Blockchain, a newly developed, incorruptible digital ledger system, has the potential to solve this problem, said researchers and experts at a daylong conference on Nov. 10. at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus.

“We all know that global complex emergencies today are riddled with immense challenges. More people than ever, since World War II, are affected by natural and manmade disasters,” said Brendan Cahill, director of Fordham’s Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA).

“Blockchain can have a role not only serving people who are endangered by these crises, in refugee camps or in disaster response, but also in finding new ways that allow for people to be more self-reliant and that ensure the success of long-term humanitarian projects.”

A Technology Resistant to Data Tampering

The conference brought together representatives from intergovernmental and nongovernmental agencies to share the ways they’re taking advantage of the technology, which has made possible the use of the digital currency, bitcoin. Blockchain is a chainlike technology, used for things such as ledgers, that is resistant by design to the modification of the data.

Nick Petford, Ph.D. vice chancellor at Northampton University, detailed how the security afforded by blockchain technology could make possible what he called a “Distributed Learning Ledger.” Such a tool could better capture a person’s nontraditional education experience, including work with families and friends, religious values, and life changing experiences.

Mariana Dahan, CEO of World Identity Network, said that there are two billion people globally who have no proof of who they are, with many living their entire lives with no verifiable ID. In her native Moldova, Dahan said there is hope that blockchain could be used to thwart human trafficking of children.

“If we had an electronic ledger that would record any attempt of getting a minor or an undocumented child out of the country without the consent of the parent, we would be able to secure this information and then act upon it,” she said.

Safe, Swift Transfer of Funds

In the panel, Transparency Dividend: Can Blockchains Stretch the Humanitarian Dollar Further?, Dante Disparte, CEO of Risk Cooperative, said that just as the internet introduced the world to low-friction (easier) communication, blockchain technology has made transferring of funds easier and safer. That could be useful for helping individuals who might need to evacuate an area to escape a powerful hurricane, but who don’t [readily]  have the funds to do so.

“When you introduce blockchain, you can start asking some really interesting ‘What if questions?’ What if we could provide every person who was in an evacuation zone in harm’s way, or in the line of sight of a natural disaster, a $5,000 evacuation dividend?” he said. “Every holder of a homeowner’s policy ought to have that kind of evacuation dividend. With blockchain it’s easy to geo-reference, … to get that third-party validation that we need in the insurance industry.”

Andrew Kruczkiewicz, science adviser at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, said blockchain would help the Red Cross be more proactive in predicting where donors’ funds might be better directed. His organization is pursuing “impact-based forecasting” that assesses the potential impact, not just the hazard, of natural disasters. For instance, a storm might affect the entire state of New Jersey, but some areas of the state will inevitably suffer more because of sociological differences.

“If the Red Cross understands that funding is going to be a problem in a particular country or region, perhaps there are donors that are interested in trying to build resilience in that region or that country, or would like to decrease the potential impact of floods,” he said.

“Blockchain can help us to speed things up, make things faster, and add to the transparency side of monitoring and evaluation.”

For the productive oriented, summertime represents a chance to sock away a few credits by taking summer courses, many of which consist of a four- to five-week session.

While the condensed courses may be intense, they’re also pretty convenient, said Tara E. Czechowski, PhD, dean of Fordham’s summertime session. Czechowski said that the selections, offered in two summer sessions, accommodate a variety of summertime schedules.

Many of the classes also fulfill course requirements, but professors tend to get a little more creative during the summer, said Czechowski.

One core course requirement for seniors on eloquentia perfecta will focus on selfie culture. The course, Dilemmas of the Modern Self, is being taught sociology professor Micki McGee, PhD.

“The course looks deeply into how we see ourselves today and to what extent this new media changes our understanding of ourselves,” said McGee. “We’ll look at ideas, like Descartes’ ‘I think therefore I am,’ and discuss whether that could be ‘I tweet therefore I am?’”

McGee said the course would look at how issues surrounding social media can take on serious personal and moral dimensions.

“Selfie culture includes the way we represent ourselves in all kinds of media—not just the images,” said McGee. “But at the heart are underlying issues of ‘How do you perceive yourself and what sort of self do you want to be?’”

McGee’s course is culturally timely, but several other course offerings will be pegged to events expected to unfold in the news, like political science professor Robert Hume’s Judicial Politics: SCOTUS Watch. The course, scheduled for June, is designed to coincide with the time the Supreme Court typically makes its landmark decisions.

Business professor Mark Conrad, PhD, will teach Business and Ethics of Sports, which he said will likely coincide with Tom Brady’s “deflategate” appeal. It will also take place just before Brazil Summer Olympics and the potential fallout of doping accusations lodged against several athletes expected to attend.

But the course’s focus extends well beyond players inside the stadium to the stadium itself, he said.

“We’ll look at the ethics of sustainability in stadium construction, as well as naming rights deals,” said Conrad.

Conrad said he plans to include guest speakers in person and on Skype to tackle subjects that range from labor injuries and concussions to gambling and fantasy sports.

On the communications side of sports will be Mike Plugh, PhD, who will survey sports reporting and writing, advertising, and public relations. The hybrid course, Sports Communication, takes place online as well as in class.

On the international front, Hamid Al-Bayati, PhD, who served as Iraq’s ambassador to the United Nations from 2006-2013, will return this summer as an adjunct professor to teach United Nations and Political Leadership.

Fordham is offering two courses on humanitarianism to be taught by Alexander van Tulleken, MD, of Fordham’s Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs. The course offered during the first summer session will examine secular and faith-based NGOs based in New York City and the United Nations, and how they respond to crises that include famine, genocide, and displacement. The second session’s course will focus on global health and how those same agencies respond to epidemic disease and food security.

In the realm of the arts, English professor Rebecca Sanchez, PhD, will discuss modernist writers from the turn of the last century to the end of World War II, with a particular focus on American expressionism, industrialization, and the “fetishization of difficulty.”

And combining art and politics, political science professor Nicholas Tampio will bring back his popular summertime session on Political Theory in Popular Culture, which threads together scholarship and superheroes.

“I’m interested in the political aesthetics that the X-Men can help us see,” Tampio said.