Sharing the Narratives of Migrants and Refugees through Research and Exchange
As a Fulbright Joint Supervision Student, my research interests and efforts focused on African issues related to gender, Western imperialism, and post-colonial Africa. More so, migration has been one of my fields of research since 2010, and recently I have focused on gendered migration, which puts sub-Saharan female migrants in Morocco center stage. Through the support of the Fulbright Alumni Development Grant (ADG), I had the opportunity to present on “Migration Narratives of Refugees and Migrants in North-East Morocco: A Reading in Sub-Saharan Women’s Stories of Home and the Host Country” at the ISA World Congress of Sociology in Toronto, Canada. Through this presentation, I had the opportunity share with participants the narratives I had collected from female migrants living in northeast Morocco. This research has proven to be valuable because migrant and refugee stories are an avenue to share their aspirations, feelings, and thoughts regardless of their respective education levels.
My participation at the 19th ISA World Congress of Sociology was a memorable experience for many reasons. First, it was an opportunity to share my research on sub-Saharan women migrants’ narratives. It was rewarding to know that I was selected to present in my panel with only five other scholars from a pool of over 35 applicants worldwide. My presentation was designed to report and comment on the migration narratives of sub-Saharan women in northeast Morocco and how their stories keep connecting them to their home country, but simultaneously liberate them from both emotional and physical multi-faceted oppression. The most amazing fact about my research is that I ultimately became a character in some stories rather than just a narrator. Through my research, I developed very close relationships with my interviewees — I helped them get in touch with charitable associations, helped others with submitting their applications for regular status, and even helped some women find a daycare for their kids. All these things were possible after many interview sessions, where the women told me about their problems regarding job opportunities, health care, administrative connections, and so forth. Because of the relationships I forged, the women in my research began mentioning my name in their stories as someone who helped them solve some of their problems.
Second, I was able to attend other presentations that deal with different aspects of mobility around the world, discussing causes and effects of forced movement on minorities and victims of violence. Fittingly, I attended sessions related to Africa and its migration history northward, but also sessions that tackle issues that were completely new to me. I also attended two sessions that shared local governments’ and NGOs’ programs for the empowerment of women and children migrants through education and training, and the impact on the labor market and gender-biased pay inequalities. These were all sessions that will aid me professionally going forward.
Overall, attending a conference that gathered more than 5,000 participants was a great opportunity to build a network of contacts that will enrich my scholarly projects through exchanging research, group discussions, and opportunities for publication of current future research.
During my ADG, I also had the opportunity to present at my host university, Kent State University, and give an additional presentation to a History of Contemporary Africa class and at the Gerald Read Center for International and Intercultural Education. Overall, I shared my research on migration issues in Morocco and how the country has shifted from being a country of transit to a country of destination. Previously, people either left Morocco and emigrated elsewhere or traveled through Morocco to reach the European continent. However, in the last two decades, the country has become a destination for sub-Saharan Africans and others.
Thanks to my academic activities at Kent State University as an international visiting scholar and guest speaker, I have been able to build up a network of personal and professional relationships with American faculty members and fellow international scholars. I am proud to have given four presentations as a Distinguished Lecturer and about a dozen other presentations since 2007. My aim has always been to understand the way American people think of Moroccans, Arabs, Muslims, and Africans, and help them learn more about my own country of Morocco. I am always glad when my audience asks questions showing interest about people living outside the United States. I was flattered when an audience member addressed me as the “ambassador” of Morocco to Kent State University. In addition to academic encounters, mutual invitations to share food, volunteering for the Kent community, and attending cultural and artistic events have also been enriching experiences.
Through the Fulbright Development Grant, I was given the opportunity to travel to another country where I was able to meet professionals in my field from all over the world. Further, my participation at the ISA World Congress of Sociology paved the way for publishing my research paper. Most importantly, other participants’ presentations at the World Congress and at the Symposium on Mobility at Kent State, introduced me to other aspects of migration, which will help broaden the scope of my future research. Since I was able to give my presentation to such a diverse audience, it has helped me become more confident in my skills, and encourages me to present and speak at more conferences in both my home country and abroad.
Keltouma Guerch was a Fulbright Joint Supervision student from 2008–2011 where she completed her PhD thesis at Kent State University.
