Global Commons Special Issue Focuses on Refugee Mobility, Immobility, and Higher Education

The Global Commons has launched its Summit on Mobility/Immobility ‘23 Special Issue, containing research and reflections from students and faculty who participated in a hybrid gathering last fall focused on issues surrounding forced displacement. The 14 articles in the issue explain how approximately 200 participants came together online, at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, and at Bard High School Early Colleges (BHSEC) in New York to discuss issues such as refugee student advocacy, refugee capacity building, collective memory, and cultural heritage.
 
“It was an important moment to be having these conversations,” says Rebecca Granato, Director of the Hubs for Connected Learning Initiatives and one of the organizers of the event. 

The digital publication contains research on rights violations against Palestinian refugees in Israel/Palestine and against Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, as well as several submissions from refugee students and faculty who relate what they learned while participating in the summit.

“We have far surpassed 100 million individuals who have been forcibly displaced globally – an unfortunate historic record,” says Granato. The summit served as a means for building student leadership in the field of refugee education and was also preparation for the Global Refugee Forum, which took place at the UN in Geneva in December 2023. During the Forum, in which OSUN plays a key role, world leaders and other key actors discussed ways to support those affected by displacement through access to higher education.

Editors of the special issue aim to inspire students to continue working together on research and solutions for youth seeking higher education, says Granato. “We are thrilled to be collaborating with the Global Commons on this opportunity to share the students’ experiences and to amplify their voices as they speak out about issues related to forced migration and displacement.”

Read the special issue

Post Date: February 27, 2024