After a fruitful 35th AEMI conference at the Ruhr Museum in Essen, you can now find the abstracts of the many interesting papers here on the website.
PANEL 1: MIGRATION AND GENERATION IN HISTORY AND THE PRESENT DAY
Chair: Liam Campbell, The Mellon Centre for Migration Studies, Omagh/ Northern Ireland
Identity and Belonging: An Intergenerational Comparison of Polish migrants in Washingting State
Joanna Kulpinska, Jagiellonian University in Cracow/ Poland
The aim of the presentation is a comparative analysis of factors influencing the shaping of identity
and belonging in the context of migration, using the example of inhabitants of Washington state
declaring Polish ancestry. The study will be conducted from two perspectives: 1) intergenerational,
addressing the extent of differences within the framework of ethnic self-identification of three
generations of Polish migrants, 2) migration waves, juxtaposing factors and visions of Polishness of
people arriving in the Pacific Northwest at different times and in the context of various historical
events.
The research material was collected on the basis of both found and evoked data. With regard to the
latter method, in-depth interviews were conducted with different generations of Polish migrants and
those arriving in Washington state at different historical periods. The presentation will attempt to
capture the transformations in the process of redefining ethnic identity and sense of belonging in the
host society of different groups and generations of Polish migrants in the Pacific Northwest.
Joanna Kulpinska – a graduate in international migration studies, is an assistant professor at the Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora at Jagiellonian University. She has conducted research on migration processes in Poland and the United States. Her research interests include migration studies (especially transatlantic migration), historical sociology and migration policy.
(In)tolerable Hardships: The Swabian children, gendered potentiality, and child abuse in late imperial Austria
Andie Speed, Western Colorado University/ USA
Beginning in the 1890s, Social Democrats weaponized the migrations of the so-called Swabian
Children (Schwabenkinder) in their efforts to secularize public education and child welfare. The
discourse over these migrants was framed by two contemporary panics, each of which spoke to the
desire to consecrate national space as a refuge for Austrian children: “white slavery” and child labour.
Because it concerned girls not boys, campaigns against “white slavery” tended to focus on sexual
violence, natalist logic, and vulnerability. By contrast, outrage over child labour often centered on the
plight of boys, and thus excused some degree of hardship as inherent to the transition to manhood.
Due to how it undermined masculinity while invoking the “sexual deviance” of homosexuality, even
the faintest whispers of sexual violence were studiously avoided.
The Schwabenkinder were distinct from these other two phenomena because they were not so
associated with either girls or boys. Reformers were thus faced with a choice. Some emphasized the
mixed benefits of a summer labouring the fields for boys, arguing that these children’s status as
future workers justified permitting the migrations to continue under enhanced regulation. Others
focused on the fate of girls who worked as household domestics, citing rumors of sexual violence to
advocate strict prohibition. Reformers saw children through the lens of temporality, as “becomings”
rather than beings, but the possible futures they saw were always gendered. This paper positions the
Schwabenkinder as a subject for exploring conceptions of child agency at the genesis of international
child saving and child labor reform.
Andie Speed – PhD, Vanderbilt University 2022. Instructor, History, Western Colorado University. Publications include: “On Sunlit Fields: the Swabian Children, Legal Personhood, and the Tyrolean Statthalterei’s Edict of 1867,” German Studies Review. In “Rural Kinetics: Migrations, Marginality, and Material Flows in Germanophone Europe,” ed. Patrick Anthony. (Feb 2024). “Pious Guardians: the ‘Swabian Children Association’ and Child-Welfare in Tyrol, 1891 –1915,” Citizenship, Migration and Social Rights: Historical Experiences from the 1870s to the 1970s, ed. Beate Althammer (Routledge, 2023). “A ‘Child Export’: the Swabian Children at the Austro-German Border, 1908 – 1914,” Österreich-Studien im 21. Jahrhundert. Band 2. (University of Vienna Press, 2025).
Care Dynamics between Chinese transmigrants and their families: gendered, classed and intergenerational perspectives
Junyan Zhou, Heidelberg University/ Germany
No abstract or CV available.
The ambivalent protection of Ukrainian refugees in Europe: gender and generations in the case of the Netherlands
Jofelle Tesorio, Utrecht University/ Netherlands & Jeroen Doomernik, University of Amsterdam/ Netherlands
The paper starts with general reflections on how gender and (second) generation impact the nature
of migration processes. Where these initially tend to be conceived as temporary in nature because of
the prospect of return with savings, or to a country recovered from war and persecution, such
migrations often evolve into permanent resettlement. Important factors are changes in gender
dynamics and the integration of the migrants’ children into the educational system of the receiving
state. Migration may allow women to emancipate from traditional roles they are reluctant to return
to. The educational opportunities children get and the subsequent disconnect from their origin make
return migration for their parents less of an option. The paper then explores how such dynamics play
out in the case of Ukrainian refugees who benefit from the Temporary Protection Directive in
Europe. The TPD, although valid throughout the EU, is not uniformly implemented. The
interpretation of the Dutch government is such that the position of Ukrainians has remained
ambivalent: integration into the labour market and education is encouraged yet desired temporality
of stay underlies their legal position. In the case of the Netherlands, and based on original survey
data, we argue that here again gender and generational dynamics are determining the actual
outcome of the Ukrainians’ “temporary” protection.
Jofelle P. Tesorio – a migration researcher at the Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Utrecht University. Within the Horizon 2020 Welcoming Spaces project at UU, Jofelle has done research about Ukrainians in peripheral Netherlands. Her research hopes to contribute to the lessons learned from the arrival of Ukrainians in their host countries in the longstanding debate on refugee inclusion. Also trained as a journalist, she has been investigating media representations of different groups of migrants and reporting about issues of Asian migrants in Europe.
Dr Jeroen Doomernik – an associate professor at the Dept. of Political Science and a senior researcher at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR) of the University of Amsterdam. His field of research is the politics of past and present international migration and asylum in Europe. Latest publication is (2025) “Why All Benefit When Refugees Enjoy the EU’s Freedom of Movement” in EconPol Forum, Vol.26(1), pp. 32-34.
PANEL 2: EXPERIENCES, IMAGES AND PERCEPTIONS OF MIGRANT WOMEN IN THE 18TH-20TH CENTURY
Chair: Emma Barnhøj Jeppesen, Immigrantmuseet – Migration Museum of Denmark, Farum/ Denmark
“Not one young woman in the steerage escaped attack”: Sexual harassment and assault in the steamship era, 1870-1914
Christina A. Ziegler-McPherson, Bremen/ Germany
Thanks to thousands of letters and a few studies involving government investigators and journalists posing as emigrants, we have a good idea of what steerage conditions were like for European migrants traveling in steamships between 1870 and 1914. Public and private accounts describe barely edible food; uncomfortable, overcrowded, dirty sleeping areas; seasick passengers. What is rarely ever alluded to in shipboard accounts are sexual harassment and assault. Buried within the thousands of pages of the United States Congressional Joint Immigration Commission of 1907-1910’s 41 volumes is the allegation of widespread sexual assault and harassment of female passengers by male crew members, particularly on ships with “old” steerage conditions. Investigator Anna Harkner, who made 12 trans-Atlantic voyages in 1908, posing as a single Czech woman, wrote of crew members on an unidentified steamship: “They took all manners of liberties with the women, in broad daylight as well as after dark. Not one young woman in the steerage escaped attack. The writer herself was no exception.”
Given the taboo nature of the subject, especially in the 19th century, how does one deal with Harkner’s report as a source of information about trans-Atlantic conditions for migrant women? Extensive research has been made of prostitution and sex trafficking among migrant women in the U.S., South America (particularly Argentina), Great Britain, and Russian Poland, particularly within Jewish migration studies. But little appears to have been written about sexual harassment and assault, particularly onboard ship, during the migration process. This paper examines Harkner’s allegations in the larger context of the mobility of Irish and Eastern European Jewish women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, two groups distinguished by their tendency to travel without male accompaniment. It evaluates Herkner as a source and asks how we deal with outlier forms of evidence.
Christina A. Ziegler-McPherson – a historian in Bremen, Germany, who has curated several exhibitions about trans-Atlantic migration in Germany and in the United States, most recently at Haus der Geschichte Baden-Württemberg in Stuttgart and the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven. She is the author of four books and several articles about trans-Atlantic migration and immigrant communities in the U.S.
Bad bridget and the role of women in the polices of developing the narrative at the Ulster American Folk Park
Liam Campbell, The Mellon Centre for Migration Studies, Omagh/ Northern Ireland
The Ulster American Folk Park strives to give a diverse range of perspectives on the story of migration from Ulster to North America, from the 18th century to the early 20th century. However, issues concerning indigenous peoples, slavery, urbanism and women were largely ignored until lately. In the Developing the Narrative approach National Museums NI have sought to bring a more” inclusive approach to the exploration of our past, reflecting and representing multiple perspectives, which can open minds and promote respect and empathy……..and without them our understanding of this history
is incomplete.”
The Bad Bridget exhibition and project ( podcasts and book – Bad Bridget, Crime, Mayhem and the Lives of Irish Emigrant Women, Elaine Farrell and Leanne Mc Cormick, 2023, Penguin ) seeks to put women to the fore of this narrative. However ironically, it concerns women who found themselves in trouble with the law.
The Bad Bridget exhibition examines the experiences of Irish women who migrated to urban centres in North America such as New York, Boston and Toronto between 1838 and 1918, and found themselves in trouble with the authorities as they struggled to survive. For much of the nineteenth century, Irish-born migrants were the biggest group in American prisons, and there were disproportionate numbers of Irish girls and women in the justice system, court, and prison. Bad Bridget has provided us with a platform to reveal this previously unexplored aspect of the Irish migration story at the museum, contrary to the “American Dream.”
A trunk in the attic: Tracing the forgotten journeys of Swedish women in America
Judith Söderblom, Kulturparken Småland/ Sweden
This presentation examines return migration within the larger framework of Swedish emigration to North America between 1850 and 1930, with a particular focus on women’s experiences. While male migration has been relatively well documented, the emigration of Swedish women remain partly underexplored in both academic and public narratives. During the peak period of emigration, nearly 20 percent of Swedish emigrants returned to their home country. Among them were many women who had worked as domestic servants in American households—one of the most common occupations for unmarried, often young, Swedish women who emigrated alone.
The Nordic countries stand out in this historical context, as they saw a significant number of single women choosing to emigrate independently. Yet the reasons behind their decisions to leave, their lived experiences abroad, and their motivations for returning home have not received the scholarly attention they deserve.
Using material from the Swedish Emigrant Institute, we highlight a specific case study: a woman who, after nearly five decades of working as a housemaid in the United States, returned unannounced to Sweden. With her, she brought a trunk that remained unopened in an attic until after her death. This story offers a compelling entry point for discussing themes such as memory, belonging, and women’s migration histories. By focusing on this individual narrative, we aim to shed light on broader patterns of return migration and the value of personal archives and collections in recovering marginalized voices in transatlantic migration history.
Judit Söderblom – is an archivist, who works with the archives, collections, research and activities at House of Emigrants and the Swedish Emigrant Institute, Kulturparken Småland, a regional institution in Sweden dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of cultural heritage through collections, archives, public programs, and academic research.
PANEL 3: WORKSHOPS (PARALLEL SESSIONS)
Towards participatory collection management in museums with migration heritage collections: Insights from the Red Star Line Museum”
Lisa Yolanda Lambrechts, Red Star Line Museum, Antwerp/ Belgium
This workshop proposal outlines a hybrid session combining a concise presentation and a structured critical dialogue, focusing on the outcomes of Phase 1 of the Red Star Line Museum’s project Time to Let Go: Participatory Collection Management in Museums with Migration Heritage Collections. (Oct 2024 – Sept 2025). The project explores pathways toward a more inclusive, needs-based model of collection care grounded in the principles of shared authority and participatory practice, aiming to develop a participatory collection management workflow and related deliverables.
Phase 1 consisted of two main components: (1) International research into best practices regarding participative working methods and collection management in migration museums and institutions across Europe; (2) A participatory action research trajectory with an intercultural and intergenerational group of heritage community members with migration backgrounds. This trajectory titled #OurMuseumLaboratory: Preserving and Sharing My Migration Heritage- My Needs,” guided participants through a simulated donation process – from initial outreach and personal heritage reflection to the imagined irrevocable transfer of ownership, registration, and eventual public representation. Another central theme was trust and reciprocity between donor and museum.
The core research question was: What are participants’ visions regarding the materiality of migration
heritage, and their needs and conditions for preserving and sharing it in a museum context? Using
creative and trauma-sensitive heritage conversation methods co-developed with a creative therapist,
participants engaged in monthly dialogues to articulate needs regarding preservation, care, visibility,
registration, and donor-museum relationships.
The workshop will present key findings and emerging needs identified during Phase 1. Museum
professionals are invited to critically reflect on these results through brainstorming sessions
addressing thematic needs and questions emerged from the project. The session aims to foster
sector-based feedback and critical knowledge exchange, collaboratively imagining the future of
inclusive participatory collection management.
Workshop format: The session starts with a 15-minute presentation on Phase 1’s key insights. Participants are then split into small groups for a 10-minute brainstorming session focused on a thematic need from the project. Each group addresses a concrete thematic need that emerged from the project for 10 minutes. The participants formulate needs, challenges and practical solutions based on their own museum practice and briefly share feedback. Results are discussed plenarily for 20 minutes.
Lisa Yolanda Lambrects – a Belgian-Salvador art historian and heritage professional specializing in participatory collection management. She is currently a researcher at the Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp, leading the project Time to Let Go: Participatory Collection Management in Museums with Migration Heritage Collections. Her role includes organizing participatory action research, qualitative data analysis, and developing innovative participatory collection management models. Lambrechts holds degrees from Ghent University, the University of Amsterdam, and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her work is grounded in a research-based, critical approach to museal representation and heritage practices, focusing on underrepresented narratives in art and history. She has experience with participatory projects and exhibitions at institutions such as the Rijksmuseum and the Royal Library of The Hague.
Giving space and value: Exploring female and generational migration through storytelling
Sara-Marie Demiriz, LVR-Industriemuseum, Oberhausen/ Germany; Anna-Elisabeth Hampel, Minor Projektkontor, Berlin/ Germany; Gabriela Nicolescu, National Library of Romania, Bucharest/ Romania
Introduction: The EU-funded transnational project “Female Labour Migration in European History”
has set itself the task of drawing more attention to the specifics of women’s labour migration in the European Union and making them public. Through personal stories, which are compiled together with the women concerned and presented on an online platform, untold and overlooked stories as well as structural challenges and conditions of women’s migration are to be made visible. (https://minorkontor.de/femig-lab)
A central question is how we can give space and value to the stories and narratives of women in a joint exchange? How do we manage to tell history and heritage together? How do we create lowthreshold opportunities to talk about women’s own or generationally intertwined migration histories – without overburdening them or projecting too many preconceptions?
This is exactly where the workshop wants to start and lead the participants themselves into the role of storytellers. Approaches from cultural and anthropological studies offer the opportunity to bring to light stories that do not normally find their way into archives and academic research. The lowthreshold and associative methods aim to open up conversations of involving every generation of migrants, but also people without their own experience of migration.
Workshop Goal: Explore ways to give space to stories – to listen to them, collect them collaboratively, and make them visible in an appropriate way.
Research Question: How can a method help to stimulate conversation? And how can materials be used to create a dialogical approach to the theme of women including “generational dimensions”? In the workshop, a personal connection to the theme of migration and the aspect of generations will be established with the help of materials that are on hand such as photos and music, little objects, documents and apps.
Target Audience: The workshop is aimed at museum professionals as well as anyone interested in exploring new approaches to museum work – particularly those who want to engage with the topic of migration, either through their own experiences or out of interest.
Workshop Focus (Proposed Plan):
- Future Generations: Perspectives and wishes in the context of migration
- Past Generations: Biographies, experiences, and their impact on present-day realities
- Current Stories: Experiences of people with their own migration background
Dr Sara-Marie Demiriz – a research outreach officer at LVR Industrial Museum, Zinkfabrik Altenberg. Since October 2024, Sara-Marie Demiriz serves as Research Outreach Officer at the LVR Industrial Museum, Zinkfabrik Altenberg in Oberhausen. Her work focuses on outreach, participatory museum practices, and migration history. After completing her studies, she worked at the University of Münster, various research institutes, and on museum projects. Until 2024, she was a research fellow and curator at the Foundation House of History North Rhine-Westphalia in Düsseldorf. Here she contributed to the conception and implementation of the major outreach project “Museum Mobil. We’re Looking for Your NRW Story” – a statewide initiative collecting personal objects and memories.
Anna-Elisabeth Hampel – a project manager and researcher at Minor – Projektkontor für Bildung und Forschung. Anna-Elisabeth Hampel is a project coordinator and researcher at the Berlin-based NGO Minor Kontor. Since 2019, she works on various projects at the interface between migration, labour,
democratic participation and remembrance. She coordinates the European network and remembrance project “Female Labour Migration in European History” (FeMig.Lab). She also contributed to the creation of the “We Refugees Archive” and coordinated the European project “Multi-Perspective Holocaust Remembrance in Contemporary Europe”. She is also involved in research, pilot-testing and networking projects about fair working conditions and democratic participation in the context of migration in Germany nowadays.
Gabriela Nicolescu – an anthropologist, curator and writer. Gabriela Nicolescu is an anthropologist, curator and writer who is interested in what visual and material culture perspectives can bring to development and migration studies, political economy, and the anthropology of health; museums and museum practices; and the history of social sciences, especially in Europe. She has conducted extensive ethnographic work in Romania, Italy and the UK on the shifting relations between politics and representation, the diffusion and social organisation of cultural ideas, migration, remittances and notions of care work. Gabriela has curated and co-curated multiple international exhibitions in Austria, Romania, Hong Kong, Philippines and the UK. She taught in Goldsmiths, University of London and in University of Bucharest. Gabriela completed her PhD in Visual Anthropology in Goldsmiths, University of London.
PANEL 4: EUROPEAN MIGRANT WOMEN IN THE USA IN THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY
Chair: Giorgia Barzetti, MEI – Museo Nazionale dell‘Emigrazione Italiana, Genova/ Italy
Polish American group in the Pacific north west: A gender perspective
Dorota Praszałowicz, Jagiellonian University, Krakow/ Poland
The paper aims to discuss the role of women in the Polish immigrant group in the Pacific Northwest. The origins of the group history date back to the 1870’s, and since then subsequent streams of Polish immigrants have settled in the region. The group is not very large, but it has managed to build a dense fabric of social networks that cross generational and class divisions. Women have been visible in the group’s activities from the beginning, but their role has never been recognized. Recent immigrants, mostly IT professionals, including many women, are joining and contributing to ethnic networks.
The study was conducted mainly in Seattle, but also in smaller towns in the Pacific Northwest. The paper is based on a literature review, critical analysis of local histories, reports, local newspapers, records of immigrant associations and churches, personal documents, interviews, and oral histories. The analysis is informed by concepts of social practices (Schatzki), social capital (Putnam), invented ethnicity (Neils Conzen at al.), and superdiversity (Vertovec). The overall goal is to find a conceptualization that overcomes limitations of the classic perspectives on ethnicity and the immigrant communities and sheds light on the role of women in the immigrant community.
Prof. Dorota Praszalowicz – sociologist, heads the Department of Migration and Ethnic Relations at the Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora at Jagiellonian University. She is a member of the (Polish collective) Researchers on the Border, and a member of the Council of the Polish American Historical Association. She edits the book series MIGRATION – ETHNICITY – NATION (Peter Lang). She conducts research on American Polish communities and their transformation, the institutionalization of immigrant life, and past and present migrations in a comparative perspective. Her publications include the entry “Poland” in Encyclopedia of European Migrations and Minorities, Cambridge University Press 2011.
Maggie Walz: American Finnish suffragette, entrepreneur and utopist
Teuvo Peltoniemi, Lic. Soc.Sc, Helsinki/ Finland
Maggie Walz (1861–1927), born Margareta Johanna Wälivainio in Finnish Lapland, rose from poverty to become a prominent entrepreneur, journalist, suffragette, and founder of the Finnish utopian community on Drummond Island, Michigan. Emigrating in 1881, she worked as a maid and shop assistant in Calumet, MI, saving diligently and teaching herself English. After anglicizing her name, she built a successful business empire—including real estate, job placement, travel services, and publishing—all housed in her own office building. Despite her Laestadian roots, she openly embraced wealth and fashion, becoming a media symbol of the American Dream.
An active advocate for Finnish immigrants, Walz founded or led 22 organizations promoting women’s
rights, temperance, and community support. In 1905 Maggie Walz established a cooperative Christian community for older, impoverished Finnish immigrants on Drummond Island. She became the only woman leader of the 20 Finnish Utopian Communities. Though initially rooted in Christian ideals, the community later attracted socialist miners laid off from nearby mines. By 1914, the socialists had taken control, and Walz was forced to withdraw. Financial ruin followed: her business collapsed, and her building burned. She died alone in poverty. Her legacy was revived in 2015 when she was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame as a pioneering Finnish American leader.
Teuvo Peltoniemi – Lic.Pol.Sc. (U Helsinki), is a senior science journalist, researcher, and non-fiction author specializing in migration, sustainable environment development, energy, and health and social issues. He has worked at radio&TV, newspapers, universities, research institutions, public organizations, and in EU and Council of Europe projects. His recent research focuses on sustainable development and modern utopian migration. Lic. Peltoniemi has published 20 books and numerous academic and popular articles. His most recent book is “Paratiiseja rakentamassa — Suomalaisten utopiayhteisöjen historiaa” (“Building paradises – History of Finnish utopian communities”, SKS 2024, 460 pages). Peltoniemi has delivered also numerous lectures in Finland and internationally. He has received several Finnish and EU awards. In 2011, he was honored with the most prestigious “State Award for Public Information” for his “exemplary and innovative work in disseminating knowledge”. He was named “Communicator of the Year” in 2006 and “Science Journalist of the Year” in 2007.
Biographical self-interpretations of female Austrian-Jewish emigrants after 1938
Teresa Marx, University of Potsdam/ Germany
The so-called Anschluss was the cause of the urge to flee for Austrian Jews, as the annexation of Austria in March 1938 meant that the Dollfuß-Schuschnigg dictatorship was effectively abolished. 1 German troops marched into Austria on March 12, 1938 and were cheered by large sections of the local population.2 The laws enacted rapidly determined the reality of Austrian Jews. Those affected were forced to flee if they were able to do so. By analyzing sixteen oral history interviews according to a method of qualitative social research, the narratives of sixteen Jewish women who fled Vienna around 1938 are illuminated. Through their escape, their life stories tell of female experiences of repression and survival. The women see themselves as active decision-makers, so it is particularly vibrant to focus on their perspectives. They find their very own narratives to talk about the loss of family members, sexualized violence and the sheer struggle to survive. Their insights illustrate the realities of female emigration in the 1930s and follows their life paths in the decades after as most of the interviews were recorded in the women’s eighties and nineties.
The topics of my dissertation shed light on emigration from a micro perspective as well as on global contexts of European migration, as the women lived in the USA and Israel for the longest time after fleeing. From summarizing it has become clear that I would like to talk about the connections between migration, gender and identity in my lecture, because my research has produced new approaches and ideas. The depth with which the women’s interviews were analyzed and linked is not known to me from prior research.
Teresa Marx – since November 2022 a PhD student at the University of Potsdam, Germany. Her
submitted dissertation is based at the Chair of Modern History (German-Jewish History) and in the
final stages of evaluation. She financed her masters and PhD through the employment of the Federal
Chancellor Willy Brandt Foundation in Berlin, where she was involved in research from 2021 on until
December 2023. Since January 2024, she has been employed at Utrecht University under the
supervision of Dr. Lorena DeVita, where she is involved in the research project “Wording Repair”,
which deals with German “reparations” after 1945.
PANEL 5: MIGRANT WOMEN’S EXPERIENCES IN TRANSNATIONAL CONTEXTS
Chair: Ziortza Olano, Office for the Basque Community Abroad – Basque Government, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country/ Spain
Under pressure: Filipino migrant women navigating life and work in Croatia
Goran Bandov; Ivan Balabanić; Iva Tadić, University of Zagreb/ Croatia
In the context of increasing global labour mobility, Croatia has witnessed a significant rise in the number of foreign workers since 2021, particularly from Southeast Asia. Among them, women from the Philippines represent a rapidly growing, but understudied group.
This research addresses their complex migration experience through the theoretical framework of Cummins’ theory of subjective well-being and Meyer´s Minority Stress Model. According to Cummins, quality of life (QoL) reflects an individual’s satisfaction across key life domains, including standard of living, health, achievements in life, personal relationships, safety, communityconnectedness, and future security and spirituality.
Complementing this, the Minority Stress Model explains how stigma, prejudice, and discrimination uniquely burden minority individuals, leading to chronic stress and adverse mental health outcomes. These frameworks enable a deeper understanding of how quality of life is shaped not only by material conditions but also by psychological and social factors, particularly those related to minority status. Female migrant workers are at the crossroads of different vulnerability factors, including gender, ethnicity and labour-market, making systematic investigation of their quality of life both urgent and policy-relevant.
This study employs a mixed-method approach, integrating quantitative and qualitative data to shed light on the multidimensional realities of Filipino women migrants in Croatia, including sociodemographic characteristics, quality of life, experiences of minority stress, working conditions, motivations for migration, and perceptions of legal protection and personal security. The findings aim to provide an evidence-based understanding of how systemic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal factors interact to form the lived experiences of migrant women. In doing so, it contributes to broader discussions on migration, gender, and social integration in contemporary Europe and ensures actionable insights for policymakers, at the moment when demand for foreign workers in Croatia is rapidly growing.
Prof. Goran Bandov – PhD, Lawyer and Political Scientist, Full Professor of International Relations and Diplomacy, Science Diplomat, Public Science Communicator, Foreign Affairs Committee of the Croatian Parliament Member, Diplomatic Council of Croatian Diplomatic Academy Member, World Academy of Art and Science Fellow, Croatian Club of Rome President, Rotary Peace Fellow, International Relations and Sustainable Development University Department Head at the University of Zagreb is an European expert in Diplomacy, International Relations, International Law, Peace and Conflict Studies, Migration and Sustainable Development.
Prof. Ivan Balabanic – PhD in Sociology (2013), University of Zagreb. Formerly employed at the Ivo Pilar Institute (2008–2015), Catholic University of Croatia (2015–2019), and Faculty of Croatian Studies (2019–2024); currently at the Institute for Migration Research. Associate Professor of Sociology and Communication Sciences. Lecturer in social research methodology and statistics. Author/co-author of over 70 academic papers. Participated in national and international projects, including three funded by the Croatian Science Foundation. Former editorin-chief of Kroatologija (2020–2022); currently editor-in-chief of Ethnic and Migration Studies and national coordinator for the European Values Study.
Dr. Iva Tadic – Senior Research Assistant at the Institute for Migration Research, with extensive academic and professional experience in psychology and psychotherapy. She has more than ten years of experience in research, teaching, applied psychology, and psychotherapy, and her work focuses on quality of life, stress, minority stress, migrations, vulnerable and minority groups, and psychosocial support. She is a member of various professional and academic societies, a reviewer of scientific and professional papers, and the editor and host of a radio show that popularizes psychology.
Gendered pathways of integration: The case of Romanian brides in Izmir, Turkey
Ana-Lavinia Popa, İzmir Kâtip Çelebi University/ Turkey
This paper presents findings from a literature review conducted for a doctoral thesis in sociology that explores the integration process of Romanian women married to Turkish citizens who live in Izmir, Turkey. In this study, the focus lies on the types of changes mixed marriage brings to the lives of Romanian women and how they adapt to these changes. The study is qualitative and will use semistructured interviews for data collection. The basic criterion for the sample will be that the female partner of the Turkish-Romanian mixed couples will be of Romanian origin and the male partner will be of Turkish origin. The reason for choosing Izmir is that it is among the cities with a significant Romanian population. Considering that integration is a two-way process, selecting both Romanian women and their husbands as a sample will provide a more comprehensive picture to understand this phenomenon. In this way, integration can be understood from both the perspective of immigrants and the host society.
While the fieldwork is scheduled to begin in fall 2025, the literature review, currently nearing completion, reveals that limited research has been conducted on Romanian women in Turkey, especially regarding the relationship between integration and mixed marriage. The existing studies on female migration in Turkey have focused on other nationalities, like Ukrainian, Russian, and Moldovan and a limited number of studies focused specifically on the adaptation processes of these women (Deniz, 2020; Sağlam, 2021), especially from a gender perspective. One of the main concepts explored in the literature review for this research is gender. On this specific issue, the resulting qualitative study will further explore how Romanian brides will negotiate gender roles within the family context in their mixed marriages.
This contribution will share insights from the literature review that will outline the conceptual framework guiding the research. The current theoretical framework will be used as an analytical tool aimed at further exploring during fieldwork the gendered experiences of Romanian brides from Izmir and how they shape the integration process of these women.
Ana-Lavinia Popa – PhD candidate in Sociology at İzmir Kâtip Çelebi University, where she studies
with the support of the international scholarship program Türkiye Scholarships. Her thesis is titled
Mixed marriages in Turkey: the case of Romanian immigrant brides in Izmir. She holds an MA in
Human Resource Management and a BA in Anthropology, both from the University of Bucharest. She
has volunteered for NGOs and international organizations like IOM on projects related to migrant
integration in Romania and Turkey. Her research interests include international migration and
integration. She is fluent in Romanian, English, and Turkish.
PANEL 6: THE MUSEALISATION OF MIGRANTS’S EXPERIENCES, REALITIES AND IDENTITIES
Chair: Dietmar Osses, Ruhr Museum, Essen/ Germany
“MOSAIC” – Documenting narratives of home, identity and (multi) belonging among young descendants on immigrants in Denmark
Emma Barnhøj Jeppesen, Immigrantmuseet – Migration Museum of Denmark; Farum/ Denmark
In 2025, Migration Museum of Denmark launched a new project, MOSAIC, focusing on the experiences
of home and identity among young descendants of immigrants (aged 15-30) in contemporary
Denmark. Despite their significant presence in Danish society, their voices remain underrepresented
in the national museum collections and cultural heritage narratives.
MOSAIC aims to encourage young descendants of immigrants to view their stories as part of a broader
national history by collecting, sharing, and reflecting on their testimonies – to nuance prevailing
understandings of (multi)belonging and to gain insights into the complex navigation between cultures,
identities, and expectations which characterizes the everyday life of many the so-called “second and
third generations”. Through a mix of co-creation, ethnographic methods, experience-based workshops
and collaborative processes, the project investigates the intersection of relationship-building, active
collecting, and user-driven interpretation. Outcomes include a co-created exhibition presented at
Nørrebro Library in Copenhagen in the autumn of 2025 – an exhibition, which is also planned to be
shown in other public spaces. Moreover, the project gathers data on how such participatory processes
affect the participants’ perception of museums and their relevance to the younger generations.
By presenting MOSAIC as a case study, this paper reflects on how museums can shift toward more
inclusive, co-creative models, which contribute to broader discussions on cultural sustainability,
democratic collecting, and how to ethically document the experiences of those often absent from the
museological landscape.
Emma Barnhøj Jeppesen – MA in Cultural History from Aarhus University. She works as a
historian and curator at the Migration Museum of Denmark in Farum, Denmark. The museum
collects and exhibits material and immaterial testimonies from the past 500 years of migration
history in Denmark. Since her employment at the museum, Emma has worked closely with collecting,
outreach and co-creative projects in collaboration with various migrant communities in Denmark.
Migrant knowledge and environmental migration – an exhibition project
Marie-Antoniette Grünter, German Emigration Center, Bremerhaven/ Germany
Today, environmental migration is an increasingly pressing issue. But also historically, environmental
crises such as volcanic eruptions, reactor catastrophes, and resource-based conflicts have triggered
large-scale migrations, leading to long-lasting societal changes.
This is the subject of an exhibition project which is part of the larger democracy-promotion program
Museology and Education in Times of Non-Factual Thinking at the German Emigration Center in
Bremerhaven in which participatory evaluation methods will be implemented to analyze which
strategies of democratic engagement resonate most effectively with museum visitors.
The exhibit about Environmental Migration explores how migrant and non-migrant communities in
the Germany experience(d) and adapt(ed) to environmental change, while also contributing to
democratic education and critical reflection on migration.
One part of the project is the concept of migrant knowledge: the experiences and strategies migrants
bring with them from regions affected by environmental shifts. Focusing on intergenerational
knowledge transfer, the project documents how adaptation strategies are passed down within
migrant families and shared across community networks. Through community-based research and
participatory workshops, we collect narratives from migrants and the generation of their children or
grandchildren about environmental challenges faced both in the regions of origin and in Germany.
The project also focuses on historical case studies of environmental migration—including mass
displacements following natural disasters like volcanic eruptions as well as man-made catastrophes
such as nuclear accidents. These historical perspectives are interwoven with contemporary
experiences to highlight that generations before us already had to find solutions to deal with
environmental crises, e. g. by migrating.
Marie Grünter – a historian of Eastern and Central Europa and a curator at the German
Emigration Center since 2018. During the last years, she has worked both on the reconstruction
of the permanent exhibition of the GEC as well as on several special exhibitions.
The musealisation of migration between clichés and stereotypes: the presence of women in the MEI museum settings
Giorgia Barzetti, MEI –Museo Nazionale dell‘Emigrazione Italiana, Genova/ Italy
Who was the typical Italian emigrant? What does the public expect from the museum when we talk
about emigration? The paper will illustrate how the exhibition of MEI aims to deconstruct clichés and
stereotypes on Italian emigration and in particular on female emigration. Great attention is given to
female migration in the past, highlighting how migration has influenced social dynamics both among
emigrants abroad and those who did not leave, remaining in their countries.
Who is the typical Italian migrant today? Is he/she an emigrant or an expat? Which stereotypes
continue to be present in the collective imagination?
In the second part of the paper, special attention will be given to young generations who have
emigrated in the last twenty years, through testimonies reflecting on what it means to find a job, to
make children and to build new relationships, to live away from their families and speaking and
thinking in another language. The analysis of the testimonies reveals an approach to these issues
partly still influenced by gender and class differences.
Giorgia Barzetti – curator and coordinator of the MEI- Museo Nazionale dell’Emigrazione
Italiana project and she works for the Mu.Ma- Institution of maritime and migration museums in
Genoa. Since October 2020, she has contributed to the MEI project, which will be open to the public
in 2022, coordinating research and exploitation of national cultural heritage linked to migration,
through the use of new technologies.
In the three-year period 2017-2020 she was curator of the Mudec – Museum of Cultures in Milan,
where she was responsible for the conservation and enhancement of ethnographic collections. She
has also curated and organized several exhibitions, in particular those relating to the project “Milan
City World” a multi-year project, which each year focuses on one of the many international
communities living in Milan.
In the past she was a freelance researcher, working mainly on cataloguing and digitising historical
artistic heritage.
PANEL 7: VOICES OF MIGRATION: NARRATIVES IN MUSEUM’S PRACTISE IN GERMANY UND DENMARK
Chair: Judith Söderblom, Swedish Emigrant Institute, Småland/ Sweden
Visual and material displays of migration histor(ies) in Germany. Case study: Greek ‘Gastarbeiter*Innen’ in West Germany. Towards a bottom-up archive οf gendered and silenced migration experience(s)
Chris Zisis, University of Applied Sciences, Kiel/ Germany
In my contribution, I will highlight the transnational, gendered and multidirectional memories
regarding Greek labour migrants’ embodied experience(s) during the period of the recruitment
agreement in Western Germany accentuating silenced and marginalized perspectives of the
“southern periphery” (Greek female Guest-workers in West Germany).
Particularly, I will illustrate 3 case studies throughout my fieldwork in the city of Hamburg, and the
city of Munich, focusing on silenced and marginalized gendered perspectives of Greek migrant
labourers in Germany, which formed a crucial part of my PhD Dissertation (EKW, Hamburg
University). A central research objective of my multi-sited focused ethnography was to understand
and describe the different voices and agencies from unofficial and official sources, i.e. documents,
texts, personal photos, artefacts, audio and archival material from the archive of the Bayerisches
Rundfunk (as of now BR) in Munich, as well as various networks of Greek Diaspora based there.
Furthermore, I intend to explore this ongoing critical dialogue between oral histories/orality, social
memory, the importance of “relational ethics” in research, memory work (feminist perspectives),
gender aspects, subjectivity, inter-generational transfer of traumatic memories (see Post-memory,
Hirsch 1997), and materiality, objects as mnemonic devices (Jones 2012) and archives, be it official or
unofficial, in their multilayered formats, and how these different voices of the actors enter into a
resonant space within museographic/memory practice and its representations.
Finally, based on my analysis of a polyphonic and multi-prismatic archive, or a Heterarchive1
, it will be
possible to describe spherically and comprehend “the multiple materialities of migrant worlds” (Basu,
Coleman 2008), as well as enhance the notion of a dialogue-driven and “relational” museum
(Harrison, 2013), and a ‘bottom-up’ memory archive of migrants’ experiences in a post-migrant
society.
Chris Zisis – PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the Institute of Anthropological studies in
culture and history, Hamburg University/EKW (March 2024, Grade : ‘magna cum laude’). Moreover
he holds a Master’s Degree in the field of Heritage/Museum Studies (European University Viadrina
Frankfurt/Oder) and a B.A. degree in Philosophy and History of Science (National Kapodistrian
University of Athens, Greece). Since Spring Semester 2017 he has been working consistently as a Lecturer at the department of Social Work & Public Health, University of Applied Sciences Kiel. Along with his standard research foci, which intersect fields such as Museum/Heritage Studies, Migration research, engaged anthropology, critical and anti-racist education, he is equally interested in examining artistic practices and interventions, new social movements/nonmovements, eventually how critical knowledge is (co-)produced by “bottom-up”, unofficial archives and actors, not only in museum/memory sites, but
public space.
Dialogue and cultural participation: Diversity at the Ruhr Museum
Meltem Küçükyılmaz, Ruhr Museum, Essen/ Germany
My planned presentation consists of two parts: a short lecture and a subsequent discussion. In the first part, I will introduce my work as the Diversity Officer at the Ruhr Museum. I will provide
an insight into the museum’s development, focusing on its opening up to a more diverse audience.
The presentation will center around two guiding questions: How has the Ruhr Museum become more accessible to people with an international migration background? How do we promote dialogue with diverse communities?
A particular focus will be on the project „Art in Dialogue. Your Museum, Your Artwork – Diverse,
Interactive, Playful”, which includes dialog-based and interactive tours of the exhibition “The Land of
a Thousand Fires. Industrial Images from the Ludwig Schönefeld Collection” at the Ruhr Museum.
As part of the project, women with international migration backgrounds from different generations
are trained as tour guides. They contribute their personal perspectives and experiences to the tours,
thus promoting cultural participation and fostering exchange with various communities.
The goal of the project is to create an active, participatory exchange in the exhibition space and to
reach new target groups by involving people with international migration backgrounds. The tours
enable visitors to engage with the artworks in a playful and personal way, helping to build a stronger
emotional connection with both the artworks and the museum.
In the second part of the presentation, there will be a moderated discussion with a project partner
and two tour guides from the project. Together, we will deepen the themes of migration, gender,
and generation in the museum context. We will reflect on how these dimensions play a role in the
work of the tour guides and what impact they have on the perception and exchange within the
museum. Additionally, I aim to create space for questions and discussions with the audience.
Meltem Kücükyilmaz – Diversity Officer at the Ruhr Museum in Essen since 2023. Her focus is on audience and programming. She is responsible for collaboration with communities, outreach projects, expanding opportunities for participation through partnerships, and the diversification of the museum and its visitors. In 2020/22, she coordinated the international project “We are from here. Turkish-German Life 1990. Photographs by Ergun Çağatay” at the Ruhr Museum. Following this, she conceptualized the accompanying program for the subsequent exhibition “Mustafa’s Dream. Photographs by Henning Christoph of Turkish Life in Germany 1977–1979” and worked as a co-curator for the exhibition “Glückauf – Action! The History of Cinema and Film History of the Ruhr Area”.
Reclaiming narratives – GENERATION II: Documenting second-generation voices in Denmark: A Focus on female migration and changing role models
Fadime Turan, Immigrantmuseet – Migration Museum of Denmark, Farum/ Denmark
Migration Museum of Denmark is currently developing a new co-creative initiative titled
GENERATION II, which aims to document, share, and reflect on the lived experiences of
secondgeneration immigrants in Denmark—the children of guest workers who arrived in the 1960s
and 1970s. Building on the museum’s critically acclaimed exhibition and publication “Guest Workers
– Stories from the 1970s”, this project shifts focus to those who grew up navigating multiple cultures,
languages, and expectations, yet have been largely absent from official national narratives.
At the 35th AEMI Conference, we wish to present this project in its early stages, with particular
emphasis on one thematic strand: Female migration and changing role models. This strand explores
how women from second-generation migrant backgrounds have negotiated their identities,
educational and professional ambitions, and gender roles—often in contrast to those of their
mothers or dominant societal expectations. These intergenerational shifts offer deep insight into the
complexities of belonging, self-determination, and societal change.
The project employs a variety of participatory and co-creative methodologies designed to foster
trust, dialogue, and mutual reflection. These include: Focus group interviews, to create safe and nuanced spaces for shared storytelling and collective memory work. Film screenings and moderated discussions, using archival or documentary materials to prompt dialogue and historical context. Creative workshops, including writing exercises, the sharing of personal items, photographs, letters, music, and other memory objects as tangible talking points. Interactive formats, e.g. post-it note reflections, timelines, and participatory mapping, to encourage participants to express thoughts, emotions, and identity narratives in their own way.
These methods serve not only to collect testimonies but also to empower participants to see their
stories as valuable parts of a broader collective history. The ultimate aim is to create a shared space
of memory that centers these voices not as parallel histories, but as an integral part of Denmark’s
evolving national narrative.
Status of the work: This is a work-in-progress. Our presentation will share initial findings,
methodological frameworks, and reflections from early-phase activities. We seek to engage with
other scholars and institutions for dialogue, feedback, and potential collaboration, particularly
around ethical co-creation, gendered migration histories, and the role of museums as platforms for
societal dialogue.
Fadime Turan – Master’s degree in Cultural Encounters and Journalism from Roskilde
University. As a second-generation descendant of Turkish guest workers in Denmark, Fadime has
been a prominent public voice on issues of representation, identity, and gender. Her work continues
to challenge dominant narratives and amplify underrepresented perspectives in Danish society.
PANEL 8: CURRENT YOUTH MIGRATION
Chair: Christina Ziegler-McPherson, Bremen/ Germany
An overlooked aspect of transnational young mobility: The case of Turkish young migrants in Germany
Buket Ökten Sipahioğlu, Ankara University, Ankara/ Turkey
Young and child migrants constitute a significant part of the total number of international migrants.
Child migrants below 18 years of age are 13% of the total international migrants, whereas young
migrants between the ages of 15 and 24 are 11% of the total (www.migrationdataportal.org). For the
child migrants, and partly for the young, mobility behavior is affected by the parents. They are either
immobile, born to migrant parents, or become migrants or move with their parents (Mazzucado and
Ogden, 2025). Despite the number and importance of young and child migrants in the literature,
there is a lack of comprehensive studies. According to a study conducted in European countries with
a high migrant population, most young migrants are highly mobile and visit their homeland
frequently (Schimmer and van Tubergen 2014). Within this motivation, this study aims to analyze
young migrants’ transnational practices from the perspective of homeland orientation, taking young
Turkish migrants in Germany, where around 3 million people of Turkish origin are living. Therefore,
the hypotheses of the study were twofold: (1) There is a substantial amount of youth mobility
throughout the world; (2) with Turkish young immigrants in Germany, transnational practices have
many perspectives to evaluate, which shape and affect those immigrants’ identities and social and
cultural ties with their homeland. This perspective includes education about the homeland and visits
for relatives, interns, or work-related purposes. The study argues that how young transnational
migrants have relationships with their homeland or try to have cultural, educational, or social
connections is understudied. Moreover, the study concludes that in migration studies, the category
of transnational youth mobility should be more discussed.
Buket Ökten Sipahioglu – bachelor’s degree at Ihsan Doğramacı Bilkent University,
Department of Business Administration in 2006. She completed her master’s degree in Galatasaray
University International Relations/European Union Department in 2012. She started her doctoral
studies at the Department of European Union and International Economic Relations of Ankara
University Institute of Social Sciences in 2012 and graduated from the Department of Political Science
and Public Administration of Necmettin Erbakan University Institute of Social Sciences in 2019 with a
doctoral thesis titled ‘Turkish Diaspora in Europe in the Context of Turkey-European Union Relations:
The Case of the Netherlands’. Since 2023, she has been working as a doctor’s lecturer at the
Department of Politics and Economics of the Faculty of Political Sciences of Ankara University. She
has articles and book chapters in national and international indexed journals on European Union,
Turkey-European Union Relations, International Migration, Forced Migration, Refugees, and Diaspora
issues. She has advanced English and upper-intermediate German.
Young Turkish diaspora members’ supportive narratives about the rise of the populist radical-right party in the Netherlands
M. Mustafa Iyi, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University, Ankara/ Turkey
As populist far-right parties (PRRP) gain support worldwide, scholars identify their core electorate as
economically insecure, lower-educated male voters from the working and lowermiddle classes.
However, recent studies indicate that these parties increasingly attract votes from immigrants and
diaspora communities. Despite the expectation that immigrants and diaspora communities would
not support PRRP, our recent observations reveal the thirdgeneration Turkish diaspora’s positive
attitudes toward these parties in the Netherlands. This research examines the positive and
supportive narratives of the young generation Turkish diaspora in the Netherlands towards the Party
for Freedom (PVV), the PRRP in the Netherlands, and its leader Geert Wilders. Specifically, this
research focuses on understanding the positive and supportive narratives of third-generation Turkish
diaspora members. Using qualitative methodology approach and narrative research, this study
analyzes interviews with thirdgeneration Turkish diaspora members in the Netherlands aged 18-35,
collected between October 2023 and April 2024. And then we analyzed our data through thematic
content analysis to uncover the underlying reasons for participants’ positive narratives toward the
PVV and Wilders. As a result of the data analysis, three issues stand out in the positive narratives of
young generation Turkish diaspora members in the Netherland towards PVV and Wilders: (1)
supporting economic policies, (2) trust in Dutch constitutional safeguards, and (3) ideological affinity
shaped by shared values on social issues. This study highlights the normalization of PRRP in Western
democracies and their increasing appeal beyond traditional right-wing constituencies. As a result of
our qualitative study, contrary to the literature, we show that religious identity significantly
influences the Turkish diaspora’s voting behavior for the PVV.
M. Mustafa Iyi – PhD candidate in Sociology at Ankara Yildirim Beyazit
University. He completed his undergraduate studies at Middle East Technical University (Ankara) and
his master’s at Necmettin Erbakan University, focusing on religious identity among the Turkish
diaspora in Germany. He has published on the Turkish diaspora and currently works as a research
assistant. His research interests include migration sociology, diaspora studies, and identity politics.
He is fluent in German and English.
Migration culture in the making: Germany as a reference point in youth migration from Turkey to Europe
Helin Kardelen Kavuş, İzmir University of Economics, İzmir/Turkey
Turkey has a long history of emigration to Germany, officially initiated over sixty years ago with the
signing of the labour migration agreement. This agreement marked the beginning of a migration
trajectory that has since evolved in various forms. Today, a new wave of migration is emerging,
driven by educated urban youth who are increasingly becoming central actors in this migration
landscape—not only in Germany, but across Europe. Research conducted in Athens, Greece, with
highly educated young migrants from Turkey working in transnational call centres reveals that
Germany continues to serve as a significant reference point in their migration journeys. This symbolic
role of Germany surfaces in four key themes within participants’ narratives. First, migrants often
compare their current country of residence with Germany, either positively or negatively. Second,
many express a future prospect of remigration to Germany. Third, Germany features in their
reflections on daily life in the host country. Finally, when discussing their ongoing ties with Turkey
and their place in the diaspora, young migrants often draw on their perceptions of Turkish immigrant
communities in Germany as a point of comparison. The analysis suggests that a long-standing
migration history can foster a broader “culture of migration,” one that shapes the imaginations and
trajectories of not only migrants themselves, but of society at large.
Helin Kardelen Kavus – PhD in Sociology at Middle East Technical University in April
2025 and is currently a Research Assistant in the Department of Sociology at İzmir University of
Economics. She obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Sociology from Middle East
Technical University (METU). Her master’s thesis examined female ethnic entrepreneurship in the
context of Turkish women entrepreneurs in Germany. Her doctoral research, based on fieldwork
conducted in Athens as an Erasmus PhD exchange student at Panteion University, focused on the
contemporary migration of educated youth from Turkey to Greece employed in call centres. Her
research interests include labour migration, feminization of migration, ethnic entrepreneurship, and
high-skilled migration.
Academic migration and opportunity: The case of Malawian students in Norway
Matias Pasulani, University of Oldenburg/ Germany
With globalization, there is now an increase in the trend of Malawian immigration to Norway which is
mostly being tied to educational purposes with many Malawians having been enrolled and awarded
graduate degrees from the country’s top universities. Thanks to the scholarships such as the
Erasmus+, ‘Malawi, South Africa and Norway mobility programme in Sustainable Community
Development and Eco-Social Change and Norwegian Partnership Programme for Global Academic
Cooperation, young academics are now able to travel from Malawi and stay in Norway as master
students. While some have returned back to Malawi after graduation, others have stayed in Norway
due to marriage or work purposes and others have pursued other master graduate programs and
doctoral studies as a way to develop more competencies. Despite pursuing programmes in different
academic fields, yet they share common experiences of their mobility to Norway. Gaining expertise
that is unavailable in Malawi both in theory and practice was singled out as the most important
benefit of their mobility as well as being exposed to problems or issues that other researchers around
the globe are working on through conferences.
Interestingly, some with their graduate studies have travelled to other countries in the world like
South Africa, Germany, Madagascar, Namibia and Slovenia before and after going to Norway. Others
have also found supervisors for their PhD studies in some of those countries even when they
returned back to Malawi which shows how globalisation has made their education aspirations
possible and how their quest for higher education is taking them to many places in the world. This
research drawn from personal testimonies, unstructured interviews and observations from social
media platforms seeks to inform the mobility of young Malawians in a globalized world in pursuit of
their education and career aspirations with the focus on Norway.
Matias Pasulani – PhD student at the Center of Migration, Education and Cultural Studies at the
University of Oldenburg in Germany and was awarded an MA by the same university in 2024 in the
Erasmus Mundus programme of Migration and Intercultural Relations. He also has a Bachelor’s
degree in Education (Social Studies) awarded by the University of Malawi in 2020. His research
interests include Malawian migration, immigration to less developed countries, criminal migration
and human smuggling/trafficking syndicates.
PANEL 9: MIGRATION AND ITC
Chair: Dietmar Osses, Ruhr Museum, Essen/ Germany
CultureCache: Documenting diasporic belonging and intergenerational memory through participatory digital heritage
Cláudia Melo Ribeiro & Penda Svane, Aarhus University; Aarhus/ Denmark
This workshop is grounded in a simple but urgent idea: that cultural heritage should not be dictated
from above, but co-created from lived experience. It lives in the stories we carry, the objects we
cherish, the languages we speak, and the memories we protect—especially those shaped by
migration, movement, and multiplicity. Together, these fragments form the foundation of a more
inclusive, more human history—one authored by all of us.
As part of a master thesis in Sustainable Heritage Management at Aarhus University, this session
introduces CultureCache, a participatory archive platform designed not to collect heritage, but to
return narrative agency to communities whose histories are too often left out of official records.
Participants are invited to bring (or select) personally meaningful objects—such as family items,
migration mementos, or everyday things connected to memory and identity. Using the platform, they
can record oral histories, take photographs, create 3D renders, or document stories in their own
language and style. The goal is not digital output, but democratic authorship: an inclusive,
community-driven record of human experience.
Participants can choose to be guided through the process by facilitators or use Orbi, an AI
conversational assistant. The platform includes features like event creation, archive search, and
cultural tagging allowing for broader engagement—participants might, for example, explore shared
heritage between countries, or search for similar traditions across the world.
The workshop ends with an open reflection on the experience and (optional) interviews. As a gesture
of recognition, participants receive digital art badges linked to local cultural institutions based on
where and how they contribute.
This workshop is not about technology—it’s about voice, memory, and participation. It invites youth,
migrants, and intergenerational participants to shape the cultural record on their own terms, building
a shared, living archive that reflects the full diversity of who we are.
Cláudia Ribeiro – Sustainable Heritage Management master’s student at Aarhus University with a
background in Art History. Her experience spans heritage communication, exhibition design, and
creating educational and community-based cultural content. She has worked across teaching,
tourism, and participatory research, focusing on inclusive approaches to memory and identity.
Currently, she co-develop CultureCache, a mobile and AI-supported platform that enables diasporic
and underrepresented communities to document and share their heritage.
Penda Svane – is a full-stack developer passionate about human-centered design and immersive
technologies. His work focuses on creating intuitive digital experiences. With experience in AI
integration, 3D modeling, and participatory web applications, he co-develop CultureCache, where he
lead backend infrastructure and interactive system architecture. His background includes virtual and
augmented reality development, educational content delivery, and frontend systems for civic and
SaaS platforms. He is committed to building ethical, inclusive technologies that enhance how
communities engage with memory, identity, and storytelling across borders.
PANEL 10: ARTISTIC STORY TELLING ABOUT YOUTH, GENDER AND MIGRATION
Chair: Emilia García López, Consello da Cultura Gaelga, Santiago de Compostela/ Spain
Experiences and challenges of migrant children: An analysis of child migration in three theatre plays at the intersection of age and gender
Figen Uzar-Özdemir, Abdullah Özdemir, Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, Zonguldak / Turkey
This study aims to examine the migration experiences of and challenges faced by the children
through an analysis of three theater texts, “Türkland”, “I, Djuma” and “Antabus”. Migration studies
have generally focused on independent adult male movement. The migratory experiences of women
and children have usually been studied as a complementary part of male migration like in the
example of family unification or migration based on marriage. Moreover, migrant children’s
experiences have not been thoroughly examined or not taken into consideration at all. Hence, this
study aims to demonstrate that next to dependent child migration, there are also movements where
children are forced to migrate on their own and secondly, that migrant children have specific
experiences, needs and challenges different from the adult migrants. What is more, gender also plays
an important role in the differentiation of child migrants’ migratory trajectories.
For this end, the three theater plays indicated above are subjected to content analysis. These three
plays were chosen since they all depict the migration processes experienced by the protagonists as
children and each tells how a different type of migration (namely international labor migration,
asylum migration and internal migration) is experienced by boys and girls. The plays are analyzed
around the themes of childhood experiences during migration and integration, focusing on the
intersection of age and gender. Based on the assumption that different age groups and genders
experience sociological phenomena differently, the main argument of this study is that children and
women face different opportunities and challenges in the process of migration and in adapting to the
social relations in the receiving country and that their ways of coping with these challenges also
differ.
Dr. Figen Uzar Özdemir – faculty member at the Department of Sociology and the Director of the
Women’s Studies Center at Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, Turkey. She completed her
undergraduate studies in Sociology at Middle East Technical University. She received her MSc. degree
from European Urban Studies at Bauhaus Universitaet, Weimar in 2006 and her PhD in Sociology
from Middle East Technical University in 2017. Her field of interests includes women and gender
studies, urban sociology, and international migration on which she has publications and conference
presentations.
Dr. Abdullah Özdemir – part-time faculty member at the Department of Radio and Television
Programming at Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, Turkey. He received his BSc degree in Turkish
Language and Literature at Yeditepe University in 2007, his MSc degree in Film and Drama/Acting
from Kadir Has University in 2017, and his PhD studies in the Department of Fine Arts Education at
Ankara University, Turkey in 2023. His fields of interest includes sociology of theater, acting and
documentary filming. He has published in journals and books, taken part in theater plays as actor and
director and directed documentaries.
Bringing post-war history to life in graphic novels. The example of Maczków
Konstantin Rometsch, Porta Polonica, Bochum/ Germany
Taking the example of the graphic novel “MACZKÓW. A German-Polish post-war story”, which was
recently published by our documentation centre, the proposed contribution would like to take up the
topic of communicating history through a historically annotated comic.
It tells the story of an impossible love affair to unfold one of the most unusual chapters in German
post-war history. Far away from Poland, a Polish ‘occupation zone’ was created for three years in
1945 in the small town of Haren on the Ems river in north-west Germany: Haren became Maczków.
Thousands of Poles – among them a large number of liberated female soldiers of the Polish Home
Army from nearby POW camps – found a temporary home there, assigned to a kind of ‘waiting room’
while the German population was evacuated. In the midst of this confusing situation, the young
Polish girl Anna and the German Johann meet. Will the two young people manage to maintain their
feelings for each other despite the difficult circumstances?
Particular reference will be made to the projects with various schools (grades 10-12) that have
approached the topic through the development of scenic/theatrical readings, both in the town of
Haren itself, where the historical events took place and where intergenerational family stories are
still present, as well as in other regions of Germany, where previously there was complete ignorance
of this historical phenomenon.
Konstantin Rometsch – (PORTA POLONICA, The digital Documentation Centre for the Culture and History of Poles in Germany, Bochum/Germany – www.porta-polonica.de)
“Che bello andare“. The joyful diaspora of an Italian family, from 1975 to today.
Giovanna Rosso Del Brenna, Genova/ Italy
The unforgettable phrase that gives the title to this testimony was pronounced, at age 6, by my
daughter Giulia during one of our first car trips in the “Nordeste” of Brazil. Since then it is an integral
part of the family vocabulary, permanently defining our migrant state of mind, by vocation and by
nature.
We moved from Milan to Rio de Janeiro in 1975, with our 3 children aged 6, 5 and 1. Certainly also
for economic reasons but above all for the sake of adventure. The job proposal made to my husband the project of the turbines of the great hydroelectric plant of Itaipu – was very tempting. This was
almost immediately joined by a scholarship for me from Foreign Ministry followed by a contract of
associate professor at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica.
We returned to Italy in 1988 because we wanted our children – who in Rio attended the French
school – to carry out university studies in Europe and then freely decide their future.
Right now just my husband and I live permanently in Italy. The eldest son is moving to Milano the
(after experiences in Australia, Finland, Brazil, United Kingdom and France, The daughter (an EU
official) lives permanently in Brussels, and the youngest son is a photographer in Paris. The third
generation – 5 boys and 3 girls – works and studies in the United Kingdom, Finland, France,
Switzerland and the United States. And during the holidays… travels.
Giovanna Rosso Del Brenna – art historian. After her first studies at the University of Genoa on the Genoese palaces of the sixteenth century, she devoted herself to research on urban history, first
as an assistant to Eugenio Battisti at the Polytechnic of Milan, then as an associate professor at the
Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC/RJ), where her work on the city earned her the honorary
citizenship. Back in Italy, she devoted herself of industrial heritage, as a contract professor at the
Catholic University of Milan and the University of Genoa, while pursuing her research on the transfer
of urban models and the emigration of European artists to America, collaborating as a visitor with the
Pablo de Olavide University of Seville, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the Faculty of
Architecture of the University of São Paulo. She is a member of the scientific committee of CISEI, a
contributor to the Brazilian portal Vitruvius and the author of around hundred contributions
published in books, conference proceedings and specialized journals.
PANEL 11: SHARING STORIES OF MIGRATION
Intergenerational culture of remembrance. Descendants of ‘guest workers’ research the history of previous generations.
Caner Osman Ekiz & Enes Yagiz, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen/ Germany in talk with Dietmar Osses, Ruhr Museum, Essen/ Germany
Over how many generations does the experience of migration shape identity? Which actors shape
the memory of migration history? Does each generation tell its own story anew? The round table
discussion ‘Intergenerational culture of remembrance’ explores these questions. Students from the University of Duisburg-Essen have embarked on a search for clues as part of their
teacher training programme. Many of them come from families who immigrated to the region. As
part of their studies, the students investigated the history of migration in the region and also
researched the history of their own families.
In a round table talk, the students report on their experiences. The differences in the challenges,
experiences and attributions of different generations will be highlighted. The talk also wants to
question the concept of migration background and migration generations. Participants: A group of four students has been asked to take part. Moderation: Dietmar Osses
Caner Osman Ekiz – His grandfather came to Germany as a guest worker around 1970
and worked for big companies like Krupp. Caner Osman Ekiz is the son of the grandfather’s youngest
daughter and, after my brother, the first to begin an university education in his family.
Dietmar Osses – Deputy Director and Head of Exhibitions at the Ruhr Museum at the Zollverein
World Heritage Site in Essen. His exhibitions and publications focus on industrial heritage and culture, history in the Ruhr region as well as the history of migration in North Rhine Westphalia. He regularly lectures on the theory and practice of museums at the Ruhr University Bochum. He is a member of the board of AEMI – Association of European Migration Institutions, a member of the advisory board of Interkultur of the Regionalverband Ruhr and a member of the board of the Forum Geschichtskultur an Ruhr und Emscher.
