Tag: refugees (Page 1 of 2)

CfP: The 26th Canadian Ethnic Studies Association (CESA) Biennial Conference, 16-17 October 2020

Immigration Politics, Refugee Crises, and Ethnic Dynamics in the Turbulent 2010s: Canada and Beyond.

Deadline EXTENDED: 24 February 2020.

The Canadian Ethnic Studies Association (CESA) invites panel and/or paper proposals for its upcoming 26th conference on the theme of “Immigration Politics, Refugee Crises, and Ethnic Dynamics in the Turbulent 2010s: Canada and Beyond”. The 2010s was a decade in which the issues of immigration policy, border security, rising ethnic tensions, new and ongoing regional and national political conflicts, multiple displacements and escalating refugee crises dominated the news in many different countries – from the United States and Canada in North America to the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Greece in Europe, and to China, Australia, Myanmar, and New Zealand in East Asia and Oceania. This dominance was so pronounced that the immigration/ethnic issues became one of the paramount forces in determining the political directions and election results in different countries; they also led to the rise of a new right-wing populist discourse as well as new and old uncertainties about the meaning and possibility of citizenship, identity / sense of belonging, freedom, human rights, and justice. Meanwhile, despite the conservative and exclusionary politics in various western countries, citizens’ groups and solidarity movements have emerged or strengthened existing voices that support inclusion and integration of migrants and refugees. Finally, this decade also witnessed technological advancements, which not only changed state organization, the economy and the social world that we live in, but also shifted the methodological landscape, pushing the research frontier in immigration and ethnic studies.

This conference provides a forum to discuss a wide range of issues related to immigration and ethnic dynamics during this turbulent decade, and to offer perspectives for the future. The participants are invited to address any aspect of this changing landscape, including (but not limited to):

  • The place of Canada in the global migration scene
  • The global impact of Canadian immigration policies and practices
  • The treatment of immigrants and refugees; promises and limitations of Canada’s immigration policy
  • Regional particularisms in immigration policies
  • Multiculturalism: policy, practice, evidence; and benefits, limitations, challenges
  • Ethnic diversity and cultural vitality
  • Implications of the changing global landscape on Canada’s immigration and multiculturalism policies
  • Immigration discourse at a time of rising populism
  • The interplay of international migration trends and ethno-cultural and religious communities in Canada
  • The experiences of particular immigrant and newcomer communities
  • Indigenous populations and relations with immigrants and newcomers
  • Immigration and the smaller cities and rural areas
  • The roles, contributions, and challenges of immigration/settlement agencies
  • Immigrant and refugee youth: health, education and integration issues
  • Immigrant and refugee seniors
  • Migration and gender-based violence
  • Refugees: trauma, survival and integration
  • Big data and big ideas in immigration and ethnic studies

CESA invites theoretical and empirically-based contributions, individual papers and/or fully formed panels, standard papers or presentations in other formats (e.g., posters, roundtables, films), and all the above from a variety of disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspectives.

The venue for the 26th Canadian Ethnic Studies Association’s conference will be Saint Mary’s University, located in the historic port city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, a vibrant, urban community of over 400,000 people. Halifax is Atlantic Canada’s major educational centre and home to five universities, with a long history of immigration, settlement and diversity. Saint Mary’s University is located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancenstral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq.


Who Should Attend?

In addition to members of the Canadian Ethnic Studies Association, the conference will be relevant to a wide range of people interested in history, ethnicity, race, immigration and citizenship issues in Canada and internationally. University professors, graduate students, other researchers and teachers; policymakers and civil servants from all levels of government; those who work in various non-governmental organizations, as well as those involved as frontline workers delivering various kinds of social services – all of these will find that this conference offers them worthwhile information, challenging critical perspectives, and an opportunity to network and discuss important issues with people from across the country and from a variety of academic disciplines and institutional perspectives.

Proposals.

Conference organizers welcome proposals for papers, panels, roundtables, posters and video presentations that address any of the related topics. Organizers invite submissions from a variety of perspectives, academic disciplines, and areas of study.The deadline for submission of proposals for papers, sessions, panels, roundtables, and poster presentations is February 15th, 2020 February 24, 2020. The decisions on the submitted proposals will be communicated by March 30th, 2020.

All abstracts should be no longer than 250 words and will be refereed by the CESA Program Committee. Individual conference presentations will normally be 20 minutes in length, and conference sessions will be 90 minutes. Abstracts should be directed electronically to: cesa2020@smu.ca

See the complete CfP, including the French version, here.

“A Very Fortunate Life” by Roger Saint-Vincent

by Mike Molloy

Produced 14 years ago, and printed in only a few dozen copies for friends and colleagues, the memoirs of one the main actors of Canada’s actions towards displaced persons between 1945 and 1980 is now available widely, thanks to the digitization services of the MacOdrum Library.  His long time co-worker Mike Molloy reviews the book for a joint blog with the Canadian Immigration Historical Society; the illustrations come from his collection. Continue reading

CfP: World History Conference–Migrants and Refugees

From H-World.  Original post by Mauricio Borrero

CFP: St. John’s University World History Theory and Practice Conference: Migrants and Refugees

**Proposal deadline extended to February 1, 2019

Migration, whether voluntary or involuntary, lies at the heart of world history. The movement of people, regardless of circumstances, and their cultures, family networks, foods, and material objects continues to reshape society at local, regional, and global scales. These movements ought to inform the ways educators frame and teach about the past. That human beings, texts, ideas, and things have always been in motion undermines static representations of global society. Grappling with the implications of these migration flows remains an exciting challenge for practitioners of world history. Continue reading

CfP: International Conference on War and Social Movements (Deadline Extended)

From H-Announce.

The submission deadline for the International Conference on War and Social Movements has been extended to February 1, 2019.

Movements for social change have often preceded or immediately followed periods of warfare. The temporal proximity of social movements and warfare raises several interesting questions. Among others, in what ways have movements for social change been linked to periods of violent conflict? How might war contribute to the expansion or limitation of rights for marginalized and oppressed groups? How does warfare shape the attitudes and strategies of social activists in local, transnational, and global contexts? This inter-disciplinary academic conference seeks to examine these and other relevant questions. Continue reading

“Seeing Refugees”: Using Old Photographs to Gain New Perspectives on Refugees, Past and Present

Cross-Posted with ActiveHistory.ca

by Sonya de Laat

In the summer of 2018 an unprecedented number of people claiming to be refugees crossed into Canada at unofficial border points. Many Canadians learned of these events through photographs and other visual media circulating through the popular commercial press. Responding to such images, public reaction in Canada has been mixed. While some people support actions aimed at helping these families and individuals, others have sensationalized the situation by labelling it a “crisis” and calling border crossers as “illegals” or “cue jumpers.” Continue reading

Armenian Refugees & the United Church of Canada

Envisioning Gratitude: Armenian Orphans in Canada

by Sandrine Murray

 

The Armenian Genocide was the result of the Ottoman government’s destruction of 1.5 million Armenians, most of them citizens within the empire. This was during and after the First World War. Most academics place the beginning of the genocide in 1915, though there are various accounts of violence against the Christian minority in the Ottoman empire before then. The Armenian Genocide is often seen as the first modern genocide, though to this day the term has been rejected by Turkey to describe what happened. Continue reading

Call for Papers: The Stakes of Sanctuary

McGill University, 7-8 March 2019

Patti Tamara Lenard (University of Ottawa) and Laura Madakoro (McGill University)


In recent decades, there has been a great deal of attention given to modern sanctuary practices,
ranging from the sanctuary offered to asylum seekers from Central America in the 1980s to recent
efforts to declare university campuses, cities and states sanctuary spaces. Although much of the
focus has been on contemporary activities in the United States, sanctuary is a global, and deeply
historic phenomenon. Continue reading

History Inhabits Each of Us: Creative Engagements with Personal Story in Troubling Times

In October 2018, the Oral History Association will be gathering in Montreal for their annual conference.  CNHH member, Dr. Isabel Campbell, will be presenting a paper.  In addition, Dr. Campbell introduced the Network to the associated oral history and multimedia project presented in association with the OHA and Oral History at Concordia University.  Any member interested should visit the OHA website for information on their annual conference (October 2018 @ Concordia University, Montreal QC) or the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling at Concordia University for information on the multimedia project.  Likewise, the CNHH Event posting may be found here.

The program for this exhibition of the COHDS Research Centre at Concordia may be found here.

Continue reading

Refugees, Disability, and Technology in Transnational Postwar Canada

White cane in hand, Karol Gamrot arrived with his family and guide dog Utta at
the Montreal Airport on January 18, 1951. He was one of eight blind refugees and
their families sponsored to come to Canada from camps across Europe in the early
1950s. Learn more about Gamrot’s story in an exhibit that explores the historic
challenges of migrants and new Canadians with disabilities, as well as the mixed role
of technology in their lives. Continue reading

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