Over the last five years, incidents off the coast of Somalia have reminded Americans that piracy at sea is not just a matter for history books and movies.

On Thursday, February 3, at 2 p.m., Bellarmine hosts a free public lecture by Dr. Raymond Gilpin on the costs and consequences of Somali Piracy. Gilpin is director of the economics and conflict center at the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) in Washington, D.C.

Gilpin's Bellarmine lecture takes place in Hilary's, on the first floor of Horrigan Hall. Visitors without Bellarmine parking passes are asked to park in the freshman parking area near the tennis courts; passenger drop-off is available in Franciscan Circle (see campus map).

At USIP, Gilpin analyzes relationships among economic actors during all stages of conflict, including prevention, mediation, resolution and post-conflict. In doing so, he collates sound practices from practitioners and experts, and designs appropriate capacity-building tools for conflict environments. Before joining USIP, his work included serving as academic chair for defense economics at the National Defense University's Africa Center for Strategic Studies.

His publications include “Counting the Costs of Somali Piracy.” He holds a doctorate from Cambridge University in economics and an executive certificate in international finance and capital markets from Georgetown University.

Bellarmine welcomes Gilpin to campus through a partnership with the World Affairs Council of Kentucky & Southern Indiana.

For more of Gilpin's research on Somali piracy, visit www.usip.org/publications/counting-the-costs-somali-piracy