Seventh International Postgraduate Summer School 
“Cultures, Migrations, Borders”
Plomari, Lesvos, July 3 – 12,  2018

Registration period from March 5 until June 15, 2018

For final year undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD students, researchers
and professionals in the social sciences

For the seventh year the Department of Social Anthropology and History of the University of the Aegean and the Institute of Migration and Ethnic Studies of the Universityof Amsterdam welcome applications for the Postgraduate International Summer School ‘CULTURES, MIGRATIONS, BORDERS’ that will take place on the border island of LESVOS, GREECE, from 3 to 12 JULY 2018.

The broader socioeconomic and political transformations in Africa and Asia have recently resulted in increased migration flows to Greece and, more generally, to Europe. Being at the crossroads of populations and cultures the islands of Eastern Aegean have served as one of the entry “gates” to Europe. In this context, and especially in connection to the current crisis, border crossings have become the focus of intense debates as they are intertwined with issues of culture and identity formation, the European Union and state policy, and constructions of 'otherness'. By drawing on an increasing interest in the study of cultures, migrations and borders, our Summer School examines how migrations shape and are shaped by processes of boundary formation in a variety of cultural encounters.

The Summer School aims at bringing together students and researchers in humanities and social sciences with an interest in border and migration. The program is designed to combine theoretical instruction by renowned instructors from six universities with various on-site activities. 

The North Eastern Aegean island of LESVOS provides an ideal location for holding this Summer School, as it is currently one of the more important gates of immigrants and refugees to Greece and Europe and the site of a massive humanitarian intervention. The Summer School takes place as the 'European Refugee Crisis' goes on taking new forms and in times of radical transformations and the reconfiguration of borders in national and international levels. The program aims to address political, ethical and theoretical questions in this challenging landscape. 

The program of the course is structured around five thematic axes:

a. Theoretical and methodological issues in the study of migration and borders.
b. Institutional and political aspects of the migratory condition.
c. People on the move: immigrant groups, refugees and host communities.
d. Cross-cultural encounters across borders and interactions of host/immigrant on the border.
e. The politics of humanitarian aid and the 'refugee crisis'.

Along with the seminars, the program includes some further activities. The participants will be given the opportunity to interact with citizens on the island assisting refugees and meet asylum seekers. A fieldtrip to Mytilene is organized for this purpose as well as some activities in Plomari. While acquainting themselves with the reality of migration on an Aegean island, participants will develop research skills and learn how to place their findings within wider local and global processes. Doctoral students and researchers will also have the opportunity to present their work at the PhD/Reseach Seminars. The Summer School includes the public screening of films on migration and border-crossing as well as it offers a variety of social and leisure activities. 

In addition, for the first time this year, by the end of summer school seminars, the first F.L.O.A.T.S (Floating Laboratory On Action and Theory At Sea) summer meeting will be held on Lesvos island from 13 to 15 July. In an attempt to foster an even wider theoretical discussion, the International Summer School “Cultures, Migrations, Borders” offers its participants the opportunity to take part in this first F.L.O.A.T.S. meeting, during which renowned instructors from different universities around the world will address political and theoretical questions concerning the sea, not only as a pathway and a site of refugee migration but also as a prominent field of socio-political activities. Find more information on F.L.O.A.T.S. and on the 1st summer meeting here. 

To apply for the Summer School, please fill in the registration form till June 10, 2018. 

Please note that there will be several scholarships available for the Summer School participants.

More information on scholarships here.

Deadline for Scholarship Applications: April 30, 2018

For inquiries please send e-mail to: migbord2018@aegean.gr

You can also visit our Facebook page.

Photo by Michael Bakas