The uprooting of refugees from Ukraine reflects the latest phase in the ongoing and intensified age of forced migration.

Over the past decades, and across continents, numerous refugee “crises” have led to the explosion of the global refugee population, which has more than doubled in the last ten years.

As so many are forced to leave their homes, not all refugees gain the same level of visibility, welcome, and recognition. What are the consequences for the lives of those who move and those who receive them? How do media representations of refugees affect their reception? And how do refugees use digital media to themselves tell their stories of uprooting and migration? 

Meet our speakers and chair  

Abdulrahman Bdiwi is a Syrian refugee working as a project administrator for Breaking Barriers. Abdulrahman is also a Young Citizen Trainer for Coram (Refugee Charities in London) and a volunteer ambassador for Voices Network, which is a collective of refugees and people seeking asylum charity founded by the Red Cross. Actively engaged with several refugee organizations, Abdulrahman's contributions have been instrumental in the effectiveness and success of efforts aimed at assisting and uplifting refugees. 

Myria Georgiou (@MyriaGeorgiou4) is Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where she also serves as Research Director. For more than 20 years, she has been researching media and communications’ role in constructing meanings of identity and citizenship, including amongst migrant populations. 

Eva Polonska-Kimunguyi is a Research Fellow in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. Eva comes from a professional journalism background and her research examines media-politics relations, political communication and the role of international media and narratives in foreign affairs. 

Rob Sharp (@robbiesharp) is a Lecturer at the University of Sussex in the subject group of Media, Cultural Studies and Journalism and a PhD candidate at the LSE in the Department of Media and Communications. He has recently submitted his thesis, titled “‘Performative Refugeeness’: Voice, Recognition and Participation in Creative Mediation”.

Omar Al-Ghazzi (@omar_alghazzi) is Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE.

More about this event  

This event is part of the LSE Festival: How Do We Get to a Post-COVID World? running from Monday 13 to Saturday 18 June 2022, with a series of events exploring the practical steps we could be taking to shape a better world. 

The Department of Media and Communications at LSE (@MediaLSE) is a world-leading centre for education and research in communication and media studies at the heart of LSE’s academic community in central London. The Department is ranked #1 in the UK and #3 globally in the field of media and communications (2021 QS World University Rankings).

Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival