Dr. Anis Khassawneh, vice president of YU, sponsored a lecture titled "The Contemporary Refugee Crisis in Canada: An Overview of Psychosocial and Social Challenges". The lecture was given by Dr.
Jehad Hammad, a Sociology professor at The King's University College, and president of Middle East Studies Institute in Canada, and was organized by The Refugees, Displaced Persons and Forced Migration Studies Center at Yarmouk University.

At the beginning of the lecture, Hammad thanked the Refugees, Displaced Persons and Forced Migration Studies Center for their invitation considering the consequences that the countries hosting refugees face, particularly Jordan, whose first experience in receiving refugees in the region has been the strongest despite the economic challenges it goes through. He also pointed out that Jordan has been dealing with asylum issues over the years due to its geographical location, which represents a home for most refugees in the region.

Hammad, then, reviewed the services that the Canadian Government provides to refugees and the procedures followed by the Canadian Asylum program, which provides economic, social and psychological support to refugees for a limited period, provided they sought work that suits them to be productive members of the Canadian society.  He also pointed to the psychological pressures that refugees suffer from before, during and after the asylum process, as well as the social pressures they suffer to integrate with host communities.

At the end of the lecture that was attended by the director of the center, Dr. Ayat Nashwan, deans, faculty members, and a crowd of students, Dr. Hammad answered the audience' questions and inquiries.