Freedman Fellow, associate professor Brian Gran to discuss child trafficking in upcoming lecture

On Friday, Sept. 21, Brian Gran, associate professor of sociology, will lead a discussion on the occurrence of child trafficking in Northeast Ohio as well as how it can be mapped and tracked. His presentation, “Digital Mapping of Child Trafficking in Northeast Ohio,” is part of the Freedman Fellows Presentation Series.

Statistics gathered from alternative public websites, the FBI, city and suburban police departments, county departments, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) and various social service providers aim to help in the development of digital maps and scientific estimates of where, how often and what kinds of trafficking are taking place around Northeast Ohio.

Co-presenter Ann Holstein, geographic information systems specialist at Kelvin Smith Library, will provide insight on how  Gran creates digital maps for his research using statistical data collected from these websites and agencies and processed using specialized software. She also will show examples of other child trafficking digital mapping projects from around the world.

This event will take place Sept. 21 in Clark Hall 206 from 12:30 to 2 p.m.

To learn more about the Freedman Fellows Program and its recipients, click here.