Newtown Commemoration and Round Table Discussion on Gun Violence in the US

The AUP community is invited to a ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Newtown shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School of December 14, 2012, followed by a Roundtable discussion of gun violence in America.

Roundtable participants will include (alphabetically):

Alexander Blumrosen

American attorney admitted to the Bars of Paris and New York with the Bernard-Hertz-Béjot law firm in Paris; former counsel to Democrats Abroad France (DAF) and founder of the DAF gun violence study group.  Alex is a frequent commentator on US and international law issues on French and Swiss TV and radio outlets (LCI, France 24, TF1, RTL, Radio Télévision Suisse, etc).

Christopher Dickey (Daily Beast)

former Newsweek Paris Bureau Chief and Middle East Editor and before that with the Washington Post as Cairo Bureau Chief and Central America Bureau Chief),
Securing the City: Inside America's Best Counterterror Force -- the NYPD, published in 2009 and chosen by The New York Times as one of the notable books of the year; 
Our Man in Charleston: Britain's Secret Agent in the Civil War South, published in 2015, is a New York Times best seller.
Chris has also written for Foreign Affairs, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Wired, Rolling Stone, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Book Review, and The New Republic, among other publications. He is a frequent commentator on BBC World, France 24, Al Jazeera English, CNN, MSNBC and National Public Radio, as well as other television and radio networks.

Mira Kamdar (author, blogger, essayist, member Editorial Board of the International New York Times)

Planet India: The Turbulent Rise of the World’s Largest Democracy and the Future of our World (2007)
Motiba's Tattoos: A Granddaughter's Journey from America into her Indian Family's Past (2000)
Articles and essays in: The Washington Post, The Times of India, Daily News & Analysis, Outlook, The International Herald Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, World Policy Journal, Tehelka, Seminar, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy,
Commentary provided to CNN International, Bloomberg TV, the BBC, NPR, TV Ontario, Public Radio International, Radio France, TV 5 Monde, and FR 3
Mira teaches in the International Affairs Journalism masters’ program at the École de Journalisme with the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po

Nathalie Paton (sociologue, chercheur)

Nathalie Paton is a chercheur with the Centre Maurice Halbwachs at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris (the research center of the Ecole Normale Supérieure).
Her research focuses on the role of media in the creation of social movements, social relations and identity.
School Shootings. La violence à l’ère de YouTube (2015). Paris : FMSH. Interventions. [bit.ly/1uyOEUK]
Media Participation of School Shooters and their Fans: Navigating between Self-Distinction and Imitation to Achieve Individuation, chapter in collective work “School Shootings: Mediatized Violence in a Global Age, Studies in Media and Communications” (2012)
Violence et mises en scène audiovisuelles des fusillades d’écoles, Communication, n°33(1) [http://bit.ly/17yWHrm]

Celeste M. Schenck, President of The American University of Paris

In her nearly twenty years at AUP, Schenck has served the University as Professor of Comparative Literature, Associate Dean for Curriculum Development, Vice President for Academic Innovation, Vice President for Development and Grant Planning, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dean of the University, and Provost. Prior to coming to France, Schenck was an Associate Professor with Tenure at Barnard College, Dr. Schenck holds a bachelor’s degree in English, summa cum laude, from Princeton University, and a PhD from Brown University in comparative literature.

Mark Ulfers.  Head of School, American School of Paris – ASP

Former Head of School, Frankfurt International School ; Board member, Council of International Schools;  President, East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools; Principal, Taipei American School ; Superintendent, Taipei American School; President, Association for the Advancement of International Education