With the number of forcibly displaced people at a historic high, the global challenges of human migration are critical and expanding.
How governments respond to these challenges is one of the most politically-defining and socio-economically consequential policy decisions of our time.
As anti-immigrant parties score electoral victories across the Global North, capitalizing on public concerns about immigrant inclusion and the ability of states to control their borders, immigration has turned into a deepening social and political cleavage. Meanwhile, the greatest immigration challenges are in fact faced in the Global South. The vast majority of refugees who are forcibly displaced by war, political violence, poverty and environmental disasters seek refuge in neighbouring regions where many states lack the capacity to provide adequate support to those displaced from their homes.
Given these challenges, universities are increasingly recognizing the importance of Global Migration as a field of research—a development reflected in the creation of migration centres and teaching programs, as well as in faculty recruitment.
Through UBC’s Grants for Catalyzing Research Clusters competition, a UBC Migration Cluster has been created with institutional support from the Department of Political Science. Bringing together 50 UBC faculty members from a wide range of disciplines, UBC Migration seeks to understand and engage in debate about the drivers and consequences of international migration through research, education and outreach. At the core of the research agendas of many UBC Migration faculty is that of immigrant inclusion and integration in North America, Europe, Russia and Eurasia, the Middle East, the Himalayas, East and Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The President’s Excellence Chair in Global Migration will benefit from these existing collaborations in research, teaching and public engagement, while also being a major asset in the university’s efforts to make UBC a globally-recognized leader in migration research and graduate training excellence.
To apply, please view the full position recruitment ad below, updated March 2023: