In this episode of Conversations with Iris, Dawn River, academic at the Institute of Research into Superdiversity talks to Dr Rubina Jasani, Programme Director for Global Health at The Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute in Manchester (https://www.hcri.manchester.ac.uk/). As an anthropologist, Rubina has been interested in exploring people’s lived experience of violence, displacement and identities; gender... Continue Reading →
By Bircan Ciytak (PhD student, University of Birmingham) On April 15, 2020, the Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated that, as part of the Covid-19 return program, around 25 thousand Turkish citizens from 70 countries, the majority of whom are students, were flown back to Turkey and kept in quarantine upon arrival for 14 days... Continue Reading →
Black lives matter and we stand united against racism. We understand that racism is systemic and structural in our society and works because so many are complicit with it. And we all have a part to play in ending it. We understand that undoing that complicity means listening, respecting, learning, mobilising and making space. And... Continue Reading →
Lucid and powerful analysis by Trevor Noah on George Floyd, Amy Cooper, Ahmaud Arbery and the banality of structural racism in US today against the backdrop of Covid-19 and widespread protests across the country. https://youtu.be/Jb4Bg8mu2aM The New York Times has reconstructed how George Floyd was killed in 8 minutes and 46 seconds of police custody.... Continue Reading →
https://youtu.be/x4ndXtrSMyI Melash Zeleke is originally from Ethiopia, not sighted asylum seeker currently living in a reception centre in Rome, Italy. He tells Natasha Nicholls and Annavittoria Sarli (IRiS) about his story and his life in Rome before and after the lockdown. This conversation took place on Thursday 7th May 2020. On 4th May, after a... Continue Reading →
In this episode of Conversations with Iris, Lyndsey Stonebridge, professor of Humanities and Human Rights at the University of Birmingham, talks to Daniel Trilling, former editor of the New Humanist, journalist and author of Lights in the Distance. Exile and Refuge at the Borders of Europe (2018) and Bloody Nasty People. The Rise of Britain's... Continue Reading →
The Covid-19 pandemic is exacerbating the existing vulnerabilities of the world’s refugees and internally displaced people, according to a report by theInstitute for Research into Superdiversity at the University of Birmingham and Refugee Women Connect. Research has revealed that many undocumented migrants were anxious about seeking medical help – fearful of being reported to immigration... Continue Reading →
IRiS has an amazing track record of successful MSC fellowship applications, we currently host two MSC fellows (Dr Stefano Piemontese and Dr Anna Vittoria Sarli), previous fellows include Dr Giovanni Picker, Dr Ceren Ozgen and Dr Aleksandra Kazlowska. We welcome applications for this final round of MSC fellowship in the H2020 research programme, for info... Continue Reading →
According to the government, we are now supposed to be getting back to work. But what does “work” mean in the time of Covid-19? Lyndsey Stonebridge asks in her latest contribution in The New Statesman.
This is the recording of a conversation between Espoir Njei and Dawn River. The conversation took place on Tuesday 28th April 2020 - approx. one month into lockdown. Espoir and Dawn built a friendship through their shared commitment to supporting LGBTIQ migrants fleeing persecution. Espoir is a lesbian asylum seeker from the Cameroon currently in... Continue Reading →
Conversations with Iris: Podcast on migration, diversity and displacement
The Age of Superdiversity 