Event Organisation
Showcasing Impactful Engagements
Creating impact through events
In my academic and teaching journey, I've spearheaded diverse events, connecting scholars, practitioners, and marginalized communities. As a member of COST Action IS1306, I've organized academic panels and workshops, fostering dialogue and collaboration. These initiatives, funded and co-created by me, aim to bridge gaps and enrich educational experiences. Explore more about these events here.
Masterclass
Teacher Training
Dialogues
Collaboration
Workshop
End of Research
Event
Photovoice Event
Stakeholder Event
& Academic Panel
Academic Conference
Network
Roundtable
Network
Organisation
Academic Panel
Network Organisation
Socio-Legal Ethics Masterclass
Inholland Hogeschool
May 2023
Storytelling in Curriculum Design and Teaching
for
'Smart Concepts'
Inholland Hogeschool
October 2022
Action Research with Refugees in Kuala Lumpur
Online Event
Virtual
August 2020
Collaboration Workshop with Muhammad Noor of Rohingya Project
Hrbrid Event in Netherlands February 2020
Refugees as Development Actors; in their own Voices
Brickfields Asia College May 2018
Valorising Voices; Refugee Lives and Voices Exhibition
at the COST Action IS1306 conference New Speakers in A Multilingual Europe: Policies and Practices
Coimbra University
September 2017
Valorising Voices; Stakeholder and Academic Panel
at the COST Action IS1306 conference New Speakers in A Multilingual Europe: Policies and Practices
Coimbra University
September 2017
Research Impact in Action; Refugees, New Speakers and Global Law
Tilburg University
23rd -24th March 2017
Network Round Table on “Migration and Asylum” at the Second Whole Action Conference
Hamburg University
May 2016
COST New Speakers: Management Committee Meetings
University of Galway
November 2015
COST New Speakers: New Speakerness and Professional Practice
Universitat de Barcelona
November 2014
COST New Speakers: Management Communtiy Meetings
University of Edinburgh
March 2014
I delivered an expert masterclass in the International Creative Business module for 4th Year Students" at InHolland Hogeschool to explain issues of ethics in research.
I delved into the complex landscape of epistemic injustice and its impact on ethical engagement. I drew on real-life case studies and personal experiences, and I guided students in navigating the power dynamics present in their case studies, empowering them to develop more engaged ethical dialogues. I created two frameworks. The first aimed to show the power effects present in their case studies. The second showcased weak to more engaged ethical dialogues they could develop within their case studies.
During this narrative-focused workshop, I demonstrated the power of stories and visual narratives as tools for curriculum development. We explored various storytelling techniques to foster a connection with students, and the use of imagery to navigate intricate processes inherent in iterative design-based research. This a particularly challenging process for 1st Year students who struggle to grasp the iterative nature of their research. My proficiency in teaching, narrative engagement, and student interaction was leveraged to tackle the difficulties in creating captivating curriculums. I steered my fellow educators through dialogue and discourse, providing support and fostering innovative ideas.
As part of a series of 4 short web sessions related to Sustainability Dialogues, I organised Action Research with Refugees in Kuala Lumpur web event. Here I reconnected with my participants to discuss what participation and action research means for them. We discussed how researchers and practitioners may be able to be more inclusive. After the dialogue, we had a Q&A with other practitioners in the field of sustainability more generally.
Video Link: Sustainability Action Dialogue: Action Research with Refugees
The outcome of this dialogue was to stress community inclusion in all aspects of research: allowing space for making decisions and taking initiative in what might best impact their lives. Ultimately, we returned to notions of participation and inclusion when connecting with refugee voices.
On 13th February 2020, I independently hosted a workshop to support a former participant from my PhD fieldwork. Muhammad Noor is the leader of the Rohingya Project, which uses concepts of digital identity to create an online financial empowerment platform for stateless Rohingya. The workshop aimed to create a space for collaboration and focus discussions on practical outcomes and building partnerships between the Rohingya Project and academic institutions and researchers, NGOs and legal clinics. The sessions were divided into the projects conducted by the Rohingya Project:
Session 1: Rohingya Memory & Archiving
Session 2: Rohingya Statelessness & Digital Identity
Session 3: Rohingya (Social) Enterprise
I organised, 'Refugees as Development Actors; in their own voices’ hosted by the Make it Right Movement at Brickfields Asia College, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. This event featured refugee-only panel discussions and connected forced migrants to civil society organisations. This event was aimed to complete my action research project by providing a platform for the participants to engage with civil society members and show the impact of their work. The members of the audience were from high-profile NGOs and further educational institutions. Some of those who participated in my research went on to create a joint refugee and civil society platform to inform policy and wider social debate.
This event was the culmination of a 6-month project with refugee leaders. I collaborated with refugee and undocumented migrants in the Netherlands to document their lives. I organised a professional photographer to give a photography training workshop, found funding through COST Action IS1306 and resources in terms of a team required for this project. I supported Wij Zijn Hier (We Are Here), Amsterdam - a group of rejected asylum seekers who collected photos from their recent protests, food-sharing events and daily life. A local Dutch journalist also contributed her work on undocumented youth in Amsterdam. I worked closely with The Afghan Community Centre (ACC) to write consent forms and connect with their community for the exhibition. They collected photos and videos for the exhibition. I organised a way for the head of a Somali community college to contribute a short talk via video/Skype on research methods and refugee inclusion.
Both events I facilitated through refugee-led projects, panels and round table discussions. Practitioners and academics responded to questions and situations posited by refugee keynote speakers who highlighted issues from their practice and experience. I facilitated a number of refugees and community NGOs to participate in the panel through engaging with them beforehand to understand their needs, organising the panel as an open dialogue and ensuring questions and topics that were inclusive. We were joined by Urban Refugees and by Photovoice.
Organised, Hosted, and Presented in this conference attended by approximately 50 academics and stakeholders (refugees and NGOs). We had mixed panels of refugees, practitioners and academics which all aimed to highlight forced migrant experiences and encourage reflective practice. We wanted to connect forced migrant voices to impact policy and practice and consider how we as researchers are a part of the process of valorising those voices. In the evening we held a conference meal organised by a local Syrian refugee who was starting up his own catering company.
Between the 11th – 13th May 2016 I co-ordinated and hosted the Network Round Table on “Migration and Asylum” organised by myself and Dr Cassie Smith-Christmas at the COST Action IS1306 New Speakers Whole Action Conference in Hamburg, Germany. This event initiated my interest in the events listed above, and in further collaborating between academics from different fields and with those active in civil society and policymaking. The roundtable was attended by 50 people. At the end of the roundtable, I wrote a follow-up report and blog - migration and asylum and Brexit.
I actively engaged in the COST New Speakers Network, contributing to the development and consolidation of working groups focused on multilingual competence, speakerness, language policy, and power dynamics. My participation in the Galway meeting, supported by funding, involved collaborative planning and contributing to the strategic vision for the network's next phase, showcasing my involvement in international academic collaboration and event participation.
At the Barcelona meeting of the COST Action on "New Speakers," I organised and chaired a panel exploring the evolving economic and cultural dimensions of language. We examined how language, once primarily a cultural and political symbol, has become an economic asset in the globalized neoliberal economy. This shift has led to two prevailing views of language: as a commodifiable cultural heritage and a standardized technical skill, challenging traditional notions of authenticity.
At the management committee meeting at Edinburgh University, my involvement in the migration and language stream led to the initiation of a panel on 'New Speakersness and Professional Practice.' This opportunity allowed me to delve into the intersections of language, identity, and professional integration, setting the stage for insightful discussions and collaborations in the field of sociolinguistics and migration studies.
Events Organisation
Philosophy
Greater Voice
I am interested in creating events that allow for marginalised or often overlooked persons to present or find a platform to demonstrate their projects, ideas or skills.
Increased Dialogue
Events I have organised have included workshops and panels that allow for dialogue between academic, practitioners and forced migrant actors. These events aim for greater diversity also can lead to collaboration and potentially new and innovative projects in research or development.
Flipped Formats
Events formats also can be made more participatory. This does not mean making big changes. Event formats can be changed to find spaces that allow for genuine participation, responsive and impactful dialogue.
Interactive
Adding further impact-focused breakout groups both during an event and online can increase visibility and communication of the events ideas and discussions. I am interested in promoting research communication on both virtual conferences as well as interactive participatory in-person conferences.
Memberships
The Socio-Legal Studies Association is an academic organisation at the intersection of law, social sciences, and humanities. They are a UK-registered charity dedicated to advancing education and learning in socio-legal studies while promoting research.
My PhD is a part of the European Doctorate in Law and Development programme. In addition to many other achievements, this project has created a network of researchers and a community of development scholars and practitioners interested in law, development and social change. EDOLAD provided in-depth training related to PhD empirical research in Law. I have engaged with my colleagues in training and collaborated on other projects such as a special issue.
The Women in Refugee Law (WiRL) network was set up in 2021 by Dr Christel Querton (UWE Bristol) and Dr Moira Dustin (University of Sussex) to bring together asylum-seeking and refugee women, senior and early career scholars, practitioners, policymakers and activists working in this field around the globe. The purpose of the network is to re-centre the study of refugee women within refugee law, policy and practice. I was invited to join in 2023 to take part in online discussions.
At the end of my MSSc, I took part in a Grundtvig funded training in 'Working with Refugees and Asylum seekers'. As an outcome of that training, I started a Jiscmail to keep the participants connected and to continue to expand our knowledge on migration and asylum. Later I found several volunteers to support and expand the idea to include Facebook and Twitter. Now the Facebook group is the most active with over 4000 members - scholars, practitioners and refugees. We share news and information for conferences and events. The volunteers have also supported several of the events I organised related to refugees. This was a crash course in virtual team project management.
The Living Refugee Archive (LRA) is home to a growing collection of resources relating to refugees and forced migration. The Living Refugee Archive was established as a portal to help facilitate access to digital archive materials and existing archival collections including the Refugee Council Archive at the University of East London.
I support their work through my collaboration on the e-journal Displaced Voices, as editor.
Former affliation now ended.
Prior to my PhD, I started to participate in a socio-linguistics network; COST Action IS1306 New Speakers in A Multilingual Europe. I was interested in language due to my experience as a teacher and wished to continue learning about socio-linguistics. I joined conferences related to language issues, training at the PhD level, taking part in management discussions to organise conferences and organised my own events within the network.
