Displacement and the Academy: emerging scholars with lived experience talk shop

This panel event was hosted by the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, the Forced Migration Research Network at UNSW, and UNHCR’s Global Academic Interdisciplinary Network. 

Introduced by GAIN Chair Professor Geoff Gilbert, and moderated by the Kaldor Centre’s Dr Tamara Wood, early-career thought leaders came together to discuss ways to overcome structural barriers to education and research dissemination, and career pathways for refugees in academia.

Our panel included:

• Tina Dixson, Queer feminist activist and doctoral scholar at the Australian National University
• Ahmad Akkad, doctoral scholar at Warwick University
• Thae Oo Khaing, doctoral scholar at the Australian Catholic University

This event was held on Thursday 7th October at 6pm Sydney (AEDT) /10am Nairobi (EAT) / 9am Geneva (CEST)/ 2pm Bangkok (ICT).

At a time when many universities are trying to become more inclusive, the pandemic is prompting a rethink of traditional academic practice. Is this a moment for new possibilities? Our panel considered the opportunities as well as the current challenges for scholars with lived experience – exploring the unique pressures, problems, influences and expectations that rest on those whose path to scholarship was informed by displacement. 

The discussion highlighted the issues that matter to members of the Kaldor Centre’s Emerging Scholars Network, a multidisciplinary and international community of more than 200 graduate and early-career scholars in forced migration studies.  

Listen to the podcast here, or subscribe through itunes

About the organisers:

The Kaldor Centre is the world’s first and only research centre dedicated to the study of international refugee law. It was established in October 2013 to undertake rigorous research to support the development of legal, sustainable, and humane solutions for displaced people, and to contribute to public policy involving the most pressing displacement issues in Australia, the Asia-Pacific region and the world.

The Forced Migration Research Network builds on a long history of high impact work with refugee communities undertaken by scholars based in the School of Social Sciences at UNSW. Today it draws together researchers from across the Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture who are producing highly original research on various aspects of human mobility.  The network is co-convened by Dr Linda Bartolomei, Associate Professor Ruth Balint and Dr Sally Baker.

The Global Academic Interdisciplinary Network (GAIN) was launched in 2019 as part of the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) - adopted in December 2018 by the UN General Assembly - through research, teaching and solidarity with displaced scholars and students.