
The Columbia University Committee on Forced Migration is a University-wide initiative coordinated by Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh.
The Committee was created by the Columbia Global Centers as a response to the dramatic increase in the number of forced migrants and migration crises around the world. The Committee seeks to maximize Columbia’s ability to act as a platform to engage, support, and share information across its community of faculty, students, and staff on issues related to forced migration.
Through workshops, research, and broad communications with academic experts and the world’s thought leaders in global migration, the Committee provides an institutional setting for over 80 faculty from across Columbia’s schools and affiliates to share research results, create interdisciplinary networks, and explore new approaches to addressing problems of forced migration.
The Committee also mobilizes the University’s resources to respond to forced migration challenges, such as driving Columbia’s response to the Afghanistan crisis.
The Committee on Forced Migration is one of a number of forced migration-related activities the Global Centers supports, including the following: