Description:

More than a decade of conflict has left Syria facing one of the world’s most urgent and complex humanitarian crises. Today, 16.5 million people in Syria require humanitarian assistance, nearly half the population lacks access to safe drinking water, and more than 14.6 million people are food insecure. While the overthrow of the Assad regime in late 2024 marked a profound political turning point, around 7 million Syrians remain displaced within the country, including 1.5 million living in camps and camp-like settlements. Those who have returned face destroyed homes, collapsed infrastructure, and limited economic opportunity.

Join us for a Buffett Conversation with Lina Sergie Attar, founder and CEO of the Karam Foundation, to examine what sustainable recovery can look like and how international collaboration will play a critical role. Once a volunteer-led effort launched from her kitchen table, Karam has grown into a leading organization advancing education and opportunity for Syrians who have remained in the country as well as those who have sought refuge abroad. In conversation with Wendy Pearlman, Jane Long Professor of Arts & Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University, Sergie Attar will share insights into her work to move humanitarian aid beyond emergency relief toward long-term resilience.

About the Speaker & Discussant

Lina Sergie Attar is a Syrian-American architect and writer from Aleppo. She is the founder and CEO of Karam Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting Syrian youth through innovative education and community-based initiatives. Named one of 50 Women Groundbreakers Changing the World, over 70 of Lina’s articles and essays about Syria have been published in outlets including in The New York Times, Politico, and The Atlantic. She has appeared on CNN, NBC News, BBC News, and NPR. Lina has given talks about the Syrian humanitarian crisis at institutions including RISD, Harvard, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern University, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and the Aspen Institute. Lina studied architecture at the University of Aleppo and continued her graduate studies at the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She serves on the Board of Directors of The Syria Campaign and the Board of Syrian Youth Empowerment. Her podcast, Belonging(s), conversations about home, launched in 2022.

Wendy Pearlman is the Jane Long Professor of Arts & Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University’s Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences. A scholar of the comparative politics of the Middle East, social movements, and forced migration, Professor Pearlman has studied or conducted research in Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Spain, Germany, Israel, and the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. She has authored six books, most recently The Home I Worked to Make: Voices from the New Syrian Diaspora, and more than 40 academic articles or book chapters. Since June 2023, Wendy has served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Perspectives on Politics.

Lunch will be served at 12:15 p.m. 

To register to attend in person, click the button below. Want to attend virtually? Register to attend via Zoom.

Please note that 720 University Place is not an ADA-accessible space. Increasing physical access to buildings and facilities is a goal of the University, but not all buildings and venues have been updated at this time.