Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, American University in Cairo
Winter Short Courses January 15th – February 16th , 2017
The Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) at The American University in Cairo (AUC) is offering the following short courses during the month of January and February 2017:
1. Diaspora and Transnationalism (January 15 - 19, 2017) by Alexandra Parrs
2. Understanding & Addressing the psychosocial needs of migrants and refugees (January 29 – February 2, 2017) by Heinar Bolteya
3. Displaced by Armed Conflict: Protection Under International Law (February 5 - 9, 2017) by Jasmine Moussa and Usha Natarajan
4. Designing research with displaced populations in MENA region (February 12 - 16, 2017) by Sara Sadek
1. Eligibility for all courses:
Requirements: These courses are offered for undergraduate and postgraduate students, and researchers as well as practitioners working with migrants and refugees. A minimum knowledge of displacement and migration terminologies and context is a requirement for participation in any of the four courses.
All courses are conducted in English and no translation facilities are provided. Participants should have a very good command of the English language. Each course will run from 9.30 am till 4pm for five days.
Interested applicants can apply for one course or for all courses.
Number of Participants: minimum of 12 in each course
NB: Non- Egyptian applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early because it takes more than one month to obtain Egyptian visa.
2. Dates and Location:
CMRS courses will take place between Sunday 15 of January and 16th of February at the AUC Tahrir Campus in Downtown Cairo. The exact location and room numbers will be forwarded to accepted participants before the start of the courses.
3. Courses’ Descriptions:
3.1 Diaspora and Transnationalism (January 15 - 19, 2017)
The concepts of diaspora and transnationalism both refer to cross-border processes and are becoming increasingly prominent to understand patterns in international migrations, the meaning of state borders, identities constructions and socioeconomic relationships. The course aimed to define those processes, looking at diasporic groups and their relationship to both host countries and (real or perceived) homeland, as well as analyzing the social formations and transformations induced by transnationalism.
About the instructor: Alexandra Parrs is sociologist and currently a visiting professor at University of Saint Louis in Brussels. Parrs taught at the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies at AUC from 2012 to 2016, graduate courses on integration, citizenship transnationalism, migration and international relations. She received her doctorate in sociology in 2009. She has taught in the United States, Oman, Burma and Egypt. Her areas of research are migrations, ethnic minorities, integration, transnationalism and gender. She is currently working on Museums and identity, as well as the Diaspora's involvement in communities representation both in home and host countries. Her book on Egyptian Gypsies will be published by AUC Press.
3.2 Understanding & Addressing the psychosocial needs of migrants and refugees (January 29 – February 2, 2017)
Many people are under significant psychological and social stress after fleeing their homes due to armed conflict, persecution or disasters. While many refugees are able to cope effectively and show remarkable resilience by drawing support from their family and community, others in a more vulnerable situation are at an increased risk of developing mental problems. Social and psychological problems developed under these circumstances may exacerbate of distress, the use of negative coping mechanisms and the development or worsening of mental disorders. This course will familiarize participants with the Inter Agency Standing Committee Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, which explains the layers of interventions. Each layer will be discussed in detail with focus on psychological first aid (PFA), basic counseling skills, structured group activities and identification of cases and referrals will also be discussed in depth. Participants will also gain greater understanding of mental health and psychosocial issues faced by refugees and migrants. The course will enable participants to understand the specific and different needs of migrants and refugees and they will learn about the effect of migration and displacement on the individual on the social and psychological level.
The course will include lectures, presentations, role plays, group activities and some arts. Participants will be expected through a group project to design a tentative psychosocial program for refugees and/or migrants. The course will help practitioners gain more knowledge in the field of psychosocial support in emergencies and development content.
About the Instructor: Heinar Bolteya is a counseling psychologist. She obtained her BSc in Psychology at York University Canada in 2009 and her M.A in Counseling Psychology at the American University in Cairo (AUC) in 2011. She is currently a consultant and regional master trainer in the field of psychosocial support in Egypt and the MENA region. She has lead and participated in a series of trainings including: Psychological First Aid (PFA), Healing and Education through the Arts (HEART), Child Safeguarding and identification and referral of cases who need further psychological support. She worked as a staff member and consultant for international organizations and psychiatric hospitals/clinics. To name a few: Save The Children International, Save the Children US, Save The Children Denmark, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Behman Psychiatric Hospital and Al Mashfa Psychiatric Hopsital along with therapy sessions at different counseling centers. Heinar also had extensive experience working as a psychologist in an emergency camp in Salum in 2012 after the Libyan crisis.
Requirements: This course is primarily for practitioners in the field of migration. Participants are usually from NGOs, UN agencies and other stakeholders from Egypt and abroad. It is also for undergraduates and post-graduates in social sciences working on topics related to migrants and refugees. A minimum knowledge of displacement and migration terminologies is a requirement for the course participation. Knowledge of mental health and psychosocial support is not required.
3.3 Displaced by Armed Conflict: Protection Under International Law (February 5 - 9, 2017)
This course provided an introduction to the international legal framework protecting those displaced by armed conflict. It is useful to postgraduate students and those working in international, national and nongovernmental organizations that engage with internationally displaced persons, particularly those working with situations of mass displacement. Through lectures, case studies and discussions, this one-week intensive course introduced the different areas of international law that govern conflict-induced displacement. Questions explored included: How does international humanitarian law, especially the four Geneva Conventions and their Protocols, protect displaced peoples? How does international humanitarian law intersect with international refugee law and international human rights law? What are temporary or complementary protection regimes? What are the protection gaps faced by those displaced by armed conflict? How have states and international organizations such as UNHCR and ICRC adapted to manage these gaps? These questions will be explored through case studies from the Arab region, including displacement from Palestine, Iraq and Syria.
About the Instructors: Jasmine Moussa (PhD, LLM, LLB, MA, BA) has taught Public International Law, the Law of Armed Conflict and the Use of Force, and Gender, Law and Religion at the American University in Cairo and Supervised International Law at Magdalene College and St. Edmund’s College, at the University of Cambridge, where she obtained her PhD in Law. Her research interests and publications span a wide range of public international law topics, including statehood and recognition, treaty interpretation, the law of state succession, the law of non-navigational uses of international watercourses and the relationship between jus ad bellum and jus in bello. She is interested in investigating the relationship and gaps between theory and practice in the above-mentioned areas, and her work has been published in the International and Comparative Law Quarterly, the International Review of the Red Cross, the British Yearbook of International Law, the Yearbook of International Environmental Law, the Palestine Yearbook of International Law (forthcoming) and the Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law, of which she served as Editor-in-Chief in 2012-2013. She has also contributed to a number of edited volumes, and is the author of the book, Competing Fundamentalisms and Egyptian Women’s Family Rights (Martinus Nijhoff, 2011). Her forthcoming book explores the application of the law of treaties, the law of state succession and the law of non-navigational uses of international watercourses in the context of the Nile Basin dispute (forthcoming, Cambridge University Press). She has considerable policy experience, having worked at Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the League of Arab States. She has also provided legal advice to a number of international non-governmental organisations.
Usha Natarajan (PhD, MA, LLB, BA) is Associate Director of the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies and Assistant Professor of Law at The American University in Cairo. Her research and publications are multidisciplinary, utilizing third world and postcolonial approaches to international law to provide an interrelated understanding of the relationship between international law and issues of development, migration, environment and conflict. Professor Natarajan explores the interplay of these issues globally and in the Arab region, with a particular focus on Iraq as well as the ongoing Arab uprisings. She has worked with various international organizations including UNDP, UNESCO, and the World Bank on law reform initiatives in Asia, including Indonesia during its democratic transition and in post-independence Timor-Leste.
3.4 Designing research with displaced populations in MENA region (February 12 - 16, 2017)
The past two years have witnessed the highest records of refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced since World War II, with an estimate of 4.8 million Syrians alone hosted in MENA in addition to other refugee groups from the Horn of Africa and Iraq. In light of the lack of prospects migrants and refugees experience in MENA, assessing their socio-economic needs have become a major task undertaken by agencies catering to migrants and refugees.
This course is intended for practitioners from national governments, international inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), and national and inter-national non-governmental organizations (NGOs), working with migrants and refugees in urban and camp settings. It is also for junior researchers, undergraduates and post-graduates in social sciences working on topics related to migrants and refugees.
The course will provide essential tools and techniques needed to conduct research and needs-assessments with displaced populations. It will help participants:
• Understand the aims and objectives of research.
• Identify the appropriate research method for the target groups and subject matter.
• Select the appropriate sample frame/s and sampling techniques.
• Create research tools to reflect the focus of the research.
• Consider the contextual limitations and challenges in conducting research with migrants and refugees.
• Understand the ethical considerations and limitations vis-à-vis interaction with respondents/clients when conducting research.
The course will cover mixed research methods with an emphasis on qualitative techniques namely: Focus Group Discussions, Semi-Structured Interviews, in-depth interviews and ethnographies. It will lay out the pros and cons of the different methods and sampling techniques. It will discuss in-depth the implications of reflexivity on the data collection, analysis and outcomes. It will also look at ethical considerations and challenges in conducting research with beneficiaries.
The course includes lectures and application of methods. Participants will be expected through a group project to apply one of the research methods through a practical exercise with refugee and migrant respondents in Egypt on a topic of interest. Participants will also submit a reflective piece covering their scope of work.
Requirements: A minimum knowledge of displacement and migration terminologies is a requirement for the course participation. Knowledge of research is not required.
About the Instructor: Sara Sadek is a researcher and trainer in the field of migration and protection. She is currently an adjunct professor at the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies at the American University in Cairo and a PhD Candidate at the Center for Applied Human Rights at the Politics Department at the University of York, UK. She obtained her B.A in Political Science at the American University in Cairo (AUC) in 2003 and her M.A in Refugee Studies at the University of East London (UEL) in UK in 2007. She has lead and participated in a series of medium to large-scale needs assessments and research projects using quantitative and qualitative methods including: large-scale surveys, focus group discussions, interviews and ethnographies. She worked as a researcher and consultant for international organizations and academic institutions. To name a few: Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS), Cynthia Institute for Gender and Women Studied (IGWS) at the American University in Cairo (AUC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Save the Children International (SC), Swiss Development Cooperation, the University of East London, the French Institute for the Near East (IFPO), Duke University, and Center for Applied Human Rights at the University of York, UK. Research topics covered: labor migration, civil society-state relations, trafficking and smuggling, mixed migratory flows, domestic labor, unaccompanied minors, survivors of Sexual and Gender-based Violence, Diaspora and transnational communities, child protection, livelihoods and socio-economic rights, citizenship, narratives of displacements and transitional justice.
Deadlines for submitting application for all courses are:
• 8 of Dec, 2016
• Deadline for paying course deposit (30% of the course’s fee- 150$) is 15 of Dec, 2016
Application Information:
To apply for the courses:
1. Fill out the application form. The form is available on CMRS website: http://schools.aucegypt.edu/GAPP/cmrs/outreach/Pages/Winter2017ShortCourses.aspx
2. Send the application form to [log in to unmask] with your most recent C.V; Att. Naseem Hashim
Applicants may apply to and be accepted in more than one course. Please do not hesitate to contact [log in to unmask] if you have any difficulty with the application process.
Applicants accepted for the course will be notified by email within a week after the deadline for submitting the application.
Fees and Scholarship:
The fee for each course is $500. Participants are expected to pay 30% of the total fees ($150) as a deposit. Please pay attention to the deposit deadline and kindly note that the deposit is non-refundable. More information on payment method will be provided to accepted participants.
Tuition fees will cover course material and two coffee breaks per course day. All participants are kindly requested to secure their visa and organise and cover expenses for their travel to Egypt, as well as their accommodation and local transportation in Egypt.
Independent researchers and students can apply for a limited number of scholarships. Scholarships cover only tuition cost; those accepted for a scholarship must be able to finance their travel to and accommodation in Cairo. Scholarships are not intended for participants who can be funded by their own institutions.
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Thank you
Center for Migration and Refugee Studies
The American University in Cairo
http://www.aucegypt.edu/GAPP/cmrs/Pages/default.aspx
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http://www.aucegypt.edu/GAPP
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