Religion and Asylum Networks in the UK

Dr Elizabeth Olson and Professor Lynn Staeheli

This proposed research project would explore the role that faith and religious organizations play in the formal and informal support and assimilation of asylum-seeking refugees in the United Kingdom. Faith organizations in the United States have long partnered with the state in the reception, placement, and education of refugees. In England, Ireland, and Scotland, the role of faith organizations in the lives of refugees and asylum seekers is less formalized, yet religion is often important in the lives of asylum seekers.

The study will expand empirical knowledge about the place of faith in processes of migration and settlement among asylum-seeking refugees. It will further aim to contribute to emerging geographies of religion and to normative understandings of justice and multiculturalism.

Applications for this proposal or for other research interests focusing on the social and cultural dimensions of religion in the United Kingdom or the United States are invited from students with backgrounds in human geography or related disciplines. The student will receive research training in human geography and will be supported in learning any language skills that would improve the quality of the project.