Kate Motluk
Visiting Fellow
Kate is a PhD Candidate in Geography at the University of Toronto. Her research primarily focuses on issues of forced migration and carceral control. Kate received her undergraduate degree from Trinity College at the University of Toronto in Peace, Conflict, and Justice Studies. She went on to do an MA in Geography at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada. Her thesis, Containment and COVID-19 in the Settler State, examined responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in carceral spaces around Canada and Australia. Prior to attending graduate school, Kate worked as the Toronto Chapter Lead for a pro-bono refugee legal clinic, and as a Project Coordinator for the non-profit Lifeline Syria. Kate is currently a researcher on two SSHRC-funded projects, one which traces the afterlives of Australia’s offshore immigration detention regime (lead by Dr Alison Mountz), and another on immigration detention reform in Canada (lead by Dr Sarah Turnbull). Kate is also a researcher at the Haven Asylum Lab in Scarborough.
While at the RSC, Kate will be conducting fieldwork for her dissertation. Her project examines access to asylum in the United Kingdom. Through this research, Kate seeks to understand how contemporary approaches to managing migration to the UK has affected those seeking asylum. In particular, Kate is focused on novel accommodation sites and deterrent techniques.