Research visit at Western University in London, Ontario
From September 23 to October 30, 2022, I had the privilege of spending a research stay of almost one and a half months at the Department of Sociology at Western University in London, Ontario. This research visit was made possible through the invitation and support of Howard Ramos, to whom I’m eternally grateful for this opportunity. The stay proved to be a productive and enlightening experience.
The primary purpose of my visit was to collaborate with Howard on our ongoing project, Experiences of Refugee Youth and Families in Hard-to-Survey Areas (ERYF-HAS). During my stay, we made significant progress in this regard and even secured an additional grant of $20,000 from Meta Platforms, Inc, supporting our project.
I very much liked the atmosphere at Western’s Department of Sociology. During my stay, I had the opportunity to establish new professional connections and engage in numerous academic discussions with colleagues. I enjoyed our conversations very much, and I want to thank all of them for taking time out of their busy schedules for me.
London itself is a beautiful city, and I enjoyed riding the bike to university every day, passing through several lovely parks. Of course, I also explored other parts of southern Ontario on the weekends. I took up friends’ invitations to take short trips on various occasions. I’m very grateful for these wonderful times and to my friends for spending their time with me.
As part of my visit, I presented my recent work at the Fall Colloquium of Western’s Research Center on Migration and Ethnic Relations, an event that provided a platform for sharing insights and receiving valuable feedback from fellow scholars.
Additionally, I had the pleasure of giving a guest lecture at Carleton University in Ottawa and conducted a workshop at McGill University in Montreal alongside Michael Zoorob. These were great events, and I thank Martin Geiger and Thomas Soehl, respectively, for the invitations.
My research visit to Western University was a valuable experience extending beyond advancing our project. It was a journey of learning and collaboration, resulting in new ideas for future research endeavors. My time at Western was a productive and rewarding experience, which I hope to build upon in the future. I appreciate the support of all those who made it possible and look forward to future collaborations and opportunities to return to Canada.