Borderland, inseparable from it change, the experience of encounter with diversity, but also persistence, adaptation and transformation. These are the leading topics during the 10th Conference of the Migration Research Committee (KBnM) of the Polish Academy of Sciences, which will be held in September at the University of Gdańsk and the Emigration Museum in Gdynia.
The organisers of the three-day conference, scheduled for September 16–18, 2021 are: KBnM PAN, Faculty of History, UG, Emigration Museum in Gdynia and International Border Studies Center, UG. Honorary Patronage of the conference is held by: prof. dr hab. Piotr Stepnowski, Rector of UG, Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, Mayor of Gdańsk and Mieczysław Struk, Marshall of Pomorskie Voivodeship.
Each of the previous conferences of the KBnM PAS was organised in a different academic centre in Poland.- 'The KBnM PAS cyclical conference is the largest scientific event concerning migration issues, which integrates the dispersed community of Polish migration researchers representing various scientific disciplines and at the same time contributes to the dissemination of their scientific achievements,' - emphasises dr hab. Anna Mazurkiewicz, prof. UG from the Faculty of History, UG, the Chairwoman of the Conference Organising Committee.
The leading theme in 2021 in the field of research on migration will be a discussion on the broadly understood borderland. - 'Tri-City is an important centre in research on migration,' - says dr hab. Anna Mazurkiewicz, prof. UG. The Faculty of History of the University of Gdańsk has been cooperating closely with the Emigration Museum for years, since 2012 co-organising international scientific conferences almost every year. In 2021, the UG founded the International Border Studies Center, whose members inspired the theme of the conference and established close cooperation with the KBnM PAS.
In the context of the conference theme, it is, of course, worth highlighting the extensive scholarly output of multidisciplinary research on Gdańsk and the region. This includes the international aspect related to the port and border character of the city, its changing nationality, migration processes, borderland relations and the local aspect (e.g. Kashubians, Kociewians and Borowians). Let us add that for several years, the University of Gdańsk has been conducting research that considerably broadens the scope of borderland interpretation, e.g. the cyclically organised Border Seminar or the Research and Memory Narration Laboratory of the University of Gdańsk.
According to the organisers, the programme of the conference consists of 43 interdisciplinary scientific sessions (over 170 speakers), as well as workshops dedicated to PhD students and those working on migration-related issues.
Among the topics which will be discussed at this year's conference are: economic, structural, legal and cultural aspects of demographic changes brought about by migration, migration stereotypes in borderland areas, multi-ethnicity, memory, the experience of otherness, issues including the integration of foreigners, internal migration, representation of borderland, changes and migration in literature, art, theatre.
Among the current issues discussed during the sessions, there will be sessions concerning the EU immigration policy, migration in times of pandemics, the situation of migrants' children, but also migrants' language practices and resources, natural aspects of migration or migrants in the world of institutions, the role of the state in research on migration, or history of cities in terms of borderland (urban centres as multiculturalism centres).
New theoretical approaches and challenges in the research on migration, presentations of the methodology of research on borderland and changes occurring there as well as changes in the methodology of research on migration in the 21st century will take an important place in the debate. Two of the discussion panels will concern the latest publications on borderland - from a historical and psychological perspective.
Workshops and debates
September 16, 2021 (Thursday) Emigration Museum in Gdynia: workshop prepared by members of the Polish Academy of Sciences - prof. Joanna Wojdon and prof. Dariusz Stola, as well as Emigration Museum staff - Łukasz Podlaszewski and dr. Rafał Raczyński. They will be combined with a visit to a temporary exhibition: KLIMAKS. (Workshop programme and information: https://kbnmgdansk2021.ug.edu.pl/program-konferencji/czwartek-16-ix-202...).
September 17, 2021 (Friday) from 10.00 am in the lecture hall 1.43 at the Faculty of History of the University of Gdańsk - the proceedings of the conference. In the programme: open plenary session of the KBnM PAS and a lecture by dr hab. Miłosława Borzyszkowska-Szewczyk, prof. UG, entitled Gdańsk as a borderland: space of cultural contact - migration destination - transit station. At 13.00 - a lecture by special guest Prof. Carlos Morton (UC Santa Barbara) entitled The Tao of Mestizaje: Multiple Borders, Multiple Bridges (in English with translation into Polish).
As part of the cooperation with the International Border Studies Center, UG, Prof. Morton and Prof. Santiago Vaquera-Vasquez (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque) will also conduct a workshop (in English) for those interested in creativity inspired by experiences of living on the border (Border Storytelling Workshop), which is scheduled for Friday and Saturday afternoons (16.00-17.30). (Thanks to the support of IBSC, UG participation in the workshop: Border Storytelling for UG students is free of charge).
The Programme Council of the Conference: prof. dr hab. Krystyna Slany - Chairperson. Members/Members: prof. dr hab. Jan Brzozowski, prof. UEK; dr Marcin Gońda; dr hab. Agata Górny, prof. UW, Karolina Grabowicz-Matyjas (Emigration Museum), prof. dr hab. Romuald Jończy, dr hab. Magdalena Lesińska, dr hab. Anna Mazurkiewicz, prof. UG; prof. dr hab. Janusz Mucha, prof. dr hab. Marek Okólski, dr hab. Jacek Schmidt, prof. UAM, dr hab. Brygida Solga, prof. PO, dr hab. Joanna Wojdon, prof. UWr.
Conference Organising Committee: dr hab. Anna Mazurkiewicz, prof. UG - Chairperson, Kinga Langowska - Secretary, UG/MEG, Members: dr hab. Arkadiusz Janicki, prof. UG (Dean of the Faculty of History, UG), dr hab. Magdalena Lesińska, PAN/UW, dr Michalina Petelska, UG, dr Rafał Raczyński, MEG, Sebastian Tyrakowski (Deputy Director of MEG), dr Grzegorz Welizarowicz (IBSC, UG).
The draft conference programme can be found here: https://kbnmgdansk2021.ug.edu.pl/program-konferencji/piatek-17-ix-2021/ (Friday) and https://kbnmgdansk2021.ug.edu.pl/program-konferencji/piatek-17-ix-2021/ (Saturday)
The conference will have a hybrid character - i.e. we foresee personal and remote participation (via MS TEAMS). If you are interested in attending the conference, registration and payment of the conference fee are mandatory. For more information: https://kbnmgdansk2021.ug.edu.pl/rejestracja/