杏吧原创 the Prize

Named in honour of Al Gunn, a founding member and former Secretary of CIHS, the Gunn Prize awards $1,000 to the best historical essay exploring the evolution of Canadian immigration policy or the historical experiences of immigrant communities, places, or events in Canada.

The prize is interdisciplinary, welcoming submissions from students in history, political science, sociology, global studies, communication studies, and other related fields in the social sciences and humanities.

Submission Requirements

• Deadline: June 30 annually
• Language: English or French.
• Length: Maximum 20 pages in length, excluding bibliography.
  • Longer submissions will not be considered.
• 贵辞谤尘补迟:听1.5 line spacing, one-inch margins in a standard 12-point font such as Times New Roman.
• Citation: Chicago, APA or MLA style.
• File types: Word and PDF
• Submit to: prixgunnprize@carleton.ca

Additional Requirements:

• Include a cover page with name, contact information (name should not appear on subsequent pages), the course, degree program, and institution for which the paper was written, as well as the current program status of the author.
• Chapter excerpts from thesis projects will be accepted. In such cases, a short 250-word abstract should accompany the submission to explain the larger project.
• All essays should be carefully edited for spelling, grammar, and accuracy of content.
• Note: By submitting their paper, the author consents to it being made public on the CIHS website and the LERRN and Department of History websites at 杏吧原创 University, should their work be selected for the award. The author also consents to revising their piece, for inclusion as a 1,000 word essay in the Canadian Immigration Historical Society Bulletin.

The panelists expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to engage in this interdisciplinary conversation, especially when the current volume of scholarly work related to forced migration makes it difficult to sustain conversations across disciplines.

The panelists first reflected on what the phrase 鈥渕essy politics鈥� means. Although 鈥渕essy鈥� does not necessarily equal 鈥渂ad,鈥� the phrase 鈥渕essy politics鈥� does acknowledge the complex and rapidly changing responses to migration.

Shauna Labman explained, 鈥淲hat feels messy now is a lack of clarity, blurring of classifications, and a complete absence of transparency on what the politics of migration mean for people on the move.鈥�

She acknowledged that each of the major humanitarian movements to Canada in recent years has involved messy components: the challenge of achieving ambitious government promises in the Syrian initiative, the definition of family for Yazidi family reunification, the difficulty of getting people out of Afghanistan, and the temporary status for Ukrainians. Although migration has always been political, it is currently highly politicized in Canada, with migration coming up in election campaigns and debates between politicians at all levels. Part of Sarah Zell鈥檚 work involves showing how managed migration that is labelled as 鈥渓egal, safe, and orderly鈥� is quite messy on the ground. For example, the work of admission may be happening in a rural village in Mexico, where temporary labour migrants are recruited, long before a person arrives at the official Canadian border.

Megan Bradley emphasized that political scientists see politics and power everywhere. For her, much of the current 鈥渕essiness鈥� relates to shifting power, which can unsettle long-standing patterns of exclusion. For example, in the early years of refugee studies, there was little reflection on the predominance of privileged Western academics among authors in journals in the field. Now, the messy work is ongoing to diversify journal authorship. Another challenge with messy politics today is the strong social demand for moral clarity, with the desire to put people on one side or another of each debate. However, in reality, political issues are messy and complex. It is unrealistic to reduce migration issues and other political issues to black and white debates.

The panelists also reflected on the ethical and practical challenges of engaging in policy debates as migration scholars. Although scholars often hope to provide evidence to guide policy in directions that are less exclusionary for migrants, in practice policy decisions often ignore research. Shauna Labman spoke about the difficulty of condensing her work into a 5-minute presentation for a politician or parliamentary committee. She often writes op-eds to make her work more accessible to readers beyond the academic community. Sarah Zell considered how the research process itself can be transformative, especially as a settler researcher engaging with the local Indigenous community.

Finally, audience members resonated with the calls to engage across disciplines, consider the end users of research, acknowledge the complexity of immigration, and recognize the opportunities and dangers of 鈥渃risis鈥� language and 鈥渃risis鈥� moments.

Written by Rachel McNally, LERRN Project Editor-in-Chief

This past year, the brought together a transnational team of educators, researchers and community organizers to confront current challenges and possibilities in teaching refugee history.聽In a series of virtual workshops, participants based in the Arab world, North America and Europe debated and developed pedagogical approaches and learning tools including interactive maps, virtual reality and immersive storytelling.

A key outcome of these exchanges was series of digital educational resources, to be piloted in focus groups this summer before publication on our bilingual website. These multimedia lesson plans draw on the Nakba Archive鈥檚 vast collection of filmed Palestinian refugee testimonies, dozens of which have now been translated and subtitled. Workshop participants further developed an ambitious research program聽to build digital teaching and research capacity, with a view to equipping educators to embed refugee history in primary, secondary, post-secondary and community-based curricula.

The Nakba Archive promotes interactive, virtual learning about forced migration, on grounds that strengthening understandings of the conditions affecting refugees today requires broadening access to the past. LERRN鈥檚 continued support has enabled us to break new ground in collaborative, open-access digital humanities, while furthering our aim to elevate and empower refugee voices in education and throughout civil society. The new website will be launched this summer, and will make available 30 video interviews subtitled in English, together with interactive lesson plans developed by scholars, refugee researchers and community members that situate these rich testimonies in their historical, political, economic, social and cultural contexts.

This report was prepared by Federica De Sisto, Contributor to the LERRN Archives, Living Histories and Heritage Working Group.

LERRN鈥檚 Archives, Museums and Oral Histories Working Group is excited to promote a funding opportunity by the . Trustees of the ICA鈥檚 which aims to provide assistance to archive professionals and institutions working in especially challenging conditions, is inviting members, branches and other ICA bodies to submit proposals for ICA/FIDA support for archival projects. Applications which contribute to the development of archives and archivists in developing countries are particularly encouraged.

For more information about FIDA and selection criteria please visit the following link:

We are constantly working to amplify the voices of our partners in the Global South, which hosts 80% of the world鈥檚 refugees. In his visit, Hicham presented his film AISLE, his pictorial and oral work of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and much more. For him, oral history is a valuable way to document Palestinian history and spread awareness about the difficulties they face.

鈥淲e have to focus on these issues to let people know what happened and what鈥檚 going on for these people.鈥� -Hicham Kayed

Check out the video below to find out more about Hicham鈥檚 visit to Canada and his important work.

On Monday evening, students, faculty and community members gathered at the Mayfair Theatre to watch the film 鈥淎isle鈥� followed by a Q&A with Hicham. The film followed two Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who made the difficult decision to travel to Germany, leaving behind family and culture for the chance at a life of freedom and opportunity. It highlighted the power of individual stories in understanding the human experience of being a refugee behind the statistics.

Throughout the visit, a display in the history department showed some of the powerful photographs and poems created by Al-Jana鈥檚 participants: refugee children and youth from the Palestinian and Syrian communities in Lebanon. One of LERRN鈥檚 goals is to amplify the voices of refugees, and Al-Jana鈥檚 projects allow refugee youth to document and tell their own stories through photojournalism, filmmaking and writing. Workshops with students and faculty led to productive discussions on telling the stories of children and youth, archiving, and collecting oral histories. Hicham also shared his rich experience as a filmmaker with students in 杏吧原创鈥檚 Documentary Filmmaking class.

On behalf of the LERRN team and 杏吧原创 University, we would like to thank Hicham for coming to 杏吧原创 to share knowledge with us and we look forward to continuing collaboration in the future. LERRN is excited to continue to collaborate on oral history and archival projects, as well as finding creative ways to share refugee voices. For more information on the amazing work of Al-Jana in Lebanon, please see their website at聽.

Hicham Kayed鈥檚 visit is part of the actives of the聽Local Engagement Refugee Research Network, a research project led by聽Dr. James Milner聽(Political Science). LERRN is comprised of researchers and practitioners committed to promoting protection and solutions with and for refugees. Their goal is to ensure that refugee research, policy and practice are shaped by a more inclusive, equitable and informed collective engagement of civil society. Through collaborative research, training, and knowledge-sharing, LERRN aims to improve the functioning of the global refugee regime and ensure more timely protection and rights-based solutions for refugees.

Mr. Kayed is the Deputy General Coordinator of聽, an organization working 鈥渨ith communities that face marginalization in Lebanon in building on their strengths, and documenting and disseminating their empowering experiences and cultural contributions鈥�.

He will participate in a Q&A after the screening of his 2019 documentary titled聽Aisle聽in which he聽presents the personal journeys of Ihab and Bahaa from Lebanon to Germany. Monday, October 28th, 6:30 p.m. at the Mayfair Theater. This event is free, but聽.

杏吧原创 the Documentary

While Palestinian refugees residing in Lebanon are aware of the risks that come with irregular migration, 156,000 asylum seekers traveled to Germany in 2017, hoping to find the elements of life they were deprived of. This film explores Ihab and Bahaa who built a new life 鈥� but at certain costs.

Viewers get exclusive insight into the emotional effects of such a journey, their personal struggles and the life they left behind.

Workshops

In addition to the film screening, there will be 4 workshops taking place on campus, where 杏吧原创 Scholars will share their expertise with LERRN鈥檚 guest:

1. October 28, 2:30-4:30 p.m.聽Children and Youth Workshop with聽Dr. Monica Patterson聽(ICSLAC and Child Studies):聽聽Sharing knowledge and insights on curating the experiences of聽children and youth.聽Facilitator: Dominique Marshall.聽Location: History Lounge 鈥� Paterson Hall 433
2. October 29, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.聽Archives Workshop:聽Exploring the potential to archive some of Al-Jana鈥檚 work.听贵补肠颈濒颈迟补迟辞谤蝉:听Chris Trainor聽(Archives and Special Collections), Dr. Laura Madokoro. Location: 聽Room 583 MacOdrum Library.聽Dr. Carol Payne聽(Art History) and Beth Greenhorn (Library and Archives Canada) of聽聽will be part of the conversation.
3. October 29, 2:30-4:00 p.m.聽Oral History Workshop with Hearts of Freedom Project:聽Exchanging experiences on documenting oral histories.聽Presenters: Hicham Kayed, Al-Jana;聽Emma Harake, Concordia University;聽Colleen Lundy and Allan Moscovitch (Social Work),聽Hearts of Freedom聽project, 杏吧原创 University, the The Canadian South East Asia Refugee Historical Research Project;聽 Facilitator: James Milner.聽Location: History Lounge 鈥� Paterson Hall 433
4. October 30, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.聽Guest Lecture in聽Professor Aboubakar Senogo鈥檚聽(Film Studies) Documentary Filmmaking Course,聽Discussing approaches to documentary filmmaking.聽Location: St. Patrick鈥檚 400.

For more information, and to participate in a workshop, please contact LERRN鈥檚 office:聽Nadiya Ismaeva.

History doctoral and senior undergraduate students Anna Kozlova and Malinda Pich are the coordinators of the events.