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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. 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?

In addition, the symposium will also conduct a roundtable discussion on research methodologies, ethical considerations and publication strategies.

Expression of interest for presenting is now closed. Audience registration is now open. The hybrid workshop will include in-person presentations, and open to an in-person and virtual audience. Please send any questions to mmrn@monash.edu.

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: 9:30am - 5:00pm
Location: Monash University City Campus, 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.