Associate professor of Regional + City Planning John Harris, along with Grace Acan and Evelyn Amony from the Women’s Advocacy Network, and Lupe Davidson of the University of West Virginia, recently published the article, “How formerly abducted women in post-conflict situations are reasserting their humanity in a hostile environment: Photovoice evidence from northern Uganda.”
Their research appears in a special issue of Gender and Development that explores humanitarian action and crisis responses. The article presents the work of 13 co-researchers and explores the long-term needs they identified among formerly abducted women in conflict zones.
It also explores how the women’s experiences with abduction continues to erode the recognition of their humanity, both in terms of how they are perceived by their communities and how they view themselves, as well as how they are individually and collectively working to reassert their place in the moral universe.
Featured image: Betty Scovia. “This picture shows me farming. I went to many Women’s Advocacy Network trainings on ways to support myself. I realised that farming was the best way to support myself because if you are not educated you can farm. Because I was abducted I could not finish school. Here I am harvesting groundnuts (peanuts).”
The Gibbs Design in Action Awards (GDAA) program, led by Dr. Wanda Liebermann, has announced its 2026–2027 funded student projects. The initiative supports design and research work that addresses social, cultural, and economic issues in the built environment through collaboration with faculty and community partners.
The OU Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) 2024 collaboration with the Historic Threatt Filling Station has been recognized in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's newly released Byways Report: The Scenic Route to Rural Prosperity – a story-driven publication exploring how road trip culture and place-based tourism can fuel economic growth in rural communities.
The Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce that Camille Germany, Chief of Staff, has been named the 2026 recipient of the university-wide Jennifer L. Wise Good Stewardship Award.