Event Date: 9th October 2019

Event Description:

In the last two decades, leisure practices and opportunities in the lives of forced migrants in a variety of contexts have received increasing attention amongst researchers and policy makers. This interest reflects the relevance that forced migration has assumed in public, policy and media coverage and debate in numerous locations around the world. However, as Lewis (2015) notes, a wealth of interest in the topic tends to centre policy-driven themes, concepts and questions, which identify leisure activities and constraints in relation to refugees’ adaptation, integration, skills-acquisition, and/or contribution to “community cohesion”.

Building on what Bakewell (2008) argued in the field of refugee studies, we contend that leisure research that has adopted categories and priorities of policy makers and practitioners as the frame of reference has left invisible and unexplored a series of significant issues, including forced migrants' perspectives and stakes around leisure practices.

This one-day symposium aims to provide a forum for collective debate and dialogue between a range of participants including academics, community activists/organizers, and members of refugee communities. It provides scope for participants that work (or aim to work) with forced migrants as allies and co-creators of their leisure (rather than as “service users” and “target populations”) to develop future interventions.

We envisage that this symposium will facilitate further collaborations between academics, members of the public and organizations from across Britain, Europe and beyond. The aim being to engage with alternative perspectives of and approaches to existing narratives, policies and assumptions on forced migration, and lives lived in the asylum system.

The symposium is co-hosted by the Leisure Studies journal and Bournemouth University’s Refugee and Migrants Leisure Network (RMLN).

The symposium is free to attend with breakfast, lunch and coffee provided. It is funded through the Leisure Studies journal Editorial Board Maureen Harrington Fund. Places are limited. If you wish to attend please register.

Program:

9.30-10am coffee/registration

10-10.15am Introduction

10.15-11.30am First panel

11.30-12.45pm Second panel

12.45-13.45 Lunch

13.45- 15 Third Panel

15-15.30 coffee Break

15.30-16.30 Keynote from Dr. Hannah Lewis (Sheffield University) and Q & A

List of Speakers:

Sepand Mashreghi, Malmö University, Sweden

Dr. Chris Stone, Liverpool Hope University

Chris Webster and co-speaker, Leeds Beckett University & Yorkshire St. Pauli

Nadine Venturini-Trindade, Loughborough University

Claire Collison, University of Brighton

Shahrzad Mohammadi, University of Freiburg, Germany

Dr. Aqeel Abdulla, Independent academic/Yalla Community Theatre Exeter

Dr. Spencer Swain, University of York

Sophie Besse and Debby Karem, PSYCHEdelight Theatre Company

Dr. Hannah Lewis (Keynote), University of Sheffield

How to get to BU: Directions, parking & maps

For information on how to reach the University please visit our website.

Accommodation: The University has preferential rates with a number of local hotels, please quote Bournemouth University when booking to access these rates. (Preferential rates are subject to availability and will be advised by the hotel at the time of booking)

Carlton Hotel
East Cliff Court Hotel
Miramar Hotel
The Green House Hotel
Ramada Encore

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Leisure and Forced Migration