Centre for Migration, Diaspora, Citizenship & Identity

Murray.Leith@uws.ac.uk

School of Education and Social Science

Emilia.pietka-nykaza@uws.ac.uk

School of Education and Social Science

klement.camaj@uws.ac.uk

School of Education and Social Science

• Typologies of migration, mobility, and immobility, exploring  the diverse drivers behind migration patterns, including international/internal/circular and seasonal migration and their interrelated characteristics
• The politics and policy of migration
• Integration and social inclusion/exclusion of migrant communities and individuals
• Experiences and practices of ‘superdiversities’ in rural and urban contexts
• The lived experience of migration
• Education and language activity within migrant communities

• The complex socio-political and economic relationships between diaspora and home communities
• Diaspora engagement with the homeland
• Diaspora connectivity with homelands in the everyday
• Diaspora governance from and across local, national, and international levels
• Identity construction and deconstruction among diaspora communities
• The actions and behaviours of diaspora communities
• The ‘voice’ and presence of diasporas in the homeland and abroad

• Forms of civic participation and ‘acts’ of citizenship among home, migrant and diaspora communities
• The changing nature of citizenship in the context of growing mobility within contemporary societies across the world
• Citizenship rights and practices among home and migrant communities
• Citizenship formation among home, migrant and diaspora communities
• Health and wellbeing as citizenship activity and engagement

• Role and meanings of identity in forming, developing, and maintaining communities
• The consideration of multiple forms of belonging in context of growing mobility and ‘superdiversity’ in the contemporary world
• Identity performance among, and between, community groups
• Social and community activities, practices and norms
• The everyday lived experience of identity

• ‘Tackling depopulation – community initiative (PI: Dr Emilia Pietka-Nykaza) This project is funded by Dumfries and Galloway Council and investigates community initiative addressing depopulation with the region.
• ‘Migration, social connections and rural living among young people in Scotland’ (RSE Personal fellowship – Dr Emilia Pietka-Nykaza). This project considered the role of Scottish connections in shaping mobility patterns and wellbeing among young people in rural Scotland. 
• “Rural Living and Place Making among Migrant and Non-Migrant communities in Scotland” (PI: Dr Emilia Pietka-Nykaza, funded by Carnegie Trust). This research project captures the experiences of diverse rural stayers (both migrants and non-migrants) living in the Inner Moray Firth area of the Scottish Highlands.  The project findings provide insights into factors shaping the process of staying among diverse rural stayers and their contribution to rural community living. Further details about the project are available via https://www.rurallivingscotland.com
• “Refugee integration in Scotland, long-term perspective” (PI: Dr Emilia Pietka-Nykaza, funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh Research Workshop Grant). This project brings together scholars, practitioners and refugee-lead groups through series of workshops to co-produce research proposal on refugee staying and integration in a longer-term perspective.

• Scottish Connections Research (PI: Professor Murray Leith, commissioned by the Scottish Government). This research provided insights into what a successful diaspora policy should consider and include. A wide ranging analysis, conducted among the worldwide Scottish diaspora, involved speaking to leading groups and individuals in several countries, as well as undertaking a comparison with three international Government’s policy behaviours. It underpinned the development of a framework around Scottish diaspora activity, which was published by the Scottish Government in early 2023. Further details about the project final report are available via: https://www.gov.scot/publications/literature-review-scottish-governments-scottish-connections-diaspora-work-2/

• "Enhancing Assessment Literacy: Balancing staff expectations with students’ effort and time" (Project partners: Aston University, IU University of Applied Sciences, Germany, University of the West of Scotland). This project involves Dr Charis Manousou, Dr Laurie Walden, Dr Anna Law, and Ramesh Gupta of CMDCI.
• Alternative spaces of ESOL:  an exploratory ethnography of English Language Teaching and Activism in Glasgow’ (PI: DR Katy Highet) is funded by The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland through their Research Incentive Grants.
• ‘Assistive Technology and Health Telecare for Veterans’ (PI: Professor Murray Leith, funded by the Cabinet Office for Veterans). This research sees Centre evaluate health services for ex-service men and women (provided by Defence Medical Welfare Service (DMWS) and NHS Lanarkshire) within the community through the innovative utilisation of assistive technologies to better support their health care and wellbeing of ex-armed forces veterans with complex needs. It specifically considers the support provided for these citizens as a result of their previous military service.
• ‘Unforgotten Forces’, PI: Dr Liz Frondigoun, funded by the Aged Veterans Fund/MoD Libor funds) .This 3 year evaluation project undertook an assessment of a Poppyscotland led consortium delivering health, social and community services to older (65 years plus) ex-armed forces men and women within Scotland. The evaluation considered the support offered to these older citizens as a result of their previous military service and status as Veterans. The UWS Team assessed the service delivery and support available to older veterans and their overall service delivery experience. Further information is available here.

• How does women’s participation in martial arts influence their recovery journeys from gender-based violence? (Dr Chloe Maclean, with Dr Rebecca Gordon collaborating). This project is funded by The Royal Society of Edinburgh Research Awards Programme.
• ‘RU EU? A game-based Approach to exploring 21st century European Identity and Values’ (Co-PIs: Dr Elizabeth Boyle & Prof Murray Leith, funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the EU). This project developed an innovative digital game, the RU EU? game, to provide an engaging platform for students across Europe to confront some of the complex issues surrounding National and European identity. The goal was to help these young Europeans to develop a better understanding of their own and others’ feelings of belonging to, or alienation from, the EU and assist them in understanding their attitudes towards their identity and citizenship.

Professor of Political Science and Director

Email: Murray.Leith@uws.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/murray-leith

Murray Leith is Professor of Political Science, and Director of CMDCI, at the University of the West of Scotland. He researches on national identity, nationalism, belonging, politics, and veteran studies, and he lectures widely on Scotland, the broader UK and the USA. He has worked with numerous charities, organisations and governments on such issues. Over the last few years, he has strongly focused on the topic of the Scottish diaspora and its relationship to Scotland, as well as Scotland’s relationship with, and understanding of, the diaspora itself. 

He also sits on the Scottish Connections Advisory Panel to the Scottish Government.

Senior Lecturer and Co-Director

Email: emilia.pietka-nykaza@uws.ac.uk


PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/emilia-pietka-nykaza

Dr Emilia Pietka-Nykaza is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy and Co-Director of the Centre of Migration, Diaspora, Citizenship and Identity at University of the West of Scotland. Emilia’s expertise focuses on migrant’s practices and lived experiences of settlement and integration, role of social connections in shaping mobility and settlement patterns and practices and forms of citizenship practices and leadership among migrant communities. Her recent studies particularly focus on rural context and impact of migration on sustainable rural communities.

Position: Lecturer and London Lead   
Email: klement.camaj@uws.ac.uk 
PURE profile link

Klement Camaj is a Lecturer in Social Sciences at the University of the West of Scotland. Klement is a multilingual, multimethodological, storytelling researcher focused on international migration, migrant experiences, transnationalism, diaspora, and cultural identity. Klement's main strengths consist in qualitative and multidisciplinary work, using ethnographic, narrative, and multimethodological approaches towards data collection and analysis. Klement is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society, and a Member of The Royal Anthropological Institute.

Position: Lecturer in Business and Management
Email: narayan.bhattarai@uws.ac.uk 
PURE profile link: Narayan Bhattarai - The UWS Academic Portal

Narayan Bhattarai, FHEA, CMBE, is a lecturer in business and management in the School of Business and Creative Industries. He taught at Leeds Trinity University (GBS), Royal Holloway University, and Tribhuvan University. He is a well-recognised contributor in promoting research, teaching, administrative work, Knowledge Transfer Partnership, consultancy, and enterprising activities within and beyond the United Kingdom. His work includes supporting sustainability initiatives alongside helping small and medium firms, particularly in the effective utilisation of digital innovation.

Position: Lecturer in Education
Email: jayakumar.chinnasamy@uws.ac.uk 
PURE profile link: Jayakumar Chinnasamy - The UWS Academic Portal

Dr. Jayakumar Chinnasamy has taught and supervised in Education and Business Management across India, Bhutan, Bahrain, and the UK. His academic interests include HE internationalisation, as well as global, critical, and leadership issues in education, alongside the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). His work also encompasses comparative studies, cultural identity, organisational development, and the impact of migration on people, the planet, and prosperity. Jayakumar is actively engaged in educational research associations, and he is dedicated to advancing international educational policies and collaborative research projects.

Professor of Sociology   

Email: colin.clark@uws.ac.uk
  
PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/colin-clark

Colin Clark is Associate Dean for Research and Innovation and Professor of Sociology and Social Policy in the School of Education and Social Sciences at the University of the West of Scotland. Colin’s research is primarily located within the connected fields of Ethnic and Racial Studies and Migration Studies, with a specialist interest in Romani Studies. Outside of UWS, he is a Director of the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights and a Trustee of Romano Lav (Roma Voice). Colin acts as research advisor to the Traveller Movement, the Scottish Human Rights Commission, and the Advisory Council for the Education of Romanies and other Travellers. X: @profcolinclark

Position: Lecturer in Social Sciences  
Email: Gary.Coia@uws.ac.uk    

Position: Lecturer  
Email: beth.cross@uws.ac.uk

Beth Cross, with an MSc in African Studies and PhD in Sociology of Education from the University of Edinburgh, has been researching the interface between formal and informal learning contexts for the last fifteen years and is particularly interested in dialogic methods of exploring learner identities, strategies and trajectories.  Her interests include deliberative democracy, and service user voice and participation in health, social services and education. She has taught in the areas of community education, social policy and children’s services in England and Scotland and worked with a number of creative interdisciplinary projects that involve visual and dramatic arts in order to expand the modalities for deliberation and participation.

Position: Lecturer
Email: gray.fosterfelton@uws.ac.uk

I studied Fine Art and University College Falmouth before going on to work with children and young peoiple with special educational needs and disabilities as an Art Teacher in specialist settings.  I studied for a MAsters in Fine Art at Winchester School of Art, staying with the Univeristy of Southampton to complete my PhD in 2011.  My doctoral thesis was concerned with Deleuzean theory in relation to research carried out in, through and with art practice.  I was Post Doctoral Researcher at the Institute of Education, Univeristy College London until 2016.  During this time I worked to explore connections between my doctoral research and my ongoing practice as a teacher and SEND specialist.  Before joining UWS, I worked as a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo).  I was also an Educational Consultant, supporting learning communities with all areas of inclusion and diversity, including supporting students with SEND and issues around gender diversity and LGBTQIA+.  

Lecturer 

Email: rebecca.gordon@uws.ac.uk   

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/rebecca-gordon

Rebecca Gordon (She/Her) is a Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences at the University of the West of Scotland. Her research focuses on political leadership for inclusive change and the role of activism in inclusive change processes, representation and political leadership. Her latest writing has explored the role of grassroots activists in galvanising legislation on LGBTQ+ rights in Pakistan and the UK. She is currently working on a research project in the Pacific region exploring the role of participatory budgeting processes in improving connections between politicians and citizens. She is also interested in feminist epistemologies and methodologies in ethics and research and has written on these topics.

Lecturer    

Email: nicola.hay@uws.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/nicola-hay-2

Nicola Hay has explored Roma, Gypsy and Traveller students’ agency, educational progression and career-decision making across England, Scotland and Wales. Her research focuses on the fields of Romani studies and ethnic and racial studies, with a special interest in education and social mobility. She also has expertise in the field of young carers, BME carers, the impact of COVID-19 and coping mechanisms. Nicola is a mixed methods researcher with expertise in both qualitative and quantitative approaches. She also has experience with developing creative methods co-created with research participants. 

Position: Lecturer    
Email: luke.holmes@uws.ac.uk      
PURE profile link: Luke Holmes - The UWS Academic Portal

Luke Holmes works as a Lecturer in English Language and TESOL and his research interests are sociolinguistic in nature. His current research focuses on how different conceptualisations of ethics and responsibility relate to and come with social and linguistic practices in institutional settings. His work seeks to emphasise interactional events in which diverse linguistic and semiotic resources are employed to construct social spaces ripe with potentiality for that which is otherwise.

Lecturer  
  
Email: katy.highet@uws.ac.uk     
 
PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/katy-highet

Senior Lecturer
   
Email: Fernando.Leon-solis@uws.ac.uk


PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/fernando-leon-solis

Fernando León-Solís is Senior Lecturer in Spanish and Head of Languages at the University of the West of Scotland. His research expertise falls in the field of Cultural Studies, Politics and Critical Discourse Analysis, with a special focus on narrative constructions of national identities in the media. He is the author of a number of academic works and has recently edited scholarly volumes on international media and political narratives on the covid-19 pandemic and Brexit. He lectures in politics, media studies, Spanish and English.

Lecturer

Email: charis.manousou@uws.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/charis-manousou

Charis Manousou is a Lecturer in the MEd programme at the University of the West of Scotland's London Campus and specialises in intercultural education and inclusive environments for immigrant and diverse learners. Her research examines intersectionality in children's multicultural school experiences, advocating identity acceptance. Currently, Charis is engaged in a collaborative research project with other UK universities on authentic assessment in HE. Additionally, her interest in Inclusive Leadership Practices aligns with her commitment to fostering educational environments that are inclusive and effective in diverse contemporary educational contexts.

Lecturer

Email: anna.mckeever@uws.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/anna-mckeever

Anna is a Lecturer in Political Science with a particular interest in immigration policy and party politics, specifically conservative and radical right parties. Her previous research examined immigration policy change in a number of West European states, including the UK, Switzerland and France. A regular contributor to France 24 TV, she has also recently presented research to the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford and the German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Good Governance and Public Policy. Anna is also interested in the issues surrounding integration of migrants, both from the perspective of migrants themselves, but also exploring how political elites shape migrant integration policies. She sits on the editorial board of  the Journal of Contemporary European Studies. 

Lecturer

Email: david.mckeever@uws.ac.uk

PURE profile link: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/david-mckeever

David McKeever is a Lecturer in Political Science and social movements researcher at the University of the West of Scotland. His monograph Exiled Activism (Routledge, 2021) investigates the process of exile and its consequences for social movements. Subsequently he has published research on the Scottish independence movement and continues to work on activism in democracies. His work considers social movements broadly using quantitative and qualitative approaches.

Honorary Senior Research Fellow

Email: Duncan.sim@uws.ac.uk

Duncan Sim is semi-retired and is Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the School of Education and Social Sciences, based on the Paisley campus. Prior to his retirement, he was Reader in Sociology. He has undertaken extensive research on issues of identity and ethnicity. Together with Murray Leith, his recent research has included investigations on Scottish national identity; diaspora policy; diaspora return; and studies of the Scottish diaspora in North America, England and in northern Europe, as well as advice to the Scottish Government on their recently approved Diaspora Connections Framework. Their work has been funded by both central and local government, Carnegie Trust and the voluntary sector.

Position: Lecturer
Email: laurie.walden@uws.ac.uk

Laurie Walden is a Lecturer in Education on the UWS-London campus.  Prior to joining the university in 2022, Laurie was an associate tutor at Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Glasgow.  She has over 25 years experience as an educator including classroom teaching in elementary and middle schools in the US.  Laurie received her PhD in 2022 from the University of Glasgow with a focus on how culturally responsive pedagogy was successfully implemented in a Scottish Primary school.  She is currently co-writing a book on Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Higher Education.

Jan Van Heese is a UWS Vice-Chancellor’s funded PhD student focused on Democratic Disengagement and Mistrust in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, supervised by Dr Anna McKeever, in collaboration with Dr Vanesa Fuertes and Professor Murray Leith.

Raghav Venkatesh is a PhD student focused on ‘Who We Are(n't): Agentive constructions of migrant identity in superdiverse Britain', supervised by Dr Katy Highet.

Nick King is a PhD student focused on 'Examining the construction of the ‘good’ foreign English Language teacher in Thailand', supervised by Dr  Katy Highet.

Lindsay Devanny is a UWS Vice-Chancellor’s funded PhD student focused on 'The politicizing of ESOL learners: An ethnography of language, migration and politics in the classroom', supervised by Dr Katy Highet, in collaboration with Dr Luke Holmes and Professor Murray Leith.

Abisola Olawale Lawal is a PhD student focused on ‘Navigating Cultural Transition: Examining the Impact of Migration from Nigeria to Scotland (2010 - 2024)’, supervised by Dr Klement Camaj, in collaboration with Professor Murray Leith and Dr Anna McKeever.

Blair Graham is a PhD student focused on ‘To what extent does a lack of economic access influence US-led humanitarian intervention?’ using Colombia and Kosovo during the 1990s as case studies. He is supervised by Professor Murray Leith, in collaboration with Dr Rebecca Gordon and Dr Klement Camaj.

Bamidele Agbakuribe is a PhD student focused on ‘Inclusive Counselling: An exploration of general schooling and guidance counselling for disabled children in Nigeria’, supervised by Dr Rebecca Gordon.

Marjana Jahir is a PhD student focused on ‘Women’s Empowerment and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Practices: A Study of the Readymade Garments Industry of Bangladesh’, supervised by Professor Colin Clark, on collaboration with Dr Rebecca Gordon and Dr Julie Clark

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