Stephanie Acker Housman

Stephanie Acker Housman is a Research Associate at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (EUI), focusing on refugee displacement, shelter programs, and child protection. Her research challenges conventional humanitarian approaches by emphasizing aesthetics, dignity, and refugee-led solutions.

She investigates how shelter design and beautification practices influence self-reliance, psychosocial well-being, and community resilience. Recent work critiques Maslow’s hierarchy through the lens of aesthetic needs in displacement contexts.

Housman collaborates with the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action and has contributed to U.S. refugee policy analysis. She holds an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School and a BSW from Gordon College.