Reflection on kick-off event of Pillar A of research programme Citizenship, Migration, and Global Transformations
On the past 6th of October, the Pillar A of the research program me Citizenship, Migration and Global Transformations finally had its awaited kick-off event, which was previously cancelled last spring due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Pillar A goes under the title Social Citizenship and Migration and gathers researchers from five different faculties (Governance and Global Affairs, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Law), as well as from the Leiden University College, who conduct research on issues related with migration from different perspectives. The aim of the Pillar is to create a platform in which researchers from different fields can share their own research with each other. In addition, the Pillar encourages participants to engage in multidisciplinary projects around the theme of citizenship and migration.
The event on the 6th of October was celebrated in person at the Museum of Ethnology in Leiden in careful compliance with the COVID-restrictions introduced by the Dutch government. That meant that there was less attendants than was hoped for. However, a successful effort was made to make the event hybrid so that two of the participants were able to present from their homes.
Given the limitations the event was a great success. Eleven presenters from the different faculties involved were able to pitch their research in short presentations. For instance, Marlou Schrover and Andrew Shield from Humanities introduced their historical approach to understanding issues such as migration policy and how migration relates to gender and sexuality. In addition, Alexandre Afonso and Dimiter Toshkov from Governance and Global Affairs introduced their political science approach to understanding issues like asylum policies, the role of the welfare state in integrating migrants, and citizens’ perceptions of migration.
Overall, it was an event rich with ideas and perspectives related with how we should best deal with migration, mobility, and citizenship in modern societies. We expect a lot of interesting research to come out of this Pillar in the near future. So stay tuned.
Read more on the research programme, and all researchers involved with the programma Citizenship, Migration and Global Transformations here.