Culture and Migration

UCL has a strong legacy in cultural historical geography, reflected in contemporary scholarship.

• Research includes literary geographies and the historical geographies of drinking and licensing (James Kneale).
• The cluster leads in grounding historical Black geographies in critical race and postcolonial theory (Caroline Bressey, Director of the Equiano Centre; Tariq Jazeel, postcolonial politics and landscapes in Sri Lanka and South India).
• Tariq Jazeel also leads UCL’s South Asian Studies network.

The cluster has long-standing and diverse research interests in international migration. It is linked to UCL’s interdisciplinary Migration Research Unit and leads the MSc Global Migration programme.

Current research focuses on:

• Forced migration, refugees, and humanitarian assistance (Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Tatiana Thieme, Tom Western)
• Migration, family, and transnational education (Johanna Waters)
• Migration, development, and remittances (Ben Page)

Geographic expertise includes:

• the Middle East
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• South and East Asia

Ben Page and Tatiana Thieme are also part of the UCL Africa Research Centre.

• Explores the connections between migration and culture, including historical mobilities, diasporic formations, colonial documentary cinema, and sound/radio history.
• Key researchers include Caroline Bressey, Tariq Jazeel, Ben Page, and Tom Western.
• The cluster supports postdoctoral researchers and a large cohort of PhD students, and has strong links with UCL’s Institute of Advanced Studies.

• Professor Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh
• Professor Tariq Jazeel
• Dr James Kneale
• Professor Ben Page
• Dr Tatiana Thieme
• Professor Johanna Waters
• Dr Tom Western