MacJannet Prize Symposia
The MacJannet Prize Symposia are thematic gatherings that bring together professionals, scholars, academics, experts, faculty, and students to present their research experiences, findings, and developments. The MacJannet Prize Symposia are designed to foster collaboration and encourage discussion by providing a platform for networking among participants who may come together to work on future research, initiatives, and projects. They provide a space for participants and panelists to engage in dialogue, ask questions, and expand on issues relevant to the symposium topic and theme, encouraging a deeper understanding. In addition, by bringing together different perspectives and expertise, the symposia aim to inspire new ideas and innovative solutions to challenges in the field of civic engagement. The MacJannet Prize Symposia serve as a valuable platform for the dissemination of knowledge, networking, advancing civic engagement, and elevating the MacJannet Prize winners and honorable mentions as examples of best practice for civically engaged universities around the world.
MacJannet Prize Symposium on Migration, Refugee Integration, and Participatory Action Research
December 16, 8:00am - 9:30am EST
Watch the second MacJannet Prize symposium that will explore the intersections of migration, refugee integration, and participatory action research. This event brought together scholars, practitioners, academics, and students to discuss innovative strategies for creating inclusive societies and amplifying the voices of migrants and refugees. Through presentations and an interactive panel discussion, participants examined the challenges and opportunities of integration while also exploring how participatory action research methods can foster meaningful social change. Together, we aim to bridge gaps, share insights, and co-create solutions for more equitable and inclusive societies.
Panelists:
Dr. Claire Dorrity, Lecturer in Social Policy, School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork (Ireland)
Dr Claire Dorrity is a lecturer in social policy in the School of Applied Social Studies, UCC.
Her main research interests include Migration and Social Policy; Refugees and Forced Displacement; Border Securitisation and Externalisation; Critical Multiculturalism and Superdiversity; and Migrant Solidarities. Her most recent research projects include EMBRACE: Exploring Mobility: Borders, Refugees & Challenging Exclusion (Irish Research Council New Foundations Program) focused on the frontiers of border militarisation using two case studies - the EU Mediterranean border and the US/Mexican border (Sept 2020 -July 2022). Her current research project Migrant Education: Challenges and Exclusion (MiEd) is funded through the UNIC4ER Research Seed Funding and is focused on participatory action-based research addressing barriers to education for migrants in a local and transnational context. Research partners include University of Liege, Koç University, Turkey, University College Cork and related community partners. Learn more.
Dr. Anjuli Fahlberg, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Tufts University (United States)
Anjuli N. Fahlberg is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and co-director of the Building Together Research Collective, based in Brazil, El Salvador and Honduras (www.construindojuntos.com). Her research employs an intersectional lens to examine urban violence and social movements across the Americas. She employs a participatory action research (PAR) approach in both ethnographic fieldwork and survey research. Her recent book, Activism under Fire: The Politics of Non-Violence in Rio de Janeiro's Gang Territories (2023, Oxford University Press), documents how activists residing in Rio de Janeiro’s "favelas," or informal neighborhoods, mobilize for citizenship rights in a context of armed drug gangs and racist policing. It received the Roberto Reis Book Award from the Brazilian Studies Association and the Best Book Award from the Human Rights Section of the International Studies Association, as well as Honorable Mentions from the Collective Behavior and Social Movement Section of the American Sociological Association and the Global Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems. She has also studied the impact of the pandemic in Rio's favelas and how favela residents mobilized local aid efforts during the pandemic. Her current project examines the impact of distinct governance models on urban violence and social resilience in Central America, with a focus on El Salvador and Honduras. Dr. Fahlberg was the recipient of the Best Dissertation Award by the American Sociological Association and the Dissertation Award by the Collective Behavior and Social Movements Section of the ASA. She has received grants by the Social Science Research Council, the American Association of University Women, and the National Science Foundation, and was awarded the Alma J. Young Emerging Scholar Award by the Urban Affairs Association, among several others. Learn more.
Motaz Malla, Student, Universidad Camilo José Cela; Founder, HealthX360.com
Motaz Malla is a Syrian health professional with expertise in chronic pain treatment, physiotherapy, and sports science. He is the founder of HealthX360.com, an online clinic offering specialized treatment for chronic pain. Motaz holds dual degrees in Physiotherapy and Sports Science from the University of Camilo José Cela, Spain. Motaz was a key participant in the INTEGRA project, an initiative by the University of Camilo José Cela that provided scholarships for refugees to access higher education.
Past Symposia:
November Symposium: “Civic Engagement, Climate Justice, and the Urban Environment”
The first event in the symposia series focused on civic engagement, climate justice, and the urban environment.
Panelists:
Justin Hollander
Justin B. Hollander, PhD, FAICP, is a professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University. His research and teaching is in the areas of urban planning, design, and real estate development. He co-edited the book Urban Experience and Design: Contemporary Perspectives on Improving the Public Realm (with Ann Sussman) and is the author of ten other books, including Buildings for People: Responsible Real Estate Development and Planning and Cognitive Architecture Designing for How We Respond to the Built Environment (with Ann Sussman). He was inducted as a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners and hosts the Apple podcast “Cognitive Urbanism." Learn more.
Samuel Mahugnon Ahossouhe
Mr. Samuel Mahugnon Ahossouhe is a PhD student in the field of environmental sciences at the International Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. He also holds a master's degree in water and sanitation engineering and has conducted various studies related to the sanitation value chain, inclusive urban sanitation, and other related areas. Currently, Mahugnon is conducting research on the valorization of urban resources for the development of a circular economy in low-income African countries, especially in Burkina Faso. The main expected outcome of his research is to provide scientific knowledge on the potential of urban mine valorization to promote the circular economy, and to guide decision-makers and investors on the business models to implement in their valorization activities for a better economic development. Learn more.
Ali Watson
Ali Watson is Professor of International Relations and Managing Director of the Third Generation Project at University of St Andrews. Originally trained as a macroeconomist at the University of Dundee, during her time at St Andrews her focus in teaching and research has increasingly been based around an examination of the rights of marginalised actors and communities. This includes a large body of work on the place of children in the international system including a call, in 2006, for International Relations as a discipline to recognise the significance of children and their childhoods as sites of knowledge. This interest in sites of political agency has extended also to an examination of craft as a resistance practice and to home as a site of political resistance. Since 2013 she has been co-developing, with her research partner Bennett Collins, a methodology focused upon 'doing IR differently' by working to unpack and then challenge the ways in which academia reinforces existing structural power relations, including with projects based in North America and East Africa. Learn more.