Faculty Forum Online: Homeland Security, Dec. 5

Update: View a video of the presentation.

National security in an age of massive movements of people across borders is a universal concern that involves complex issues. While borders have different characteristics and challenges, there are areas of commonality. Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of crossings are not problematic, but the ones that are raise concerns.

Tune in and hear some of the lessons learned by Chappell Lawson, MIT associate professor of political science, from his recent two-year assignment as executive director and senior advisor to the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Learn more in this MIT News Office article—3 Questions: Chappell Lawson on border security.

The Faculty Forum Online series continues on Monday, Dec. 5, from Noon to 12:30 p.m. ET. MIT Associate Professor of Political Science Chappell Lawson will offer his thoughts on homeland security and take questions from the worldwide MIT alumni community via video chat.

Register for this free event to receive the link for live viewing. After the event, come back here and continue the conversation in the comments.

About Chappell Lawson

Chappell Lawson is an associate professor of political science at MIT, director of the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI), and secretary of the faculty. His major research interests are Mexican politics, democratization, political communication, and voting.

From September 2009 through February 2011, he was on leave from MIT as a political appointee in the Obama Administration, serving as executive director and senior advisor to the commissioner at U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Professor Lawson was a national fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University (2002-2003), and a visiting research fellow at the Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies at the University of California, San Diego (1998-99). He earned his PhD from Stanford University in 1999. Before joining the MIT faculty, he served as a director of Inter-American Affairs on the National Security Council.

Books

Building the Fourth Estate: Democratization and Media Opening in Mexico (University of California Press, 2002).

Mexico's Pivotal Democratic Election (Stanford University Press, 2003, coedited with Jorge Domínguez).