2024 Winners of CARFMS/LERRN Lived Experiences of Displacement Essay Award

The Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS), in collaboration with the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) and the Borderless Higher Education for Refugees (BHER) project, is pleased to announce the results of the 2024 CARFMS/LERRN Lived Experiences of Displacement Award.

There are two winning papers in the Graduate category. Note that we did not receive sufficient submissions in the Undergraduate and Emerging Scholars categories to offer an award this year.

Living in a World of Ambivalence: Dilemmas Facing Academics in Exile by Oudai Tozan

Oudai Tozan is a doctoral candidate, researcher, and tutor at the University of Cambridge researching the potential role of the exiled Syrian academics and researchers in rebuilding the higher education sector of Syria. He is also an Associate Lecturer in the Sociology of Education, Migration and Mobility, and Research Methods at Anglia Ruskin University. Oudai’s research focuses on unpacking the exile experience as well as the role of higher education in conflict and peacebuilding. You can follow him on X/Twitter @OudaiTozan

Writing Refugee Lives by Sena Taha

A Palestinian, Syrian who lived two refugee journeys and who recently received her Turkish citizenship, Sena Taha is writing her dissertation on the role of refugee literature in re-constructing the perception of refugees as passive and needy people. She holds a BA in English Literature from Damascus University and an MA in Civilization Studies from Ibn Haldun University. Sena is currently a PhD student and teaching fellow of world history and literature at Ibn Haldun University in Istanbul, Turkey. For the past 4 years, she has taken every opportunity to raise refugee voices, including her own, through the stories that refugees themselves write. Sena has been invited to present her work in SeSaMO 2022 in Naples, Italy, MEIOS online colloquium 2022, NEMLA 54th 2023 online convention, MESA 57th 2023 in Montreal, Canada and MEM summer summit 2023 in Lugano, Switzerland. You can follow her on Linked In at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sena-taha-204894243/

Please stay tuned for details of a webinar to be held in Fall 2024 where we will showcase the winning papers!

Thank you to the members of the adjudication committee for their thoughtful work:

• Mohamad al-Ashmar (University of St Andrews)
• Nimo Bokore (Carleton University)
• Don Dippo (BHER project representative)
• Christina Clark-Kazak (University of Ottawa)
• Anna Purkey (United College, University of Waterloo)
• James Simeon (York University)
• Julie Young (University of Lethbridge)