Dr. Kathryn Libal, associate professor of social work and human rights and director of UConn’s Human Rights Institute, is in the second year of a study of the politics of refugee resettlement in the United States. Conducted with School of Social Work colleagues Dr. Megan Berthold, Dr. Scott Harding, and doctoral candidate Grace Felten, this project centers on a model currently used in Connecticut, which relies on local service agencies and volunteers to resettle refugees from countries including Syria. When it became clear in 2015 that significant numbers of Syrians would need resettlement, many U.S. governors closed their states to refugees, citing security concerns and a culture gap. But Connecticut is one of a handful of states that offered to welcome refugees. Dr. Libal and her colleagues are interviewing resettlement volunteers and service agencies about this work. “We’re interested in understanding not only what these volunteers are doing, but also their motivation for doing it,” Dr. Libal explains. The researchers also are gathering data about anti-immigrant and anti-refugee sentiment in the United States, and preparing to interview recently resettled refugees after their help from the voluntary agencies ends. Dr. Berthold and Dr. Libal also co-edited a forthcoming book, Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the United States: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Praeger).