Migration Studies Commons^™

Hidden Behind Happiness: Bhutan’S Global Image And Ethnic Exclusion, Deepesh Das Shrestha

Master's Theses

Bhutan has gained international recognition for its philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which promotes holistic development through principles of well-being, environmental sustainability, cultural preservation, and good governance. Yet this celebrated image conceals a darker history: the systematic expulsion of the Lhotsampa, the Nepali-speaking ethnic minority of southern Bhutan. This study critically explores the contradiction between Bhutan's international image as a model of happiness and the lived experiences of Lhotsampa refugees who were displaced during the early 1990s.

Using a qualitative phenomenological research design, the study draws upon in-depth semi-structured interviews with six resettled Bhutanese Lhotsampa refugees living in the …

Migration In Context And Law: Global Displacement And The U.S. Immigration System, Saya Khandar, Dominic Brunaccioni, Samantha Johnson, Nisa Manzar, Lindsey Nye, Alexis Stephens, Sherise Tracey

Human Rights Brief

On February 20, 2026, the Human Rights Brief at American University Washington College of Law (WCL) held its annual symposium, titled “Migration in Context and Law: Global Displacement and the U.S. Immigration System.” This symposium was curated in response to intensified immigration operations across the United States (U.S.), which have resulted in significant harm to individuals and families nationwide. The discussion centered on the humanity of immigration and explored how global displacement, armed conflict, economic instability, and climate change continue to shape migration. Organizers brought together legal scholars, practitioners, and advocates to examine current immigration policies in the context of …

Timeline Itinerary For Webinar Series Talk With Guest Elżbieta Goździak, Integration And Belonging Hub

Webinars & Events

An internal timeline itinerary made for the Integration & Belonging Hub's Webinar Series talk on March 1st, 2023. Elżbieta Goździak was the guest speaker, giving a talk titled "The Deserving and the Undeserving: Ukranian Migrants and Middle Eastern Asylum Seekers in Poland". This webinar was hosted on Zoom.

This PDF was converted from an Excel sheet. The "Notes" column on page two corresponds to the rows on page one and so on and so forth.

Date refers to date of event, not date of creation.

Presentation Slides, "The Deserving And The Undeserving: Ukranian Migrants And Middle Eastern Asylum Seekers In Poland", Elżbieta Goździak

Webinars & Events

Contains the PowerPoint slides for Elżbieta Goździak's presentation "The Deserving and the Undeserving: Ukranian Migrants and Middle Eastern Asylum Seekers in Poland". This presentation was given on March 1st, 2023 as part of the Integration and Belonging Hub's webinar series. This webinar was hosted on Zoom.

Elżbieta Goździak is a migration scholar whose contributions span academic research and the world of policy, ranging from human trafficking, migrant children, global health and health disparities, and immigrant integration.

The main document is in text-only PDF format. To see the PowerPoint presentation, download the related file.

Permission was obtained by Elżbieta Goździak …

Timeline Itinerary For Webinar Series Talk With Guest Gaisu Yari, Integration And Belonging Hub

Webinars & Events

An internal timeline itinerary made for the Integration & Belonging Hub's Webinar Series talk on February 1st, 2023. Gaisu Yari was the guest speaker, giving a talk titled " "Afghan refugee voices: What does belonging look like in host countries?". This webinar was hosted on Zoom.

This PDF was converted from an Excel sheet. The "Notes" column on page two corresponds to the rows on page one and so on and so forth.

Date refers to date of event, not date of creation.

Presentation Slides, "Afghan Refugee Voices: What Does Belonging Look Like In Host Countries?", Gaisu Yari, Integration And Belonging Hub

Webinars & Events

Presentation slides for Gaisu Yari's talk "Afghan Refugee Voices: What Does Belonging Look Like in Host Countries?". This event was held on February 1st, 2023 as part of the Integration and Belonging Hub's webinar series. This webinar was hosted on Zoom.

Yari is a former commissioner in the Civil Service of Afghanistan and a human rights advocate who holds a master’s degree in Human Rights from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern and Gender Studies from the University of Virginia. In addition to her work in Afghanistan with National and International Organizations, Yari is leading Afghan …

Concept Note -- Draft, Anita Fabos, Leora Kahn

Vision, Mission, & Funding

A concept note which gives insight into the mission and operations of the Integration and Belonging Hub.

"Belonging Talks Will Examine Refugee Integration Through A Wider Lens", Clarknow, Melissa Lynch

Press

An article from the ClarkNow website that shines a spotlight on the Integration and Belonging Hub and their upcoming (at the time of the article) Belonging Talks event featuring guest Gaisu Yaru.

Permission was granted by Melissa Lynch to reproduce this article in the Digital Commons.

*This is a born digital website article that was printed and scanned for this reproduction.

Timeline Itinerary For "Virtual Brown Bag" Webinar With Guest Stephanie Acker, Integration And Belonging Hub

Webinars & Events

An internal timeline itinerary made for the Integration & Belonging Hub's "Virtual Brown Bag" series webinar on November 30th, 2022. Visiting scholar Stephanie Acker was the guest speaker, giving a talk titled "Beauty and beautification in refugees' lives and its implications for refugee policy". This webinar was hosted on Zoom.

This PDF was converted from an Excel sheet. The "Notes" column on page two corresponds to the rows on page one and so on and so forth.

This document includes a redaction regarding sensitive information.

Date refers to date of event, not date of creation.

Digital Flyer For "Virtual Brown Bag" Webinar With Guest Stephanie Acker, Integration And Belonging Hub

Webinars & Events

A digital flyer made for the Integration & Belonging Hub's "Virtual Brown Bag" series webinar on November 30th, 2022. Visiting scholar Stephanie Acker was the guest speaker, giving a talk titled "Beauty and beautification in refugees' lives and its implications for refugee policy". This webinar was hosted on Zoom.

Date refers to date of event, not date of creation.

Presentation Slides, "Beauty And Beautification In Refugees' Lives And Its Implications For Refugee Policy", Stephanie Acker

Webinars & Events

Contains the PowerPoint slides for Stephanie Acker's presentation "Beauty and Beautification in Refugees' Lives and its Implications for Refugee Policy". This presentation was given on November 30th, 2022 as part of the Integration and Belonging Hub's "Virtual Brown Bag" series. This webinar was hosted on Zoom.

Stephanie Acker is a visiting scholar at Clark University and is a policy, program, and communications leader in improving outcomes for forcibly-displaced populations.

The main document is in text-only PDF format. To see the PowerPoint presentation, download the related file.

Permission was obtained by Stephanie Acker to make this PowerPoint publicly available.

Date …

Digital Flyer For "Virtual Brown Bag" Webinar With Guest Craig Mortley, Integration And Belonging Hub

Webinars & Events

A digital flyer made for the Integration & Belonging Hub's "Virtual Brown Bag" series webinar on November 16th, 2022. Craig Mortley was the guest speaker, giving a talk titled "Learning to Belong When No Place Feels Like Home: Experiences with Belonging for LGBTQI Asylum Seekers and Refugees". Mortley is a forced migration practitioner and emerging scholar. This webinar was hosted on Zoom.

Date refers to date of event, not creation.

Timeline Itinerary For "Virtual Brown Bag" Webinar With Guest Craig Mortley, Integration And Belonging Hub

Webinars & Events

An internal timeline itinerary made for the Integration & Belonging Hub's "Virtual Brown Bag" series webinar on November 16th, 2022. Craig Mortley was the guest speaker, giving a talk titled “Learning to Belong When No Place Feels Like Home: Experiences with Belonging for LGBTQI Asylum Seekers and Refugees". Mortley is a forced migration practitioner and emerging scholar. This webinar was hosted on Zoom.

This PDF was converted from an Excel sheet. The "Notes" column on page two corresponds to the rows on page one and so on and so forth.

Date refers to date of event, not date of creation.

Visioning Lunch; Design Think Activity Post-Its And Transcript, Visioning Lunch Attendees

Vision, Mission, & Funding

Contains photos of the Post-its, and an accompanying transcript, that emerged from the Design Think brainstorming activity at the Integration & Belonging Hub's Visioning Lunch, held on November 9th, 2022. This visioning lunch was held for Clark University colleagues whose work (whether teaching, research, and/or practice) aligns with refugee and immigrant integration and belonging. The goal was to seek input from these colleagues in driving the next steps and future funding for the Hub. The Design Think exercise contained categorized questions, ranging from the broad to the motivational to the narrow, to facilitate conversation and ideas.

The Post-its transcript is …

Visioning Lunch Invitation, Integration And Belonging Hub

Vision, Mission, & Funding

Contains the invitation to the Integration & Belonging Hub's Visioning Lunch, held on November 9th, 2022. This visioning lunch was held for Clark University colleagues whose work (whether teaching, research, and/or practice) aligns with refugee and immigrant integration and belonging. The goal was to seek input from these colleagues in driving the next steps and future funding for the Hub.

Date refers to date of event, not date of creation.

Visioning Lunch; Design Think Activity, Anita Fábos

Vision, Mission, & Funding

Contains the questions and layout for the Design Think brainstorming activity at the Integration & Belonging Hub's Visioning Lunch, held on November 9th, 2022. This visioning lunch was held for Clark University colleagues whose work (whether teaching, research, and/or practice) aligns with refugee and immigrant integration and belonging. The goal was to seek input from these colleagues in driving the next steps and future funding for the Hub. The Design Think exercise contained categorized questions, ranging from the broad to the motivational to the narrow, to facilitate conversation and ideas. You can see the results from this activity here. …

Academic Innovation Fund Progress Report, Integration And Belonging Hub

Vision, Mission, & Funding

In September 2021, President David Fithian and Provost Sebastián Royo announced a $300,000 Academic Innovation Fund to be allocated to selected applicants across the university, to promote efforts across areas of strategic imperative: The Integration and Belonging Hub was one of the twenty-two initiatives accepted for this grant. This document is a progress report provided to the fund.

Notice For Guided Internship And Professional Development Program, Integration And Belonging Hub

Internship Program

Contains the notice/advertisement for the Integration and Belonging Hub's Guided Internship and Professional Development program. This program was developed by the Hub for undergraduate and graduate students interested in working with refugees and other forced migration populations in Worcester and in other parts of the country.

This document contains information of what is offered, an orientation agenda, qualifications, and application instructions. This advertisement was also used during the Spring semester of 2022 to recruit interns for Summer 2022

Internship Program Syllabus, Anita Fábos, Leora Kahn

Internship Program

Contains a syllabus for the Fall 2022 interns in the Integration and Belonging Hub's Guided Internship Program. This document breaks down placement outcomes, internship expectations, resources, outputs, and a full schedule.

Date refers to the time period covered in this document, not the date of creation.

Workshop Discussion Topics Responses, Integration And Belonging Hub

Worcester Inter-Unversity Refugee Workshop

Each of the Worcester Inter-University Refugee Workshop's three sessions contained a series of questions for breakout group discussion. This document contains those questions as well as notes taken on the answers and responses provided by the various discussion groups.

Facilitators Notes And Discussion Questions, Integration And Belonging Hub

Worcester Inter-Unversity Refugee Workshop

Notes and Discussion Questions for the facilitators of the Worcester Inter-University Refugee Project, Anita Fabos, Noa Shaindlinger (Worcester State University), and Sarah Ihmoud (Worcester State University and College of the Holy Cross). Notes taken summarizing the group responses of these questions can be found in the PROVIDE LINK.

Attached is also a supplemental file containing a draft of this document, with some internal notes and insight into the formulation of these questions.

Workshop Agenda, Integration And Belonging Hub

Worcester Inter-Unversity Refugee Workshop

This document lays out the schedule and agenda for the Worcester Inter-University Refugee Workshop held on September 22, 2022.

"Worcester Inter-University Refugee Workshop" Presentation, Jozefina Lantz

Worcester Inter-Unversity Refugee Workshop

Contains the Power Point slides for Jozefina Lantz's presentation, "Worcester Inter-University Refugee Workshop" which was part of Session III of the workshop held on September 22, 2022.

The main document is in text-only PDF format.

"Unpacking Displacement" Presentation, Noa Shaindlinger

Worcester Inter-Unversity Refugee Workshop

Contains the PowerPoint slides for Noa Shaindlinger's presentation "Unpacking Displacement" which was part of Session I of the Worcester Inter-University Refugee Workshop held on September 22, 2022. The presentation concerns an overview of forced migration and settlement in Worcester.

The main document is in text-only PDF format. To see the PowerPoint presentation, download the related file.

Worcester Inter-University Refugee Workshop Invitation, Integration And Belonging Hub

Worcester Inter-Unversity Refugee Workshop

Invitation to the Inter-University Worcester Refugee Workshop held on September 22, 2022 at Tilton Hall at Clark University.

Steering Committee Notes [April 4th, 2022 Through September 7th, 2022], Axelle Rivot

Vision, Mission, & Funding

Contains all of the notes taken during the Integration & Belonging Hub Steering Committee meetings from April 14th through September 7th 2022. In this time, they held seven meetings total. Committee members during this time included Anita Fabos (Clark University), Jude Fernando (Clark University), Adam Saltsman (Worcester State University), Amer Macedonci (community member), Sarah Ihmoud (College of the Holy Cross), Noa Shaindlinger (Worcester State University and College of the Holy Cross), Axelle Rivot (intern), and Jozefina Lantz (Clark University).

Steering Committee notes were taken by Axelle Rivot, Clark University student and intern for the Integration and Belonging Hub.

Ideas About Internship Placement Process, Jozefina Lantz

Internship Program

Contains a layout of ideas regarding the Guided Internship and Professional Development program, from placement to process and coordination.

Local Organizations For Internships (#2), Jozefina Lantz

Internship Program

Contains another document regarding various local organizations for possible internship placement. This spreadsheet is more detailed than #1, providing detailed information on each organization listed.

Jozefina Lantz was the co-convener for the Integration and Belonging Hub up until her retirement.

This PDF was converted from an Excel sheet. The "Notes" column on page two corresponds to the rows on page one and so on and so forth.

Local Organizations For Internships #1, Jozefina Lantz

Internship Program

Contains a list of local Worcester organizations for possible internship placements.

Jozefina Lantz was the co-convener for the Integration and Belonging Hub up until her retirement.

This PDF was converted from an Excel sheet. The "Notes" column on page two corresponds to the rows on page one and so on and so forth.

Displacing The Border: Refugees, Law, And Geography In Turkey, Mert Peksen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

How do the function, the location, and the form of contemporary borders change in the face of large-scale refugee mobilities? My dissertation project addresses this question in the unique political-geographic context of Turkey. I examine border construction at different geographic scales and its functions in everyday life. In contrast to the conventional understanding of the border as a line separating countries from each other, I approach it as a multi- and cross-scalar regime which encompasses national and transnational places, people, documents, and practices. As such, the border transcends state contours and exists at multiple simultaneous scales, ranging from transnational and …