Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Continue' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

© Public domain
Overcrowded train transferring refugees during the partition of India, 1947

Public Seminar Series, Trinity term 2023

Refugee History

Series convened by Dr Uttara Shahani

About the series

This term’s public seminar series focuses on Refugee History. The speakers will cover a range of themes: the global history of India’s ideas and practices surrounding the refugee, how British church leaderships responded to refugee ‘crises’ in the early twentieth century, the history and politics of UNRWA’s interactions with Palestinian communities, and the history of Uyghur displacement through a communication and media lens. The seminar series will offer critical insights into the background of issues concerning refugees today.

Time and location

All seminars will take place on Tuesdays at 1-2pm in Seminar Room 1, Oxford Department of International Development, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TB. Please check the date of each seminar.

Please direct enquiries to rsc@qeh.ox.ac.uk

If you would like to receive updates about our public seminars and lectures, please visit our Connect With Us page and subscribe to our email alerts.

Download the series poster.

Trinity term seminars

Tuesday 16 May, 1-2pm

The British churches, refugee ‘crises’ and anti-migrant sentiment 1903-1918

Dr Daniel Renshaw (University of Reading)

 

Tuesday 23 May, 1-2pm

Making refugees in India

Dr Ria Kapoor (Queen Mary University of London)

 

Tuesday 30 May, 1-2pm  

Refuge and resistance: Palestinians and the global refugee regime

Dr Anne Irfan (University College London)

 

Tuesday 6 June, 1-2pm    

Migration and the politics of transgression: a historical perspective

Associate Professor Saskia Witteborn (Chinese University of Hong Kong)

 

Similar stories

Refugee Studies Centre and UNHCR co-host workshop on refugee rights

Last week we welcomed over 45 experts in refugee law to a special three-day workshop on Protecting Refugee Rights. Our participants were an international group of academics, UNHCR specialists, judges, members of regional human rights organisations, and legal practitioners. The discussions developed research which will inform a new edition of UNHCR’s Handbook and a ground-breaking series of papers on refugee rights.

Public Seminar Series – Michaelmas Term 2026

The details of this term's public seminars and the Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture are now available. There are nine events this term, with a focus on protecting refugee rights as part of our initiative marking 75 years of the 1951 Refugee Convention. Among other pressing issues, the speakers will consider how Arab states interact with the international refugee regime, the Refugee Convention's relevance today and whether it remains fit for purpose, and how the United Nations human rights treaty bodies have interpreted and applied the principle of non-refoulement. Join us on Wednesdays at 5pm from 14 October. Where possible, recordings will be shared after the events.

Lecture by Barham Salih, UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Registration is now open for the Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture which will be delivered by Barham Salih, UN High Comissioner for Refugees, on Monday 26 October. The lecture is part of a series of events focused on protecting refugee rights and marking the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention.

Protecting Refugee Rights: Collaboration, research and events to mark the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention

A Refugee Studies Centre initiative to mark the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention will include an international research workshop and a keynote lecture from UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Barham Salih.

Public Seminar Series, Hilary Term 2026

Our Public Seminar Series is convened by Associate Professor Catherine Briddick and Dr Uttara Shahani. This interdisciplinary series brings together scholars and practitioners to explore pressing issues in forced migration and refugee studies. Full details of the seminars in Hilary Term 2026 are now available.