faculty member, Bernard Wiseman. A fun, interactive activity will be available for those who have time to get a little creative! Refreshments will be served.

IDHA 60 Pretoria Information Session
2025-02-12 10:30 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Online
IDHA 60 Pretoria Information Session

Join the IIHA team for an information session on our next International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance (IDHA)! Taking place in Pretoria, South Africa, you will gain classroom and hands-on experience during four weeks of rigorous modules focused on humanitarian aid. Throughout the course, you will be able to work alongside peers from various humanitarian, emergency, and human rights organizations and learn from alumni practitioners and lecturers with worldwide experience. At the end of the information session, we will open the floor for Q&A. Please note this session will be recorded for those unable to attend. Any questions regarding the session can be sent to iiha@fordham.edu and iihaoutreach@fordham.edu. Thanks, and see you there!
REGISTER HERE

Conversations with Humanitarians: Julie Belanger, FAO
2025-01-29 16:00 - 17:30 UTC | 2546 Belmont Ave, Bronx, NY
Join Ruth Mukwana, Helen Hamlyn Senior Fellow and Director of Graduate Studies, in welcoming guest Julie Belanger of the Food and Agriculture Organization at the UN (FAO) https://www.fao.org/home/en.

Are you a CURRENT Fordham student interested in learning about the UN’s FAO and working for the UN? During this conversation you will learn about FAO’s work, the humanitarian sector, and how to navigate humanitarian careers within the UN. Registration: https://forms.gle/DquSarD74kvtFcDz9.

IDHA 60 Pretoria Information Session
2025-01-29 10:30 - 11:30 UTC | 2546 Belmont Ave, Bronx, NY 10458

Aid Yoga
2025-01-23 17:15 - 18:15 UTC | Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs, 2546 Belmont Ave, Bronx, NY, 10458, United States
Please read! Aid Yoga is an all-levels yoga class designed to teach students about stretching and relaxation poses and how to use these skills on and off the mat. Yoga is a physical practice that goes beyond teaching students how to move according to their comfort zones. This kind of workout teaches students how to regain control of their breathing, how to trust themselves, how to create a safe space, and how to cope with a stressful event. The purpose of hosting Aid Yoga© at the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA) is two fold: to provide a free, community event that benefits the mind and body of the students while also giving them tools to take with them into the humanitarian field or in life. The class structure will build onto itself and have a theme so that the more classes a student joins, the more they will advance, learn, and improve their practice. No class will be the same. Thank you for your interest, and I look forward to seeing you in class!
Date and time: Thursday, January 23, 2025
Location: IIHA Refuge Gallery located on the second floor in Canisius Hall. 2546 Belmont Ave, Bronx, NY 10458
Theme: Last class we learned “active feet.” For this class, we explore how we store stress in our neck and how to accommodate this crucial body part that is essential for carrying nutrients to our body. We will incorporate both “active feet” and “relaxed neck” into this sequence. As always, there’s a private, individual journal prompt at the beginning of each class.
Maximum capacity: Ten (10) people
Attention! Please only register if you intend on coming. We base our food order and measure space off of your registration. Thank you!
Please bring: water bottle, notepad and pen, and appropriate work-out clothing.
Yoga mats available for borrowing.
Instructor: Lily Egan, Communications Officer, IIHA

M.S. in Humanitarian Studies (MSHS) Information Session
2025-01-22 12:00 - 13:00, 2024-12-03 12:00 - 13:00 UTC | Online
Join the IIHA team and GSAS for a presentation on the M.S. in Humanitarian Studies (MSHS)! Learn about the core courses, application deadlines, career outcomes, and more. Current Fordham undergraduate students who are interested in our accelerated program are also welcome to join.

Any questions regarding the session can be sent to iiha@fordham.edu and rmukwana@fordham.edu. Thanks, and see you there!

REGISTER FOR INFORMATION SESSION HERE.

Learn more about the MSHS here.

Aid Yoga - an IIHA Yoga class
2024-12-12 17:15 - 18:15 UTC | Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs, 2546 Belmont Ave, Bronx, NY, 10458, United States
Aid Yoga is an all-levels yoga class designed to teach students about stretching and relaxation poses and how to use these skills on and off the mat. Yoga is a physical practice that goes beyond teaching students how to move according to their comfort zones. This kind of workout teaches students how to regain control of their breathing, how to trust themselves, how to create a safe space, and how to cope with a stressful event. The purpose of hosting Aid Yoga at the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA) is two fold: to provide a free, community event that benefits the mind and body of the students while also giving them tools to take with them into the humanitarian field or in life. The class structure will build onto itself and have a theme so that the more classes a student joins, the more they will advance, learn, and improve their practice. No class will be the same. Thank you for your interest, and I look forward to seeing you in class!

IDHA 60 Pretoria Information Session
2024-12-12 10:00 - 11:00 UTC

Humanitarian Conversations featuring Heart 9/11 Fortune Society: A Fordham student-only event
2024-11-20 16:00 - 17:30 UTC | Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs, 2546 Belmont Ave, Bronx, NY, 10458, United States
Are you a current Fordham student interested in pursuing an internship next year? Want to learn what it is like to work for a nonprofit? Join the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA) Wednesday, November 20th at 4:00 pm for our first Humanitarian Conversation with Heart 9/11 Fortune Society.

Master of Science in Humanitarian Studies (MSHS) Information Session
2024-11-20 12:00 - 13:00 UTC | Online

Aid Yoga
2024-11-14 17:00 - 18:00 UTC | Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs, 2546 Belmont Ave, Bronx, NY, 10458, United States
Aid Yoga© is an all-levels yoga class designed to teach students about stretching and relaxation poses and how to use these skills on and off the mat. Yoga is a physical practice that goes beyond teaching students how to move according to their comfort zones. This kind of workout teaches students how to regain control of their breathing, how to trust themselves, how to create a safe space, and how to cope with a stressful event. The purpose of hosting Aid Yoga© at the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA) is two fold: to provide a free, community event that benefits the mind and body of the students while also giving them tools to take with them into the humanitarian field or in life. The class structure will build onto itself and have a theme so that the more classes a student joins, the more they will advance, learn, and improve their practice. No class will be the same. Thank you for your interest, and I look forward to seeing you in class!

REGISTER HERE

Sergei Chapnin – Wartime Beauty
2024-11-12 - 2025-01-25 | Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs, 2546 Belmont Ave, Bronx, NY, 10458, United States
Previous Refuge Gallery Exhibits

Introduction and about Refuge Gallery
The Refuge Gallery serves as a venue for exhibitions of artistic work relating to humanitarian and social justice issues. Using art as a means to illuminate, educate and provoke, the Refuge Gallery seeks to bring the Fordham community closer to the injustices experienced by our fellow global citizens.
Our vision is to create a stimulating environment encouraging of cultural and artistic inquiry through a social justice lens for our students, neighbors, artists, and the humanitarian sector — not only at the Institute but at Fordham University as a whole. Please email Sergei Chapnin, Wartime Beauty Curator, who joins us from The Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University (OCSC), for a guided tour of the artwork schapnin@fordham.edu or you may visit the Refuge Gallery for a self-guided tour.

Artist Introductions
Sofia Atlantova and Oleksandr Klymenko
The Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University (OCSC) has unveiled a milestone exhibition, Wartime Beauty, marking a historic moment for contemporary Christian art from Ukraine. Curated by Sergei Chapnin, the exhibition presents recent works by Ukrainian iconographers Sofia Atlantova and Oleksandr Klymenko, highlighting unique blend of traditional iconography in a modern context.
This exhibition is a collaboration between The Refuge Gallery and C-Icon Art Gallery and signifies a shared commitment to exploring contemporary interpretations of Christian art and supporting the Ukrainian people in their quest for freedom and independence. At the heart of the exhibition is Mariupol Deisis (2022), a striking series of 11 icons from Atlantova and Klymenko’s Icons on Ammo Boxes project. Chapnin explains, “Their work departs from certain Byzantine iconographic conventions, not as a rejection, but as a bold reimagining of Eastern Orthodox tradition, reminding us of the enduring desire for beauty that resonates with prayer.” The artists encourage viewers to look beyond the rough, unrefined wood of the ammo boxes, signaling that the spiritual authenticity of their work emerges through each viewer’s perception.
Since its inception amid Ukraine’s struggle in 2014, Icons on Ammo Boxes has reshaped how sacred art addresses themes of suffering and resilience. In a time of conflict, holy icons—traditional symbols of holiness and the communion of saints in the Orthodox Christian tradition—reflect the fractures of war yet continue to declare the abiding presence of God, His Holy Mother, and the Saints alongside human anguish.
Running from November 12, 2023, to January 25, 2025, at The Refuge Gallery, this exhibition not only celebrates the collaboration between OCSC and The Refuge Gallery but also sets a foundation for future explorations of Christian art in a changing world.
Guided tours are available upon request.
Sergei Chapnin noted, “It was a true blessing to bring these icons from Ukraine, and we hope the exhibition will inspire Fordham’s faculty, students, and guests, as well as audiences in other U.S. cities and universities.”
This exhibit has ended. Please stay tuned for the next show!
Meet the Artists and Curator of ‘Wartime Beauty’
Icons on Ammunition Boxes Art Project
In 2015, shortly after the Russian invasion in the Donbas region, Sofia Atlantova and Oleksandr Klymenko, a Ukrainian husband-wife artistic team, initiated the Icons on Ammo Boxes Art Project. They started to paint sacred images on wooden lids from ammunition boxes left by Russian soldiers on the battlefields in Ukraine, and sell them to provide funding for mobile hospitals and other charitable projects. Since Russia began the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the project continues to reflect the strong desire of Ukrainians to witness that life (traditionally represented by icons in Eastern Christianity) will inevitably overcome death (symbolized by ammo boxes).
Sofia Atlantova (born in 1981 and based in Kyiv) is an artist and writer. She studied at the Kyiv Shevchenko State Art School and the National Academy of Art and Architecture. Sofia Atlantova works in monumental and easel art, book illustration, and installation art.
Oleksandr Klymenko (born in 1976 and based in Kyiv) is an artist, art critic, and writer. He graduated from the National Academy of Art and Architecture in 1998 and completed a post-graduate course at the Rylskyi Institute of Art History, Folklore, and Ethnography in 2002. He taught at the Kyiv Boychuk State Institute of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design and the High Humanitarian and Theological Courses in Kyiv. Oleksandr Klymenko works in the field of monumental and easel arts.
Sergei Chapnin (born in 1968 and based in New York since 2022) is a journalist, publisher, and curator of contemporary Christian art. A graduate of Moscow State University (1992), Chapnin has taught at the Faculty of Theology at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Christian University and served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate until 2015. His expertise in Christian art has led him to curate significant exhibitions across Belarus, Finland, France, and Russia, where he has contributed to the dialogue on faith, art, and modern culture.
Opening Reception
Entitled Wartime Beauty, these paintings were done by Sofia Atlantova and Oleksandr Klymenko, a Ukrainian husband-wife artistic team. The Refuge Gallery invites everyone, including class visits, to witness the beautiful yet telling story of Ukraine November 2024 – January 2025.
The exhibition was curated by Sergei Chapnin, Faculty of Theology at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Christian University and served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate until 2015.
Visit Us
The Refuge Gallery is open to all for viewing Monday – Thursday 10 am-4pm or by appointment. Please ring the bell for the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs.
Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs2nd Floor, Canisius Hall, Fordham University2546 Belmont Ave, The Bronx, NY 10458
Directions to Canisius Hall can be found below:
Canisius Hall is best accessed via Belmont Ave. Buses BX9, BX12, BX17, BX22 stop on East Fordham Rd, only steps away from our entrance. The Fordham Train Station is about five blocks away 417 E Fordham Rd, Bronx, NY 10458. Two hour parking is available on Belmont Ave, however, is limited.
To view a map of Rose Hill campus click here. You will find Canisius Hall outside of the pedestrian entrance in between O’Hare and Faculty Memorial.

Contact refugegallery@fordham.edu for gallery appointments and inquiries

Support the Refuge Gallery
Every like and share spreads the word about our artists. Please consider sharing their work. Donate to the Refuge Gallery here.

Donate

The Refuge Gallery serves as a venue for exhibitions of artistic work relating to humanitarian and social justice issues. Using art as a means to illuminate, educate and provoke, the Refuge Gallery seeks to bring the Fordham community closer to the injustices experienced by our fellow global citizens.
Our vision is to create a stimulating environment encouraging of cultural and artistic inquiry through a social justice lens for our students, neighbors, artists, and the humanitarian sector — not only at the Institute but at Fordham University as a whole. Please visit the IIHAs Refuge Gallery located in the Bronx to learn more about Sofia Atlantova and Oleksandr Klymenko and view their work from Wartime Beauty schapnin@fordham.edu.

To contact Refuge Gallery for collaboration, proposal, or general inquiry please email brcahill@fordham.edu and refugegallery@fordham.edu.

IDHA 60 Pretoria, South Africa Information Session
2024-11-01 10:00 - 11:00 UTC | Online

Crisis Response in the Modern Media Environment: Imagining, Building, and Communicating Humanitarian Shelter Solutions in a Connected World at Brooklyn College's Graduate Center for Worker Education
2024-11-01 09:30 - 16:00 UTC | Brooklyn College’s Graduate Center for Worker Education
ABOUT:
​Brooklyn College’s Dept. of Television, Radio & Emerging Media, working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), have organized a one-day conference open to all students, alum, faculty, and staff across NYC and surrounding colleges and universities who are interested in learning about career, internship, and research opportunities available in the international humanitarian field.
​One of IOM’s missions is to build and maintain shelter for displaced populations worldwide. Expertise in many disciplines–architecture, engineering, design, media and communication, international relations, sustainability, and many others — is required to successfully carry out this crucial work.
​If you would like to know more about IOM, and about how your interest and expertise can help IOM fulfill its mission, please register to be part of this free one-day conference/workshop on Nov. 1st at 25 Broadway in lower Manhattan. Find out more about the opportunities available and brainstorm ways to assist in IOM’s communications and media outreach. Lunch is provided and space is limited so please register early.

REGISTER HERE

American Public Health Association (APHA) APHA Annual Meeting Expo (Faculty recommendation!)
2024-10-27

IDHA applications due
2024-10-26

Humanitarian Crisis in Lebanon: Live update from Beirut, with Fr. Dan Corrou, SJ
2024-10-22 12:00 - 13:00 UTC | https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcldOCgrj4uE9OGpNxnmiUvkicLFypYmE5D#/registration
Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) invites you to join Fr. Dan Corrou, SJ, the Regional Director of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in the Middle East and North Africa (JRS MENA) for a live update on the deepening humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, on Tuesday, October 22, from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. (ET). JRS is responding to the immediate needs of people forced to flee their homes in Lebanon by distributing food, basic hygiene kits, and mattresses to evacuees. JRS has also provided temporary shelter and services to refugees, migrants, and vulnerable citizens. Although some JRS staff have had to flee their own homes in the turmoil caused by the recent fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, they have managed to help more than 5,500 people in 20 shelters and other locations. Join us for this live update to get the latest on-the-ground information about the catastrophic situation in Lebanon, where civilians are bearing the brunt of the humanitarian crisis. There will be a time for Q & A – please submit your questions to pniemeyer@jesuits.org ahead of time for consideration. CJI is a member of the Xavier Network, an international network of Jesuit organizations for global solidarity. GUEST SPEAKER: Fr. Dan Corrou, SJ, has been the Regional Director of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in the Middle East and North Africa (JRS MENA) since July 2020.

God, Fatherland, Family: Integralismo and the Making of the Far-Right in Twentieth Century Brazil at Columbia University
2024-10-10 12:00 - 14:00 UTC | Columbia University, SEE URL
Morningside Heights, NYC

2024- 2025 Fordham University academic school year begins
2024-08-28

Humanitarian Training Course applications due
2024-08-21

IIHA Internship end date
2024-08-09

Refuge Gallery / Joel De Andrade
2024-06-22 - 2024-09-22

Quality, Social, Environmental Relief Items Procurement Conference hosted by IOM and IIHA
2024-06-10 - 2024-06-12

MSHS Virtual Information Session
2024-06-05

Philippe Lazzarini on Humanitarian Fault Lines
2024-06-04

IIHA Internship start date
2024-06-03
We are now offering summer 2024 internships for undergraduate and graduate candidates that provide an entry point into the field of international humanitarian affairs as well as a valuable understanding of the complex issues and dilemmas that humanitarians are constantly forced to evaluate. These positions are unpaid and require 15-20 hours/week.
Learn More

Chester Higgins The Intimacy of Prayer
2024-04-11 18:00 - 2024-06-15 20:00 UTC
Previous Refuge Gallery Exhibits

The Refuge Gallery serves as a venue for exhibitions of artistic work relating to humanitarian and social justice issues. Using art as a means to illuminate, educate and provoke, the Refuge Gallery seeks to bring the Fordham community closer to the injustices experienced by our fellow global citizens.
Our vision is to create a stimulating environment encouraging of cultural and artistic inquiry through a social justice lens for our students, neighbors, artists, and the humanitarian sector — not only at the Institute but at Fordham University as a whole. Please visit the IIHAs Refuge Gallery website to learn more about Chester and view his work from Intimacy of Prayer iiharefugegallery.org.

Introduction and about Refuge Gallery
The Refuge Gallery is an extension of the work at the IIHA. To contact Refuge Gallery for collaboration, proposal, or general inquiry please email refugegallery@fordham.edu.
Artist Introduction
Chester Higgins
With his camera, CHESTER HIGGINS “wrestles with issues of memory, place and identity, he sees his life as a narrative and his photography as its expression. His art gives visual voice to his personal and collective memories. It is inside ordinary moments where he finds windows into larger meaning. Light, perspective, and points in time are the pivotal elements he uses to reveal an interior presence within his subjects as he searches for what he identifies as the Signature of the Spirit. The work of Chester Higgins challenges us to see the full breadth of our humanity. Through his portraits and studies of living rituals, traditional ceremonies and the monuments and ruins of ancient civilizations, viewers gain a rare insight into cultural behavior — a window to another place and time.
Higgins is the author of eight collections: Black Woman, Drums of Life, Some Time Ago, Feeling the Spirit: Searching the World for the People of Africa — a comprehensive look at the African Diaspora — and Elder Grace: The Nobility of Aging. His memoir entitled, Echo of the Spirit: A Photographer’s Journey and illustrated Ancient Nubia: African Kingdoms on the Nile. His most recent book, Sacred Nile, explores the ancient migratory route of faith along the River Nile. Higgins photographs have appeared in ArtNews, New York Times, Nile Magazine, Explorers Journal and Archaeology. His work is the topic of two PBS films, “An American Photographer: Chester Higgins Jr.,” and “Brotherman” and has been featured on CBS: “Sunday Morning News,” PBS: “The NewsHour,” ABC: “Like It Is,” “Freedom Forum” and CUNY TV “Tony Guida’s New York.”
His solo exhibitions have appeared at the International Center of Photography, The Smithsonian Institution, The Museum of African Art, The Museum of Photographic Arts, The Schomburg Center, The Newark Museum, National Civil Rights Museum, The Field Museum of History, The New-York Historical Society, the Windows Gallery/Kimmel Center of New York University, The Dapper Museum in Paris and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.
Higgins was recently honored with his induction into the International Photography Hall of Fame. He is the recipient of grants from The Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the International Center of Photography, the Open Society Institute, The National Endowment for the Arts and the Andy Warhol Foundation (ICP). In 2014 he retired from The New York Times as a staff photographer after 38 years of contributing images to the paper.
To learn more about the artist, see his website;
ChesterHiggins.com — #chesterhiggins12 and SacredNile.com
Meet the Refuge Gallery team
Joél Alexander De Andrade Ledesma (b. 1989) is Refuge Gallery Curatorial Fellow. Joél is a cultural worker, educator, and community organizer. Born in Caracas, Venezuela and raised mostly in NYC and the surrounding area, Joél is excited to continue building the Refuge Gallery as a physical and non-physical space where art is used as a tool and practice to spark change, conversation, and contemplation around matters of social justice and humanitarian affairs.
Opening Reception of Intimacy of Prayer
The Fordham University community and photography fans from around New York gathered for an intimate opening reception April 11 inside Canisius Hall at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus. The opening honored a wonderful small exhibit by the esteemed photographer Chester Higgins.
Entitled The Intimacy of Prayer, these images were taken in the United States, Africa and the MENA region. The Refuge Gallery invites everyone, including class visits, to witness the amazing photography by Chester Higgins until June 15th.
More on Chester’s biography here and here. The exhibition was curated by Mr Joel De Andrade, who joins the Institute as our new Curatorial Fellow.
Visit Us
The Refuge Gallery is open to all for viewing Tuesdays and Wednesdays 2 pm- 4 pm or by appointment. Please ring the bell for the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs.
Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs
2nd Floor, Canisius Hall, Fordham University
2546 Belmont Ave, The Bronx, NY 10458
Directions to Canisius Hall can be found below:
Canisius Hall is best accessed via Belmont Ave. Buses BX9, BX12, BX17, BX22 stop on East Fordham Rd, only steps away from our entrance. The Fordham Train Station is about five blocks away 417 E Fordham Rd, Bronx, NY 10458. Two hour parking is available on Belmont Ave, however, is limited.
To view a map of Rose Hill campus click here. You will find Canisius Hall outside of the pedestrian entrance in between O’Hare and Faculty Memorial.
Contact refugegallery@fordham.edu for gallery appointments and inquiries

Support the Refuge Gallery
Every like and share spreads the word about our artists. Please consider sharing Chester’swork here. Donate to the Refuge Gallery here.

Donate
