Classes and Workshops
When it comes to teaching focusing on international relations, human security, and forced displacement, I rely on feminist pedagogical approaches and encourage my students to learn how to identify and critically think about sources of power. I guide and encourage them to nurture a sense of community in the classroom and support each other while keeping intersectionality and considerations about how different parts of our identity shape our experiences and perceptions at the center of classroom work and discussions. I firmly believe in combining classroom learning with direct engagement and enjoy providing my students with opportunities to learn directly from people working on addressing some of the most pressing social and political issues of our times. For this reason, I especially enjoy designing classes and programs that allow them to engage with people from different sectors and backgrounds, including policymakers, researchers, artists, activists, and people directly impacted by the issues we engage with in the classroom.
Below are brief descriptions of a few selected examples of the classes and workshops I currently teach or have taught in the past.
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Migration and Border Regimes and Interdisciplinary Summer School on Forced Displacement
Forced Displacement in the EU Borderlands
This semester-long class offers students an opportunity to learn about the challenges of forced displacement by looking closely at the so-called migration management systems and border regimes established within and around the EU. During the first part of the semester, students engage with academic research and writing focusing on forced displacement, human security and international relations to understand the dynamics in the EU borderlands. In the second part of the course, we zoom in to the dynamics at the external borders of the EU with the Western Balkan countries. We also welcome guest presenters from Serbia and discuss forced displacement issues along the EU-Serbia borders specifically . ​​​
Interdisciplinary Summer School on Forced Migration, Belgrade, Serbia​​
The above mentioned course concludes with a two week intensive summer school in Serbia. This part of the class is not mandatory for all. Interested students apply to participate in the summer school prior to the beginning of the semester-long class and qualifying students receive financial aid that allows them to cover tuition and travel expenses through the Center on Forced Displacement.
Once in Serbia, the students spend one week engaging in discussions with policymakers, artists, activists, and human rights organizations at the University of Belgrade. They are joined here by the graduate and undergraduate students from universities across Serbia. The second week they focus on "shadowing" an NGO and working on research and other projects assigned to them by the staff of the organizations they are matched with. I design each summer school program in close collaboration with scholars and NGOs from Serbia through a series of meetings we hold over the course of the semester. More detailed information and a schedule for each year's summer school is available on the CFD website.
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Global Challenges
This course is part of the Kilachand Honors College two-semester sequence, “Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Global Challenges," and is taught by an interdisciplinary team of instructors. It takes a two-pronged approach to studying forced displacement - one that seeks to balance breadth and depth, or the need to understand the global scope of forced displacement, and the other that addresses the particular features of specific contexts. Each week a lecture taught by a different member of the teaching team introduces a set of important general topics or concerns in refugee studies: the international law of forced migration, empire and modern statehood, racialization, gender, and other aspects of identity, the arts, the current available tools to improve health and their limitations, etc. The second class meeting of the week is reserved for a context specific discussion where the students discuss the general topic introduced in lecture as applied to the specific geographic context introduced to them by one of the instructors. My own section introduces students to the EU-Serbia borderlands and the specific issues that emerge in this space, helping them understand the dynamics that shape the experiences and challenges people on the move face as they try to reach the EU.
Research Workshop Series
Graduate students and junior scholars often take on large research projects with few resources and under strict time constraints, which impacts the research design process and outcomes. While there are plenty of forums for sharing research results, there is a lack of spaces to discuss first steps, challenges faced along the way, and how to recalibrate from obstacles. This series of workshops and conversations gives participants a chance to “peek behind the curtain” – to demystify and collaborate around parts of the methodological process that can sometimes feel messy, intimidating or uncharted. It combines in-person and hybrid sessions and allows anyone interested in engaging more deeply in discussions around specific research methods and ethical dilemmas to join the workshop. Some sessions are also devoted to workshopping specific papers and projects where participants bring in their works-in-progress for discussion. Up to date schedule and opportunities for engagement can be found on the CFD website.