Claudena Skran (she/her)

Claudena Skran is Professor of Government and the Edwin and Ruth West Professor of Economics and Social Science, and Director of the Business & Entrepreneurship program.

As a professor in the Government Department and a contributor to our Global Studies program, I teach courses focusing on international politics, African politics and security, qualitative research methods, and courses on global issues such as refugees, forced migration, gender and health, and sustainable development.  I pioneered a special type of "field experience" class that allows undergraduates to travel to and conduct a project in West Africa (Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Gambia) or the Caribbean (Jamaica). 

I love teaching Social Entrepreneurship for the Business & Entrepreneurship major and, in this course, guide students as they translate their desire for social change into positive action.   I also direct the KidsGive practicum, which models a non-profit organization and provides LU students with the opportunity to learn important life and career skills. Through KidsGive, LU students have raised funds for scholarships, sports days, and eye testing, and helped build a water well (in conjunction with Rotary International) and a junior secondary school for girls in Sierra Leone, 

My scholarly work addresses the topics of refugees, refugee entrepreneurship, humanitarian assistance, and refugee law. My book, Refugees in Interwar Europe: The Emergence of a Regime (Oxford University Press: 1995) focused on the early phase of the international refugee regime. I coedited, with Evan Easton-Calabria, a special issue of the Journal of Refugee Studies, ‘Rethinking Refugee Self-Reliance,’ Vol. 33, No. 1, 2020, and contributed a chapter on the sustainability of refugee enterprises in Sierra Leone. My legal scholarship includes a chapter on the "Historical Development of International Refugee Law," in an edited volume on the 1951 Refugee Convention (2024).

One of my passions is learning through meaningful travel.  I have guided over 20 different trips for students, faculty, and alumni, and this has taken me to places as diverse as Japan, China, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and the United Kingdom. My next travel adventure with alumni will be to Finland and Estonia, both places I explored during my last sabbatical (see photo).