Claudia Milena Adler
Lecturer in International Humanitarian Affairs

Profile

Biography

Claudia is a lecturer on the MSc in International Humanitarian Affairs (MIHA) and Deputy Programme Lead.

Claudia’s research critically examines learning approaches that empower girls and women from marginalised and rural backgrounds from South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Currently, Claudia is engaging with ancient wisdom from the Global South to learn solutions to modern challenges including climate change. Her work focuses on raising awareness of the implications on health and wellbeing and non-mainstream pedagogical approaches within the context of disasters, conflict and uneven development.

Claudia teaches courses on humanitarianism, community wellbeing, international protection and assistance, communities in humanitarian affairs, and education in emergencies. Claudia has worked with grassroots initiatives since 2016, primarily in Uganda and Colombia.

Qualifications

• PhD in the role of education (formal, informal and nonformal) when empowering women from the Global South. University of York.
• MSc International Humanitarian Affairs
• LLB (Hons) Law Degree

Departmental roles

• Deputy Programme Lead for the MSc in International Humanitarian Affairs

University roles

• Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Committee

External activities

Memberships

• Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE)
• British Latino Network

Research

Overview

• Mutual-aid, localisation and community ownership of humanitarian and development discourse and colonisation.
• Traditional and new knowledge systems that improve community wellbeing within an uneven development context, with a particular focus on women and girls’ empowerment.
• Indigenous and traditional planetary health approaches with a focus on care, the feminine principle and ancient wisdom.

Research group(s)

• Public Health and Society

Supervision

Claudia would be interested in supervising PhDs in the following areas: humanitarian affairs, planetary health, pedagogical approaches within the context of disasters, conflict and uneven development, and sustainable development in particular, the role of traditional knowledge systems, local communities and local stakeholders.

Publications

Selected publications

• Adler CM and Yusuf A. Gaza war: if there’s a lesson from the Berlin airlift it’s that political will is required to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. 2024. https://theconversation.com/gaza-war-if-theres-a-lesson-from-the-berlin-airlift-its-that-political-will-is-required-to-avoid-a-humanitarian-catastrophe-226243
• Rose J, Adler CM. A Framework for Effective Collaboration with Crisis-Affected Communities. Challenges 2024; 15(1), 13 https://www.mdpi.com/2078-1547/15/1/13 
• Adler CM. Re-Imagining Alternative Futures through Empowerment. Challenges. 2024; 15(1):8. https://doi.org/10.3390/challe15010008. 
• Rose, J, Adler, C.M. and Jayawickrama, J (2023, accepted manuscript) Finding Hope in Tribulation: Understanding Disaster Risk Reduction and Responses to Disasters in Complex Political Emergencies. In Galliard, J.C., Rashid, M. and Fernandez, G. (ed.) Reducing Risks: A Reference on Preventing and Mitigating Disasters and Dangers, Volume 3.
• Adler, C.M. (2021). The wisdom of hugging: understanding care through femininity. Cultivate.