Resilience is a multi-dimensional construct defined as the capacity of individuals, families, communities, systems and institutions to anticipate, withstand and/or judiciously engage with catastrophic events and/or experiences, actively making meaning out of adversity, with the goal of maintaining ‘normal’ function without fundamentally losing their identity. This definition evolved from many years of interdisciplinary research, scholarship and learning involving iterative engagement with people, primary and secondary data (published and unpublished), and institutions (formal and informal) in various countries including Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Other definitions of resilience corresponding to the specific context of their use in scientific research and policy discourse are also illuminating. Most notably, resilience is conceptualized and widely recognized as a basis for sustainability among both natural and social scientists in the Resilience Alliance. Moreover, the term “National Resilience” has officially entered the English language in the context of national security following national and global emergencies which destroyed human lives and livelihoods – including, but not limited to the terrorist attacks of September 11th in the USA, and “foot-and-mouth-disease" (FMD) epidemic in the UK in 2001. Globally, the idea of building the resilience of nations and communities in order to mitigate disasters was the focus of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction held in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, in January 2005 which adopted the “Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015”. Against this multi-faceted backdrop, this program brings together applied interdisciplinary research, and cross-sector policy and practice analysis to bear on teaching, advising and mentorship of professional, graduate, and undergraduate members of the Tufts community in the classroom and outside the classroom through research-focused activities. Our new journal Resilience - Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Science and Humanitarianism edited by Dr. Almedom is appearing in 2010, marking the IGL's 25th Anniversary.