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Humanitarian Action

With record numbers of displaced, humanitarian needs are among the most pressing global challenges. This reality is compounded by climate change, conflict, transnational crime, and abject poverty; trends that often intersect and amplify human suffering.  The Humanitarian Action program raises awareness about humanitarian issues and builds skills and strategies for effective and compassionate action.

  • The Program offers students with the opportunity to:
  • Minor in Humanitarian Action.
  • Intern with organizations such as Save the Children, AmeriCares, Caroline House, Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB), and the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants
  • Enroll in our Peace Corp Preparation Program.
  • Join our dynamic Humanitarian Action Student Club.
  • Participate in co-curricular activities including immersion trips to the United Nations, an alternative spring break to work with refugees in Abilene, TX, and humanitarian simulation experiences.
Three women smiling together for a photo at a United Nations conference, showcasing unity and cultural representation.

Humanitarian Action Minor

ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ University’s minor in humanitarian action, one of the few such undergraduate programs in the United States and elsewhere, has continued to grow since its launch in January 2016.

Humanitarian Action Club

Interested in how you can take humanitarian action? The Humanitarian Action Student Club raises awareness on campus about global emergencies and builds strategies for responding to humanitarian crises.

From responding to natural disasters to refugee support to education and advocacy, students make the connection between their coursework and real, humanitarian needs on the ground.

  • An Annual Fall Fest is held in November which raises awareness of the work of the Humanitarian Action Club and raises funds for the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants (CIRI), our local resettlement agency in Bridgeport.
  • Each year, a Walk in My Shoes refugee camp experience is organized to help raise awareness of the refugee crisis and to promote advocacy efforts.
  • A spring break trip is offered each March for students to work with refugees at the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) resettlement areas in Texas.
  • In honor of Earth Day, the Club raises funds and awareness through an Annual Filter Build; up to 100 filters are assembled by the Club and sent worldwide to communities in need of clean, potable water.
  • ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ students participate in conflict and disaster simulations offered by the Consortium for Humanitarian Service and Education (CHSE), providing students with the opportunity to experience what humanitarian work entails.
  • Students participate in Jesuit Refugee Services' (JRS) Advocacy Day, which includes briefings with congressional staff on issues related to refugees and migrants.

Humanitarian Action Fellows

Bobby Schattle ’25, Carl Mesier ’25, Grace Lannigan ’25, Mia Van Mater ’26, and Ben Tran ‘27

Participating in the Humanitarian Action Club has inspired me to reach out and support the world around me locally and globally. I continue to gain knowledge about the active issues regarding national and international affairs and how to take a role in solving them. This organization has inspired so much motivation in me that I have taken a leadership role in working with the community around me to create change. I am learning how to be a more well-rounded and culturally aware leader. Refining these skills will help me help others as I enter into a career in speech pathology."

Bobby Shattle '25, Major: Behavioral Neuroscience

Bobby Shattle '25

Being a Humanitarian Action Fellow has further opened my awareness to those around me within the international community. Through HA I have had the pleasure of meeting so many people from different cultures, countries, and walks of life. These people and the connections that I have made through being an HA Fellow have made me a better person with a better understanding of the world around me and its needs. Done through a vast community, a force that stands together to help those who need it."

Carl Meiser '26, Major(s): Environmental Studies, Political Science

Carl Meiser '26

HA has given me more perspective on humanitarian crises than I could have ever imagined. The Center for Social Impact has exposed me to faculty and students who have a desire to make the world more hospitable and humane."

Grace Lannigan '26, Major(s): Politics and International Studies

Grace Lannigan '26

I love being part of a community that recognizes the importance of raising awareness about issues that are often not in the limelight. HA has helped me develop a sense of confidence that making a difference is always achievable with persistence and collaboration."

Mia Van Mater ‘25, Major: Behavioral Neuroscience

Service and Simulations

International Rescue Committee, Abilene, TX

Offered each spring, the trip provides students an opportunity to work with the International Rescue Committee in its work to help newly resettled refugees in Texas.

United Nations Global Citizenship Seminar

Offered each fall, the trip provides students with an insight into the inner workings of the UN as well as many of its sister agencies. In addition to touring the UN Headquarters building, students receive detailed briefings focusing on humanitarian issues, refugees and other forces behind global migration.

Atlantic Hope

Offered biennially in the spring, a limited number of students can participate in the Consortium for Humanitarian Service and Education’s (CHSE) intensive hands-on simulation of a humanitarian relief operation.

Alumni Notes

Tara Bailey ’20, joined AmeriCorps NCCC for one year following graduation, working with a team on projects in Colorado, Texas, and Oklahoma to strengthen underserved communities. She currently works for FEMA as an Emergency Management Specialist where she was deployed to New Orleans for Hurricane Ida relief, providing free temporary housing to disaster survivors. Tara is now based in Washington, D.C. to rebuild FEMA’s Leadership Development curriculum, reconstruct the agency’s employee qualification systems, and create a mentorship program.

Timothy Salit ’19 majored in finance and minored in humanitarian action. Following graduation, Tim joined Deutsche Bank’s corporate and investment banking graduate training program in NYC. He is now an associate working with global teams to provide multinational corporations with foreign exchange, liquidity, and payment solutions. Leveraging his humanitarian action classes, he helps treasurers navigate different political and social environments while also creating and executing environmental, social, and corporate governance strategies.

Adrienne Sgarlato ’17 worked at the U.S. Department of State Following graduation. Adrienne then continued her studies at the American University School of International Service to complete her Master’s in International Affairs: Global Governance, Politics, and Security. She now works at the U.S. Department of State Office to monitor and combat trafficking in persons, managing more than $10 million in foreign assistance for anti-trafficking projects in West Africa.

Get In Touch

  • 1073 North Benson Road
    ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ, CT 06824

  • (203) 254-4000

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