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Join us on Friday 21st November 2025 for the Researching Migration Studies: A Symposium on Methodologies.

Methodological innovation and reflexivity are essential in all research but are particularly vital in migration studies. Migrants’ lived experiences are highly complex, often shaped by the intersection of migrant status, racialization, and minority identities. Many face systemic barriers and discrimination, making it crucial for research to capture these multifaceted realities. Additionally, migration research must navigate significant ethical challenges to ensure accurate and responsible representation. Post-COVID-19, migration scholars have also turned increasingly to digital methods, such as digital ethnography and platform studies methods, yet discussions on reflexively using these methods have been relatively limited.

Staying updated on the latest research methods is essential for scholars to accurately capture evolving migration dynamics, address emerging challenges, and ensure that their work remains relevant, rigorous, and responsive to the lived realities of migrants in a rapidly changing world. By bringing together researchers from various disciplines, this symposium aims to foster dialogue on methodological advancements that can more accurately and ethically represent migration dynamics in contemporary society.

This one-day symposium aims to foster mentorship and collaboration between senior scholars, early career researchers (ECRs) and PhD students in the field of migration studies. PhD students and Early Career Researchers are cordially invited to submit expressions of interest. The symposium aims to focus on research innovations and methodological interventions in migration studies. Questions to be addressed include but are not limited to the following:

• How do we research migration as an evolving field of study?
• What conceptual lens can we apply to interrogate the possibilities and politics produced by cross-border mobilities, settlement and displacement?
• What methods can we develop and apply to capture and make sense of the granularities of data sets embedded across multiple sites and contexts?
• What are the methodological benefits and challenges of inter- and trans-disciplinary migration research?
• What are the ethical considerations in navigating field sites typically mediated by intersecting social, economic, political, and even technological transformations?

Attendees of the symposium will be asked to deliver a presentation (15 minutes) on a work-in-progress output and articulate publication plans. Presenters will receive feedback on their presentation and research plans. The symposium will also conduct a roundtable discussion on research methodologies, ethical considerations and publication strategies.

Submission of Proposals
To apply, please submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) including the following:
1. A 300-word pitch (including a description of a work-in-progress output, the contribution of the work to migration research, and objectives in participating in the symposium).

2. 100-word personal biography
In addition, 4 support bursaries will be provided to support low/no income researchers. Postgraduate students, casual, and/or unwaged researchers who are members of TASA are invited to apply for a bursary of up to $350 to assist with accommodation, travel, and/or carer’s costs to take part in the symposium. If you wish to apply for a bursary, please include in the EOI why you are applying for this bursary and how attending the symposium will benefit your academic development (200 words).

Please send your expression of interest to mmrn@monash.edu with the heading EOI FOR SYMPOSIUM

Authors of selected proposals will be notified in early June 2025. The workshop will prioritise in-person presentations but will be open to a virtual audience.

This workshop is organized by the Migration and Mobility Research Network (MMRN) and the Sociology of Migration, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism Thematic Group, funded by The Australian Sociological Association (TASA).

Event Details:
Date: Friday 21st November 2025
Time: 9:00am - 5:00pm
Location: Monash University, Melbourne

Speakers:


Associate Professor Quah Ee Ling (Western Sydney University)

Associate Professor Quah Ee Ling is a fire dragon feminist, Singaporean of Chinese-Hokkien and Indonesian-Peranakan heritage. Ee Ling insists on the correct order of her name - surname (Quah) first followed by given name (Ee Ling). She earned a PhD in Sociology (University of Sydney), MSocSci (National University of Singapore) and BA (National University of Singapore).

She developed fire dragon feminism to blow flames at colonial and racial capitalist structures and build solidarities for more just and sustainable futures. She has no patience for white supremacy, imperialism, racism, patriarchy and heteronormativity.




Associate Professor Sukhmani Khorana (University of New South Wales)

Sukhmani Khorana is a Scientia Associate Professor in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, School of the Arts and Media.

She is interested in media, migration and affect and her research focuses on multi-platform refugee narratives, the politics of food, the role of emotions in social change, cultural diversity in media and culture, and self-representation by young people of colour. Through her research, Sukhmani aims to create broader awareness about the lives of asylum seekers and refugees and contribute to the capacity-building of disadvantaged migrant communities.