The Senate has approved and recommended to the Board of Governors the establishment of the Centre for Migration Studies within the faculty of arts.
The idea was first conceptualized in 2018 by the Centre’s director Dr. Antje Ellermann, professor in the department of political science, as a “research excellence cluster” under the UBC VP Research & Innovation (VPRI) with the intent to connect migration researchers at UBC.
“We applied for funding with this idea that there are so many faculty and graduate students working on issues of migration, but everybody does so in their own department and people aren't really connected to each other, even though studying migration is something that really straddles many different disciplines,” said Ellermann.
Following its approval as a formal Centre by the faculty of arts in 2020, the Centre sought further approval from the Senate for further administrative freedom to ultimately “better position the Centre to pursue its aim of becoming a globally recognized leader in the growing field of migration research," according to the Senate proposal.
These freedoms include being able to administer its own grants, facilitate inter-faculty collaboration beyond the faculty of arts, invite visiting scholars from outside UBC and appoint members of the community as honorary research associates.
Research-wise, the Centre plans to solidify its research trajectory and to establish targets for collaborative research. While this process is at the beginning of its planning stages, Ellermann said there’s strong interest in “bringing together migration and Indigeneity and thinking about questions of colonization in the context of immigration.”
Beyond connecting migration researchers at UBC, the Centre plans to build relationships with the general public and various community groups. For the general public, the Centre will continue hosting events such as research talks, roundtables, community luncheons and workshops.
With respect to the community partners, the Centre has partnered with organizations such as Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies of BC and the Immigrant Services Society of BC. Ellermann hopes these partnerships can enhance the Centre’s operations and meet community needs.
“We've established a community advisory board which will meet twice a year to provide input on priorities or programming to the [Centre’s] Executive Committee. Voices from the community who may look at what we do in terms of how relevant is that to them? What is missing? What are they looking for that is currently not happening?”
Ellermann also said these community partnerships can be beneficial to the research output of the respective organizations themselves, noting the support that UBC is able to provide. For example, while many of these organizations conduct their own research, they may lack the infrastructure or methodological skills to meet their required capacity — a gap the Centre could fill.
Looking back to when she submitted the initial emerging clusters grant to the VPRI, Ellermann said she is extremely grateful for UBC’s support.
“At that moment, not even thinking as far ahead as there might be a Centre. It was initially a year-by-year project, and then it took on a life of its own, and I realized that a lot could be achieved with the support that's available at UBC.”
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