Mass Violence and Community Resilience: Lessons From the Syrian War

The Middle East Studies Center and Department of Politics and Global Affairs welcome you to join us for a fascinating lecture by one of our visiting scholars!

When unarmed civilians find themselves under threat of mass violence, besides fleeing, some take collective steps to protect their communities despite the risks and dangers in place. This talk explains how civilians self-organized and developed strategies to resist violence in Syria. Based on field work and statistical analysis, findings from the Syrian experience provide important lessons regarding the future of unarmed populations impacted by mass violence in other parts of the Middle East and beyond.

Harout Akdedian is Program Analyst at the Oregon Department of Justice and Visiting Scholar at Portland State University's Middle East Studies Center. Views expressed in this talk are solely that of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s employer or affiliated academic institutions.