Mission & vision

CESSMIR was established at Ghent University as an interdisciplinary center dedicated to understanding the societal impact of migration and refugees.

Migration and displacement can have a significant impact on the lives of all those involved, both migrants themselves and the communities where they settle, leave, or return. CESSMIR focuses on these “societal dimensions” of migration. By “migration,” we mean all possible forms of mobility, such as asylum, resettlement, transit migration, return, re/expatriation, labor migration, family reunification, temporary migration, and more.

Because migration processes are complex and intersect with may different social dynamics, they are relevant to a wide range of academic disciplines. Interdisciplinary collaboration is therefore crucial to achieve a better understanding of these processes and to inform the societal debate.

Our annual themes

Each year, CESSMIR selects a central theme around which a series of activities are aligned. This way, we connect ongoing research, education, and societal outreach to pressing societal issues. Lectures, study days, trainings, and seminars are developed within this annual theme, each from an interdisciplinary approach.

The current annual theme is ‘Change, hope and activism’. Below you will find all themes and their activities:

Activities

CESSMIR brings together research, education, and community service, weaving strong connections between these three pillars. Research is given tangible form in both teaching and service, and we actively foster the exchange between theory and practice. This way, we bring research into the field while also drawing valuable insights from practice back into academia. This translates, for example, in practice-oriented courses and trainings, or in master’s theses that directly engage with current challenges in the field. In this way, knowledge becomes a lively and reciprocal flow between science, education, and society.

For a broader audience

  • Migration Research in Practice study day: annual study day in March, during which CESSMIR researchers present their work in dialogue with practitioners
  • Breakthrough Breakfasts: the latest research findings on the societal impact of migration and fleeing presented
  • Practice oriented training: training courses tailored to practitioners, volunteers and policymakers
  • Public lectures: lectures by internationally renowned scholars.
  • CESSMIR@KASK: film screenings with introduction and/or panel discussion
  • Advisory board: group of non-academic partners that exchanges with CESSMIR on a regular basis

For researchers

  • Interdisciplinary and societally impactful research projects on migration, refugees, and ethnic-cultural diversity
  • Doctoral schools: specialized, interdisciplinary courses for doctoral researchers
  • PhD Meetings: meetings where doctoral researchers discuss specific themes (e.g., positionality, working with translators/interpreters, decolonization of migration studies, etc.)
  • Research seminars: seminars lead by renowned scholars from Belgium and abroad
  • Common research day with other Belgian migration research centres
  • IMISCOE membership

For students

  • Migration and Society: this university-wide elective course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to migration studies, and is open to all third-year bachelor’s and master’s students at Ghent University. Taught since 2021-2022 by a team of around twenty CESSMIR lecturers and coaches, the course is coordinated by prof. dr. Sorana Toma and prof. dr. Robin Vandevoordt
  • Master thesis workshops ‘Night fligh’ and ‘Discrit‘: a collaboration between students from different study programmes, supervisors from different disciplines and non-academic partners. Together, they build knowledge around complex themes, which all those involved incorporate into their work
Check all activities

Organisation

CESSMIR is coordinated by Prof. Ilse Derluyn (director), Dr. Floor Verhaeghe (coordinator), Prof. Sorana Toma (lecturer in Migration and Refugee Studies), and Prof. Robin Vandevoordt (lecturer in Migration and Refugee Studies). They are advised by a steering committee comprising representatives from all the research groups involved and numerous partners in the field.