Academic’s Marsden grant will research refugees

Academic’s Marsden grant will research refugees and digital media

Dr Jay Marlowe of the University of Auckland has received a Marsden grant to continue his extensive study into the resettlement of refugees.

He only found out about his success on Monday, after applying for the grant in February.

“I received a phone call from Peter Gilberd who is the programme manager for the Marsden fund that my application was successful,” says Dr Marlowe, who is based in the School of Counselling, Human Services and Social Work in the Faculty of Education and Social Work.

“It is a major career defining moment and also a great recognition for the importance of research with refugees.”

“I have already received many congratulations from friends, family and colleagues and their ongoing support has played a significant part for the project’s success. It takes a village to make a Marsden!”

Titled, “Resettled but not reunited: refugees and transnational belonging through digital media”, Dr Marlowe will study how refugees can now freely (re)engage with their global diaspora as increasingly affordable and accessible internet streaming transcends well-defined territorial borders with overseas family and friends.

“The research will provide new knowledge about how resettled refugees reconnect with their transnational networks through social media,” Dr Marlowe says.

“It will provide analysis on the capacities (and limitations) for creating and maintaining social relationships when physical reunion with loved ones is not possible.”

As less than one percent of the world’s refugees will have opportunities to resettle in countries such as New Zealand, it highlights that understanding the ways that they meaningfully reconnect and interact with the remaining 99 percent is critical.

As refugees undertake 'digital-unification' with transnational networks and remain engaged in their home-country affairs, it is not known whether such digital portals impede or enhance social integration and citizenship experiences in their new settlement country.

The Marsden grant provides $300,000 in funding over three years. Incorporating an innovative participant-centred design, Dr Marlowe will use online methods with 16 resettled refugees living in New Zealand (from Afghanistan, Somalia, Burma and Colombia) and their transnational networks over an 18-month time period to understand the ways they digitally reconnect across distance through social media.

As the principal investigator (PI), Dr Marlowe will recruit and train these 16 New Zealand-based refugee peer researchers to reflect and report upon the ways that they engage with their transnational family and friendship networks.

“These four countries represent where some of the highest numbers of refugees currently originate globally. Each peer researcher will recruit up to eight of their transnational networks as additional participants,” Dr Marlowe says.

The current global refugee crisis highlights the need for people to stay in touch with family both back home and in their adopted country.

The ground-breaking study of refugees in a digital age provides original and timely contributions relating to the strategic and inventive ways they sustain meaningful social interaction and belonging within and across national borders.

ENDS

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