GRAMNet Information Bulletin 11th April 2013
1. News
We are delighted to bring you the news that Sarah Craig, School of Law, working on asylum, immigration and decision-making processes, has been appointed as Acting Co-Convener for the network, alongside Alison Phipps, and that Rebecca Kay, our founding GRAMNET co-convener, has had a little boy, Sam, - both doing well. Thanks to all for your good wishes for them.
Francesca Stella and Marta Moskal are joined by Gareth Mulvey as Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Research Fellows working in the University with connections to GRAMNET. Welcome!
2. Events
GRAMNet Events 2013
Please see the GRAMNet events site for full details of the events listed below. All events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise stated. Some events may require you to pre-book.
17th April 2013: GRAMNet Seminar Series
4.00- 5.30pm, Sir Charles Wilson Basement seminar rooms, University of Glasgow
’Cultivating spaces of intercultural experiment through drama’
Speaker: Ms Katja Frimberger, University of Glasgow
17th April: GRAMNet Film series
’Our School’ (2011)
Centre for Contemporary Arts, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow
Doors open 5.30pm, screening starts 6.00pm.
Screened to coincide with the International Romani Day.
23rd April 2013: GRAMnet Book Club - Reading Across Worlds
5.30 – 7.00pm in the upstairs room at Cafe Phoenix (on Woodlands Road).
Margaret Elphinstone's 'Voyageurs' will be discussed.
25th April 2013: Workshop: ’Supporting migrant children through public services’
10.30-16.30, University of Strathclyde, Perth, UK.
Better service delivery and inclusion of 'hard to reach' groups are key issues on the public sector agenda. Services must currently rationalise resources, while improving delivery. This event is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and will bring together practitioners and policymakers working with migrant families through key services to discuss current challenges in delivering services for migrant groups and opportunities for service improvement.
Register at: http://supportingnewmigrantsperth.eventbrite.co.uk/.
Note: this workshop will also be held in Edinburgh on 2nd May.
26th April 2013: AHRC/BBC workshop on Scottish Historical, Cultural and Artistic Identity
The BBC is in the planning stages of commissioning programmes to mark the important events happening in Scotland in 2014, with the XXth Commonwealth Games, the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme and the planned referendum on Scottish independence. Expressions of interest are invited from researchers from all disciplines within the arts and humanities to participate in this half-day AHRC/BBC workshop, to explore ideas that will help feed into BBC TV programming. Further information is available at: www.ahrc.ac.uk/Funding-Opportunities/Pages/Scottish-Historical,-Cultural-and-Artistic-Indentity.aspx
26th April 2013: Learning Event of the Scottish Guardianship Pilot Service
1.00-5.00pm, The National Piping Centre, 30-34 McPhater Street, Glasgow, G4 0HW
The event is a co-production between the young people who have been supported throughout the pilot and the organisations Scottish Refugee Council and Aberlour. The event is aimed at statutory and voluntary sector agencies working with separated children; refugee and children’s advocacy organisations; and academics in the field. To book please email Jamie Spurway, Training and Events Officer, Scottish Refugee Council at jamie.spurway@scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk with the following details: first name, surname, job title, organisation, dietary requirements or access needs.
26th April 2013: Social networks, social capital and refugee integration
10.00am to 12.30pm, Nuffield Foundation, 28 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3JS
The role of social capital in the integration of migrants has been debated extensively with much attention focused around the question of what type of social capital is most beneficial to both integration and social cohesion. This seminar explores some of these issues focussing specifically on the findings of the Nuffield Foundation funded Social Capital and Refugee Integration research project. Researchers from the Universities of Birmingham and Cardiff will present their re-analysis of the Survey of New Refugees and new data from a survey examining integration priorities. If you wish to attend please contact a.bolstridge@bham.ac.uk to reserve a place. Any queries contact Dr Jenny Phillimore j.a.phillimore@bham.ac.uk
1st May 2013: The Human Rights Question: What sort of Scotland, and what sort of constitutional future?
10.00am – 4.00pm, City Chambers, Glasgow
Arranged by The Scottish Constitutional Futures Forum, Human Rights Consortium Scotland, Glasgow Human Rights Network, and Glasgow Refugee, Asylum and Migration Network.
This second seminar will examine how those involved in civil society groups are working to promote and protect rights, and consider the extent to which the referendum context affects this work. Registration for the event is now open via Eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5386404882
15th May 2013: GRAMNet Film Series 2012/13
’Kauwboy’, (2012)
Centre for Contemporary Arts, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow
Doors open 5.30pm, screening starts 6.00pm.
Screened to coincide with the International Day of Families.
14th June 2013: AHRC Workshop 3
’Translation and Asylum Claims Matters of Law, Language and Silence’ with Sarah Craig.
9.00am – 5.00pm, University of Glasgow.
Further details to come on the GRAMNet Events page.
3. Internship opportunities
Internship opportunity: GHEI Summer Serve & Learn at NGO in Ghana
Location: Humjibre, Western Region, Ghana
Ghana Health and Education Initiative (GHEI), a nonprofit organization working in the Western Region of Ghana, provides innovative internship and volunteer programs designed to engage individuals interested in international development and social justice. These programs offer participants the opportunity to develop and strengthen their skills in cross-cultural communication, project design and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and community outreach. Participants will be immersed in a rural Ghanaian community and work alongside local staff members in support of GHEI's health and education programming. GHEI is currently recruiting to fill these positions.
Applications for summer sessions are reviewed on a rolling basis and selected applicants will be contacted for an interview. The deadline for applications is April 15th, 2013. See GHEI’s homepage for more info and how to apply:
http://www.ghei.org/ https://www.facebook.com/GHEI.Ghana
Please contact ghei.apply@gmail.com with questions. Also visit GHEI News, at http://gheinews.blogspot.com/ and read about experiences from former volunteers.
3. Call for papers
Conference: ”Migrant children in Scotland: Sharing good practice in supporting new migrant groups”
University of Strathclyde, Friday, 7th June, 10.00 am – 4.30 pm
This conference will look at the issues involved in effective service delivery and improved practice. The event will be an opportunity for practitioners from a range of statutory services (education, health, leisure, social work, police etc.) and community-based organisations to share ideas on good practice in delivering services effectively in relation to the specific needs of the newly arrived migrant families.
Practitioners, community-based workers, policy makers, students and researchers are invited to present their work at this event. Particularly applications from practitioners directly involved with newly arrived migrants and from migrants themselves, to talk about their experiences, are encouraged. Free registration for the event is available online at: 
http://migrantchildreninscotland.eventbrite.co.uk/ Registration closes on 1st June. Submit a title and a short outline of your talk to Daniela Sime: daniela.sime@strath.ac.uk by Friday, 10th May 2013. A more detailed programme will be announced by Wednesday 15th May on the project website: www.migrantchildren.net
Symposium: ”Gender, the Refugee and Displacement (1900-1950)”
Newcastle University, Friday 5th July 2013
This interdisciplinary one-day symposium will interrogate the links between gender and displacement from the turn of the twentieth century, through both World Wars and into the post-war period. Addressing a crucial gap in scholarship surrounding displacement and gender within the critical canon of war studies, it asks how gender influences or impacts displacement during this period and how, in particular, men and women experience and represent displacement differently?
It welcomes abstracts from across the humanities and social sciences. Please send 300 word abstracts to Katherine Cooper (Katherine.cooper@ncl.ac.uk) before 1st May 2013. For more information see:http://genderanddisplacementconf.wordpress.com/
Call for Chapters: ”-isms of Oppression in Language Education”
Deadline for abstracts: August 1st 2013
Within a framework of an emancipatory pedagogy and with moves toward realizing a less oppressive form of language education, this edited volume endeavors to develop a better understanding of the manner in which dominant and emerging ideologies and social structures impact upon language education. In conceptualizing such ideologies and social structures as “-isms of oppression”, the volume recognizes that the “laundry list of –isms or oppressions that society must suffer” also manifest within the domain of language education at various junctures, realized in many instances through the normative collusion of power and prejudice. The volume showcases a transparent and diverse appreciation of the complex social dynamics within language education and how such dynamics bear influence upon language teaching and language learning pedagogies, institutional policies, intergroup relations and ultimately, language proficiency achievements.
While proposals from a variety of methodological approaches across different sociocultural contexts are welcome, submissions that focus on sharing language teachers’ and language learners’ experiences with “-isms of oppression” through discursive methods such as autobiographies, interviews, focus groups and language learning diaries are especially encouraged. Potential authors are invited to submit a 400-word proposal in English to the editor Dr. Damian J. Rivers – damian.rivers@lang.osaka-u.ac.jp by August 1st.
Conference: ”Interpretation in International Law”
University of Cambridge, August 2013
The relevance of interpretation to the academic study and professional practice of international law is inescapable. Yet interpretation in international law has not traditionally been examined as a distinct field. Given that international law is constituted, in practical terms, by acts of interpretation, there is a need for greater methodological awareness of interpretive theory and practice in international law. Proposed panels include: interpretation and legal doctrine; interpretation and the sources of international law; interpretation and the interpreters; interpretation and the international legal order; interpretation and cultural contingency; and interpretation and indeterminacy.
Abstract submissions must be between 300-500 words in length and should be accompanied by a short resume. Please submit applications to cambridgeinterpretation@gmail.com by 1st May 2013. Any queries may be directed to the conference conveners, Daniel Peat: dcp31@cam.ac.uk, and Matthew Windsor: mrw48@cam.ac.uk.
Workshop: ‘Non-Citizen’ship
The United Nations University Institute in Barcelona, (UNU Barcelona)
4th - 6th September 2013, Manchester, UK.
The role and status of the Non-Citizen is under-examined. Citizenship has long been a crucial core concept in the development of political theory, with work being done to explore the nature of the status from a variety of angles, and in a variety of forms. Non-citizenship in its various forms is usually examined merely as the deprivation of citizenship. However, this workshop will use the status of the ´non-citizen´ as a starting point for discussion, in order to develop alternative ways to understand modern and evolving notions of citizenship, of justice, and of the state. Papers that deal with the nature of ‘non-citizen’ship, whether from a theoretical or applied approach, will be welcome.
Please send abstracts of 200-300 words to Tendayi Bloom (bloom@unu.edu), with your full name and title, a couple of sentences about yourself (up to a maximum of 100 words), and full contact details (email address and postal address) by 5pm Central European Time on Wednesday 15th May 2013. For more information, visit their website (https://barcelona.unu.edu).
Panel: ”Subjectivities and migrations: projects of life, desires and expectations”
5th Portuguese Congress of Anthropology
8th -11th September 2013, Vila Real, Portugal
Convenors: José Mapril (New University of Lisbon and CRIA-UNL), Simone Frangella (Institute of Social Sciences - University of Lisbon), and Nuno Dias (Dinâmia'CET-IUL)
The objective of this panel is to explore the subjective dimensions of contemporary migrations. We would like to invite authors to explore, both theoretically and ethnographically, the complex relations between migration strategies, aspirations and expectations and structural conditions.
Please send abstracts by 22nd April. For more information, follow the link: http://www.nomadit.co.uk/apa/apa2013/panels.php5?PanelID=2373*<http://www.nomadit.co.uk/apa/apa2013/panels.php5?PanelID=2373>
Conference: "Migration - Gender - Life Courses", 4th Interdisciplinary Colloquium on Gender Research
21st -23rd November 2013, University of Rostock, Germany
Convenor: The Gender Research Group at the University of Rostock, Germany
The processes of globalization in all social, economic and political areas are increasingly accompanied by worldwide migratory movements. In Germany, as in other countries, the proportion of the population with a migration background has been growing, with a wide range of motives for emigration or immigration at work. Social multiculturalism and the everyday contact between cultures with different histories, traditions and ideas of integration pose a challenge to every society. The question if and how the individual lives that have been shaped by migration show gender-specific variation is particularly interesting for research. Scholars of all academic disciplines are invited to present current research on the interrelations between gender, migration and life courses.
If you would like to participate, please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words to Christine Voigt at: gender@uni-rostock.de.
The deadline for submissions is 6th May 2013.
For more information, visit: http://www.gender.uni-rostock.de/
4. Notices and opportunities
Pilot study by Professor Rebecca Kay: ”Evidencing the Social and Cultural Benefits and Costs of Migration in Scotland”
A pilot study was developed by Professor Rebecca Kay (CRCEES & GRAMNet) and Andrew Morrison (CSMP) as a collaboration between COSLA Strategic Migration Partnership (CSMP), Glasgow Refugee Asylum and Migration Network (GRAMNet) and the Centre for Russian, Central and East European Studies (CRCEES), University of Glasgow. The project partners were interested in exploring the extent to which localised social and cultural impacts of migration can be evidenced and mapped in order to contribute to policy debates at local, regional or national levels. The project focused on Glasgow and as such is not representative of Scotland as a whole. What is more, it did not focus on one particular group of migrants, although it is acknowledged that there are important differences between groups and it may also be pertinent to study these separately in future.
Read more on: http://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/gramnet/getinvolvedactiveprojects/analysisofsocialandculturalcostsandbenefitsofceemigrationtoscotland/
Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA) sends out emergency appeal for Syrian academics
The situation in Syria is deteriorating. Syrian universities are being used as detention centres. Students and academics face targeted attacks. Those in the UK are left stranded, cut off from their families, without funds. CARA is launching an Emergency Appeal for Syrian Academics. Universities continue to be targets in Syria, with 15 students recently being killed at Damascus University. The Appeal aims to raise awareness of the plight and exceptional case of Syrian academics at this time and identify and support hosting opportunities in UK universities and scientific institutions. CARA is urging for donations that will be used to provide financial support to Syrian academics and their dependents.
CARA is looking for information on: how many Syrian post-graduate students (PGT and PGR), visiting academics or faculty members are at your university; if you are aware of any special problems, or of any special arrangements that are being made for them. Please submit this by email to info.cara@lsbu.ac.uk or call the offices on 020 7021 0880.
For more information visit: http://www.academic-refugees.org
Art competition. The Art of Resistance: Defending Academic Freedom
Deadline 30th September 2013
Central to the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics’ (CARA) 80th Anniversary campaign is an art competition titled ”The Art of Resistance: Defending Academic Freedom”. Prizes of £1000, £500 and £250 will be awarded for three artworks judged by our panel of respected artists as best depicting the theme. All submissions will be exhibited online and entered into a charity auction to raise money for CARA’s work.
The competition is open to students only. Only original A5 size artwork will be accepted using the reverse of the competition postcard or an A5 surface better suited to your medium.
Please contact info.cara@lsbu.ac.uk to receive a competition postcard.
Submit by 30th September 2013. For further information, and details of how to enter or support the campaign, please visit: http://www.academic-refugees.org/anniversary-art-competition.asp
The General Registry Office for Scotland - Consultation on user requirements
The General Registry Office for Scotland are keen to identify ways of capturing data on diverse populations and you are invited to respond to their consultation. The Beyond 2011 programme is an ongoing programme within National Records of Scotland (NRS) to research suitable methods for producing population and socio-demographic information. The success of the Programme will depend on NRS having a clear understanding of user requirements and priorities and it is these requirements that this consultation is intended to capture.
This consultation aims to build upon previous consultations conducted by NRS as well as stakeholder engagement sessions. We would be grateful for your continued co-operation and ask you to help us by completing this questionnaire.
Additional background information can be found within this PDF document: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files2/beyond-2011/b2011-consult-march2013-background.pdf
You can respond to this consultation by completing the questionnaire online on the https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Beyond2011Scotland_Consultation website or send a paper copy to: Beyond 2011 Consultation, National Records of Scotland, Ladywell House, Room 1/2/12, EH12 7JT.
The closing date is 10th June 2013.
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