School of Humanities and Social Sciences

MA and Postgraduate Diploma in Refugee Studies
One year full-time - two years part-time

Refugee Studies at UEL | News | Resources | Themes of the Programme | Programme Structure & Content | Curriculum | Staff | Student Testimonies | Additional Information | Programme specification | Postgraduate seminar series | Refugee Research Centre | Forced Migration Student Conference 2009 | ESRC Social Research Stream | MA Refugees, Representation and Performance | MA Refugee Studies and Community Development | MA Migration and Citizenship

Themes of the Programme

The MA programme has developed in the context of increasing concern about forced migration. It recognises the importance of migration at the global level and of the multiple factors associated with refugee crises - the interplay of economic, political, social, cultural and environment pressures which stimulate the search for asylum.

It recognises that forced migrants encounter major obstacles in their attempts to find sanctuary. Increasingly they are confronted by assertive ideologies and structures of exclusion: compelled to leave places of origin, they often face furtherexperiences of rejection and marginalisation.

Global perspectives and the experience of exile

Uniquely, the programme adopts a refugee-centred approach, examining forced migration as a series of experiences –notably those of displacement, flight, asylum and exile. It links international/global dimensions of forced migration to the specific experiences of individuals and communities.

• displacement - the programme considers thedynamics of "globalisation" and its consequences for forced migrants. It examines the crisis of the state, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and the intensification of repression and rise in civil conflict often associated with mass displacement.
  It looks at complex emergencies, relief and aid operations, and the intervention of NGOs and transnational organisations.
• flight - the programme considers means by which refugees seek security, especially the multiple journeys undertaken by many long-distance migrants. It examines the legal regimes under which refugees move and the dangers they confront. It gives special attention to matters of gender.
  The programme looks at life in refugee camps and holding centres, at urban refugee communities in the Third World, and at smuggling and trafficking and their implications for forced migrants.
• asylum - the programme looks in detail at international law on asylum rights. It considers regimes of protection and the difficulties associated with obtaining refugee status. It examines debates over legal and illegal migration and their relevance for asylum rights.
  The programme considers regimes of exclusion such as those constructed in Europe and North America and at the impact upon forced migrants.
• exile - the programme examines the multiple meanings and experiences of exile. It considers the exile experience in the metropolitan context, especially refugees’ dis/engagement from the wider society. It examines refugees’ needs in the fields of education, health, welfare and special provision, and the implications for social policy.
  The programme considers differential aspects of exile, especially the experiences of refugee women. It examines psycho-social dimensions of exile, including the long-term impact upon individuals and communities of torture and organised violence, and of repeated experiences of exclusion. It considers the character of transnational communities and the nature of diasporic life.
• refugees and visual culture - the field of refugee studies is an interdisciplinary one. The programme encourages interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research from students interested in the field of cultural production. In recent years students have developed production based research along with dissertations. Submissions include film documentaries, visual art practice, poetry and performance. We welcome approaches which develop practice-based ‘texts’, with a critical, self-reflective understanding of the issues of refugee representation, political, personal and collective agency

The programme looks at the creative activities of refugees, especially the work of individuals and communities in literature, drama, music and the visual arts. It emphasises the innovative capacities of those confronted by the difficulties of exile.

Asylum and exclusion

Although the majority of refugees are in countries of the Third World, structures of exclusion are most fully developed in the West, notably within Europe. The programme highlights problems associated with European states’ limitation of asylum rights and the climate of hostility towards refugees from the Third World. It considers alternative, positive, approaches to asylum rights.

Structural obstacles to refugee movement are intimately associated with the formalisation of social and cultural boundaries within societies of the West. The programme emphasises that these should be understood within the context of exclusions which lie within such societies, notably those of class, gender and "race". The programme also encourages students to develop understanding of the social construction of the refugee and explores aspects of social, cultural and legal theory bearing upon migration, exile and exclusion.

East London - an historic place of exile

Refugee Studies at UEL is conducted with an awareness of the importance of East London as an historic place of asylum.

Since the Huguenots arrived in London in the 17th century the East End has been a home for generations of displaced people. During the mid-19th century refugees from political upheavals across Western Europe made London the world’s "asylum capital". Later, mass migration from Russia and Eastern Europe brought Jewish refugees who made a lasting impact on the culture of the East End.

In the 1930s refugees from fascism were eventually permitted to enter Britain and many settled in East London. Forty years later "new refugees" from conflicts in Africa, Asia and Latin America also found a home in the area. As the pace of forced migration quickened many new communities were established, helping to make East London one of the most culturally diverse areas in Europe.

The programme encourages students to consider the circumstances and experiences of local communities and where appropriate to focus upon them in study projects. Refugee community representatives are invited to contribute to day schools and seminars.

The programme also explores the importance of other European cities as desired places of asylum. It maintains links with universities similarly engaged in study of forced migration and collaborates in research and publishing projects. In so doing, the programme aims to contribute to a positive European response to migration issues.

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