The Global Migration Network, a research group at UWE Bristol chaired by Dr Emily LeRoux-Rutledge, brings together over 60 academics and practitioners across the university working on migration-related research. The network supports cross-disciplinary collaboration, informs public debate and policy, and fosters engagement with communities affected by migration and displacement.
For the 2025/26 academic year, the Network is hosting a new seminar series that explores global migration through psychosocial, legal, political, and community-centred lenses. All sessions are free, open to all, and hybrid, with the option to attend in person on UWE’s Frenchay Campus or join remotely.
For more information or if you’d like to give a talk in a future seminar, please email emily.leroux-rutledge@uwe.ac.uk.
Seminar Programme
Wednesday 19 November 2025, 1:00–2:00pm (3S803)
Voices and Dreams from a Tide Isle
Dr Lita Crociani-Windland & Prof Candida Yates
This evocative session invites audiences to engage with a soundscape created from the voices and dreams of women volunteers who supported asylum seekers housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland, Dorset. The soundscape reveals the emotional and symbolic experiences of the volunteers, interwoven with reflections on community, displacement, and care.
This project is a collaboration between academic researchers and community partners, including the Centre for Social Dreaming, The Portland Global Friendship Group, and The Freud Museum.
Wednesday 10 December 2025, 1:00–2:00pm (3S803)
Remote Conflict Stress: How on-going violence in origin countries affects wellbeing
Dr Emily LeRoux-Rutledge
Building on research with South Sudanese communities in the UK and Canada, this seminar introduces the concept of Remote Conflict Stress — the emotional, social and financial toll that ongoing violence in countries of origin has on diaspora populations.
Dr LeRoux-Rutledge explores how this stress plays out across individual, interpersonal and community levels, drawing on interviews with community members and mental health professionals to highlight the urgent need for better-informed support systems.
Wednesday 21 January 2026, 9:00am–5:00pm (UWE Frenchay Campus)
Asylum Seeker and Refugee Wellbeing Conference
Hosted by Sam Parker & Dr Emily LeRoux-Rutledge
This annual conference brings together practitioners, researchers and organisations working to support the mental health and wellbeing of asylum seekers and refugees across the South West. It offers space to reflect, share insight, and explore new approaches to supporting displaced people and the services that care for them.
To attend or find out more, please contact: asrwconference@uwe.ac.uk
Wednesday 25 February 2026, 1:00–2:00pm (3B032)
Governing (Im)mobilities: Ukrainians and Russians in Poland and Denmark
Dr Denny Pencheva (UCL)
This talk examines how Poland and Denmark have responded to post-2022 migration from Ukraine and Russia. Dr Pencheva explores the application of the Temporary Protection Directive, the politics of mobility and immobility, and what these policies reveal about the dynamics of migration governance in two Eurosceptic EU nations.
Wednesday 25 March 2026, 1:00–2:00pm (3B032)
The Home Office in the Home: A longitudinal look at mixed-citizenship families and deportability
Dr Melanie Griffiths (University of Birmingham)
Drawing on a decade of longitudinal research with families affected by immigration enforcement, this seminar explores how the UK’s immigration system infiltrates domestic life, shapes relationships, and creates lasting emotional, financial and developmental impacts — even on British citizens.
Dr Griffiths examines how deportability and precarity are experienced within families and what these experiences reveal about the politics of belonging and exclusion in the UK.
If you’re interested in migration, psychosocial studies, refugee wellbeing, or transnational politics — this seminar series offers a powerful platform for reflection, dialogue and shared learning.
To join the mailing list or propose a future talk, please contact: emily.leroux-rutledge@uwe.ac.uk