Oct 9, 2020 - Nov 6, 2020

Encountering Difference, Embodying Boundaries,
and Unsettling Borders:

MIDDLE EASTERN REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

THANK YOU to everyone who attended and/or participated in the virtual conference series, Encountering Difference, Embodying Boundaries, and Unsettling Borders, spanning October and November! Now that the sessions have concluded, we are in the process of transitioning the conference website into a platform under the same title that will bring together resources related to Middle Eastern migrant communities in Europe. We hope this platform continues the work of sharing knowledge and critical perspectives, building a community of scholars, and facilitating collaboration between scholars and professionals and organizations working with refugees and other migrants.


The conference committee would welcome your contributions to this effort! Please contact us at info@unsettlingborders.com if you would be interested in contributing any of the following resources to this emerging platform:

  • short blog entries reflecting on fieldwork or other work with refugees and migrant populations;

  • video or audio interviews about your experiences as a researcher, NGO worker, activist, or artist;

  • classroom resources, including lesson plans and syllabi, for K-12 teachers or university instructors; or

  • scholarly references for inclusion in themed reading lists.

Thank you again, and we look forward to hearing from you!


This virtual conference explores how Middle Eastern refugee and immigrant experiences provide insights into the production of difference, boundaries, and borders by unsettling established understandings of identity, statehood, and territory in and on the edges of the European Union. In the context of a "fortress Europe" and growing xenophobia and anti-Muslim racism, we address questions about who refugees and immigrants are and how they position themselves (or find themselves positioned) within systems of power operating at multiple scales and across a variety of spaces. We center embodied Middle Eastern refugee and immigrant experiences to understand and theorize subjects, political spaces, and technologies of governance.

PROGRAM

OCTOBER 9, FRIDAY

Queer Refugees Queering Refugee Studies

OCTOBER 16, FRIDAY

Midnight Traveler: Uncertain Journeys to and through EU

OCTOBER 23, FRIDAY

Racialization of Refugees in the EU


OCTOBER 30, FRIDAY

Refugees and the "Crisis" of States:

Rethinking Border Regimes and the State Technologies in the EU

NOVEMBER 6, FRIDAY

Learning, Teaching, and Community-Building with Refugees

Sponsors

The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.