Who Gives a Dam?: The Infrastructure of International Development in the Caucasus

Dr. Barsam's experience in international affairs and international development includes service from 2001-2003 as an advisor and research associate for the International Organizations Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, and service from 2004 to the present as Supervisory Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Armenia. His responsibilities currently include USAID Project Management and Administration, and U.S. Embassy and USAID Public Information and Communications. During his service with USAID, he has received the U.S. Government Franklin Award and was twice recognized with the U.S. Government Meritorious Honor Award.
Barsam received a B.A. in Sociology from Tufts University, an M.St. in Religious Studies from Oxford University, and a Ph.D. from the Faculty of Religious Studies at Oxford University. He wrote his dissertation on the ““Reverence for Life”: Albert Schweitzer’s Ethical Thought.” He received a Fulbright Fellowship for research at the University of Geneva and the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, and a Marshall Scholarship for study at Oxford University. His academic professional experience includes service as an instructor/lecturer in the Faculty of Theology at Oxford University from 1999 to 2001, and from 2001 to the present, service as an adjunct professor in the Theology Faculty of Yerevan State University in Yerevan, Armenia. His recent publications include Reverence for Life: Albert Schweitzer’s Great Contribution to Ethical Thought (Oxford University Press, 2007) and “The Doctor’s Cure: A Dose of Ethics,” an introductory essay to the reprint of Albert Schweitzer’s Civilization and Ethics (Routledge Classics, under contract 2009).