The visual arts, theatre, filmmaking, music and dance are important aspects in transnational migration. The role of arts-based methodologies in researching the migrant experience is the topic of the next Migration Matters event on April 22 from 2 to 4pm in Room 626 Kaneff Tower.
Moderated by School of Social Work Professor and the Coordinator of Migration Matters, Luann Good Gingrich, the Arts-Based Methodologies in Migration Research event features presentations by Magdalena Kazubowski-Houston, professor in the Department of Theatre; Modesto Amegago, professor in the Department of Dance; and Deborah Barndt, professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies.
In her presentation, “Thoughts Sit Like Stone in Me: Dramatic Storytelling in the Ethnographic Study of Interiority”, Kazubowski-Houston will focus on her current research project, which examines the impact of transnational migrations on the lives of elderly Romani women in Poland. Kazubowski-Houston will explore the potential of dramatic storytelling to facilitate an empathic construction of ethnographic knowledge.
In his comments, Amegago plans to relate the role of the arts within the context of the migration of African-Ewe and connect it to its role among the Ghanaian-Ewe migrants in Toronto and Canada. Ewe is an ethnic group in Ghana. Amegago has conducted research about their migration history and the role music and dance has played in their
migration.
Barndt’s presentation is titled, “Milagros for Migrants: On and Beyond the Tomato Trail” and is based on her recent project “Milagros for Migrants: An Immersive Installation Honouring Ontario’s Migrant Farmworkers” with filmmaker Min Sook Lee. The installation is currently on display at the Art Gallery of Windsor as part of an installation titled, “Border Cultures” focusing on labour. Her longer term work, which started in the mid-1990s, focused on the NAFTA food system, with a thread relating to migrant labour. It culminated in a book, Tangled Routes: Women, Work and Globalization on the Tomato Trail, which may be used as the basis for a documentary.
Migration Matters is a new initiative that aims to showcase migration scholars and scholarship at York University. Through a series of seminars and roundtable discussions, we hope to spark a university-wide conversation that digs deep into pressing migration-related matters, exploring questions from a wide range of perspectives and fields of study. This project is hosted by the Centre for Refugee Studies and supported by the Office of the Vice President, Research & Innovation.
For more information or to discover future events, visit the Migration Matters website.