It gives me great pleasure to invite you to Placing Migration: the challenge of belonging in a precarious world, the inaugural lecture of Professor Mary Gilmartin, Maynooth University Department of Geography.
Our world is fundamentally shaped by migration. We see this clearly at times of rapid change, like the rising numbers of people seeking refuge in Europe from 2013 onwards. But outside these periods of crisis, migration still continues. People keep moving: searching for new horizons, and looking for new places to belong.
This lecture will examine the challenges that migrants face in creating a sense of belonging. Those challenges come in many forms, from state policies to local antagonisms, intensified in a world where lives and livelihoods are increasingly precarious. In the process, though, people create new solidarities and re-shape the places they call home. Informed by Professor Gilmartin’s extensive research on Ireland, migration and belonging, the lecture will argue for the importance of placing migration as an enduring response to adversity and a compelling human need to belong. This takes on a new urgency as we continue to face the challenges of integration and belonging in the places where we live.
The lecture will take place at 6pm Tuesday 9 April in Renehan Hall, followed by a reception.
RSVP to communications@mu.ie by 5pm Thursday 4 April.