SUMMARY OF THE LECTURES
Monday, 03.09.2012
Opening Ceremony and Guided Visit at the City Hall
After the arrival of all students, they were warmly welcomed at the Ceremony Hall of the City Hall of České Budějovice. The guests of the opening ceremony were Mr. Juraj Thoma, the Lord Mayor of České Budějovice; Mr. Libor Grubhoffer, the President of the University of South Bohemia, and Mrs. Lucie Sládková, Head of the IOM Mission in Prague. In this occassion, each guest delivered a welcoming speech which was aimed both to welcome the students and to give a brief introduction concerning the city and the program itself. Apart from the guests and the students, one of the speakers, Mrs. Lori Hunter from the University of Colorado and the organizers from the IOM Mission in Prague and the University of South Bohemia were also present during the ceremony. The opening ceremony was continued by a short guided visit to the whole City Hall.
Guided City Tour
The program was then followed by an attractive guided city tour of České Budějovice which was led by the representatives of the University of South Bohemia. Students were invited to know more about the history of the city as well as the important places in the city. Moreover, they were also able to see directly some historical places that were related to migration issues in the country and particularly in the city.
Introductory Meeting about the Program
The introductory meeting was given jointly by the representatives of the IOM Prague and the University of South Bohemia at the Faculty of Education, University of South Bohemia. There was no presentation given in this session, however all students were informed concerning the technical matters of the program including the schedule of the lectures. There was also a brief explanation on who were the lecturers and short speech on what do the organizers expect from the students during the program.
Welcome Dinner
Following the opening ceremony and introductory meeting, all students as well as several speakers were invited to the welcome dinner at Indian restaurant with multicultural atmosphere. The welcome dinner was organized in a more informal and familiar way in order to make all participants become closer. All students, organizers, and speakers were given an opportunity to introduce themselves as well as to know each other better through this dinner.
Tuesday, 04.09.2012
Welcoming Speech by the Cultural Attaché of the US Embassy for the Czech Republic
Tuesday’s morning session was opened by a short welcoming speech from Ms. Sherry Keneson-Hall, the cultural attaché of the US Embassy for the Czech Republic. In her speech, she expressed her gratitude to see that a summer school of migration studies is organized regarding the importance of the issue. In this occasion, she especially introduced Mrs. Lori Hunter who was the main speaker for the morning session.
Presentation by Mrs. Lori Hunter and Mr. Robert Stojanov on Climate Change and Migration
Tuesday’s session was predominantly devoted to the discussion of climate change and migration. The first presentation was given by Mrs. Lori Hunter, Associate Professor of sociology and environmental studies, Institute of Behavioral Science of the University of Colorado in Boulder. For this discussion, she presented “Climate Change and Human Migration: An Overview of Current Research Understanding” that provided a thorough introduction on the issue both from theoretical and practical side. Students had the opportunity to enjoy an absorbing lecture while understand and discuss about the importance of climate change impact in migration issue based on Mrs. Hunter’s research experiences and the existing discourses.
The second presenter was Mr. Robert Stojanov from the Global Change Research Centre, the Academy of Science of the Czech Republic – who presented his presentation entitled “Environmentally-Induced Migration – Four Case Studies from Three Continents.” As it is mentioned in the title, Mr. Stojanov firstly explained about how environmental changes might be an impetus of human displacement and followed by environmental-induced migration cases that happened in China, Chernobyl, Bangladesh, and South Africa. Students were also exposed to the existing models to analyze and understand more environment-induced migration.
Afternoon Session: Panel Discussion on Climate Change and Migration
Tuesday’s afternoon session was filled with a panel discussion entitled “Environmental Change and Migration: concept, migration theories, links to economy, sociology, geography and other disciplines.” Apart from Mrs. Hunter and Mr. Stojanov, two other panelists were also present in the discussion namely Ms. Zuzana Cahlíková from the Global Change Research Centre and Ms. Maria Kusalasari, master student in migration studies (EMMIR) and IOM Prague intern. Short presentations concerning the applicable theory to study climate change and migration as well as environment-induced migration in Southeast Asia and Indonesia were delivered. The session brought attention and students could enjoy fruitful in-depth discussion about climate change and migration with the panelist in relations to various disciplines.
Team Workshop and Group Discussion
In this session all students were divided into four study groups on selected migration topics namely migration and integration, migration and asylum seekers, labor migration, and environment-induced migration. Each group was guided by the tutors from the IOM and the University of South Bohemia. All of them were given opportunity to decide on a topic in which they had to identify the problem as well as possible solutions and they would have to present the result on the last day of the summer school.
Facultative Evening Program: Migration Movie and Discussion
The facultative evening program on Tuesday was to watch a movie related to migration entitled “Barcelona or Die.” It tells about a migrant from Senegal who wanted to move to Canary Islands for better life. It was described how he tried to go across the continent illegally by boat. The discussion was led by Ms. Karin Brázová from IOM Prague where each student was asked to share their opinion about irregular migration in their respective countries. There was also a short presentation by Ms. Anna Maršíková on the European Master on Migration and Intercultural Relations (EMMIR).
Wednesday, 05.09.2012
Presentation by Mrs. Lucie Sládková on Trafficking in Human Beings
Wednesday’s morning session was started by the lecture from Mrs. Lucie Sládková, the head of IOM Mission in Prague. The students had opportunity to enjoy an interesting lecture concerning human trafficking. Apart from the explanation on the theoretical aspect and legal framework, the discussion was enriched by the practical experiences and examples such as a story from one of the victims. There was a short movie shown during the lecture that brought the concrete situation into the class and initiated a dynamic discussion within the students.
Migration and Gender
The discussion was continued with a lecture on Migration and Gender which was delivered by Aishah Namukasa and Lisa-Marie Heimeshoff, Ph.D candidates from the University of Kassel, Germany. The lecture provided quite a number of concrete and specific cases concerning the feminization of migration and other gender-related issues in migration studies which are part of their research experience. This topic has also drawn attention and questions from the students. In the end of the lecture and discussion, a short movie on Sri Lankan women labor migrants who work in Lebanon was shown to portray the real situation which is actually happening globally.
Migration Theories, Realities, and Myths
In the afternoon, Mr. Dušan Drbohlav, Associate Professor at Department of Social Geography and Regional Development, Faculty of Natural Sciences at Charles University in Prague started the session with an inspiring presentation on myths-breaking in migration. In this way, students were confronted with facts often opposing the general believes commonly held by journalists and even some politicians. The most important point in this lecture is how to pick a suitable theory in conducting a research on migration issue. The lecture was followed by a session on new theories and conceptual frameworks in migration issues which were related to his researches on labor migration. The lecture drew attention and interesting discussion between the students and Mr. Drbohlav, and this was one of the most important lectures as it provided the students theoretical framework of migration. It helped students to understand more about migration issues from both theoretical and empirical side.
Facultative Evening Program: Discussion on Immigration Issues in Israel and the Middle East
On Wednesday, the facultative evening program was organized at the Cultural House Slavie. In a more relax and friendly issue, a presentation was delivered by Mr. Marek Čejka, an expert on the Middle East from the Institute of International Relations in Prague. The interesting presentation covered the history of immigration in Israel which was the focus of the lecture. This topic brought curiosity from the students and an exciting discussion followed after the lecture. As it was organized in a more relax approach, it was possible to do the discussion in a more informal way which added the excitement in the group.
Thursday, 06.09.2012
Presentation by Mr. Salim Murad on Immigration, Integration, and Media
An inspiring lecture entitled “Immigration, Integration, and Media – New Faces of Populist Mobilization in the Czech Republic” was delivered on Thursday by Mr. Salim Murad from the University of South Bohemia as well as a lecturer of the European Master on Migration and Intercultural Relations (EMMIR). Mr. Murad demonstrated the relations between the three elements that were mentioned in the title to expose the influence of the media in creating perceptions within Czech society towards immigrants especially in this century. Done in an interactive and thought-provoking way, this lecture has brought attention from the student and a dynamic discussion occurred throughout the session.
Afternoon Session: Presentations and Panel Discussion on the Integration of Migrants
This time participants had opportunity to understand integration process of migrants in the Czech Republic from different point of view. The panelists came from different background including Mr. Jan Kepka from the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy, Ministry of Interior; Ms. Michaela Dušková and Ms. Vendula Vaňková from the Counseling Center for Foreigners and Migrants of Diocesan Charity in České Budějovice; Ms. Ljuba Symronyk from Townshend International School; and Ms. Petra Texlerová from the Organization for Aid to Refugees. With this diverse background of panelists, students were enabled to explore the concept of integration both from the point of view of the state and civil society. The panel discussion received good remarks from the students as integration is also one of the most essential topics to be discussed when it comes to migration issues.
Facultative Evening Program: “The Forest” (Open Air Drama by the Colorful Children)
On Thursday evening, another facultative program was organized for all participants in cooperation with the Colorful Children Theatre. The play entitled “The Forest” generally showed a passionate culture clash between the civilized world and the fabulous forest. Despite of the usage of Czech language in the play, the play has drawn enthusiasm from all of the participants.
Friday, 07.09.2012
Presentation by Mr. Jan Schroth on Circular Migration and Development
Friday’s morning session was initiated by the presentation delivered by Mr. Jan Schroth from the IOM entitled “Re-Turn Project – Circular Migration and its Impact on Regional Development” which is one of the on-going project organized by the IOM. The main purpose of this project as well as the presentation is to link the phenomenon of labor migration with development both in the receiving or hosting countries. The return migrants can be seen as a counter action to avoid brain drain as well as to contribute to the development of their country of origin. Here the students were exposed to the relation between migration, development, as well as migration network with home. Increasing best practices proves that this project could be continued even in the future. A quite interactive discussion also occurred during and after the lecture.
Presentation on IOM Prague’s Project on Return Migration (Assisted Voluntary Returns)
The lecture continued with the discussion concerning the on-going IOM projects concerning the Assisted Voluntary Returns or AVR. In general the presentation described the whole project including who are the partners, what are the main activities as well as the progress that is happening in the Czech Republic itself. Different from the previous project that emphasizes the importance of remigration to support development, AVR is more into returning migrants whose asylum applications were rejected so that their presence became irregular in Europe, as well as vulnerable groups such as unaccompanied minors and victims of trafficking. The main concern here is to reintegrate them into hosting society and assist them to rebuild their life at home. It also drew much attention from the students who are mostly asking about the migrants after being returned to their home country and how to make their life sustainable.
Group Presentation, Summary and Evaluation of the Summer School, and Closing Ceremony
Friday’s last session was devoted to the group presentation as well as evaluation and closing ceremony of the summer school. All four groups delivered their result of small research that was initiated on Tuesday. Each group managed to present and provide new insights as well as ideas in the class which was also discussed by other students and both representatives from the IOM and USB. The session was ended by handing out the certificates and diplomas for all participants along with the evaluation and summary in which the participants had to fill a form and express their opinions on the program.