Colloquium Series

The colloquium series brings together scholars and practitioners from a variety of academic backgrounds and professional sectors. Many are engaged in either designing and implementing policy or providing services to immigrant and refugee populations. Hearing speakers from government, legal, immigrant services and community sectors provides students with insight into “real-world” issues and decision-making processes, as well as seeing how academic research can be applied to understanding and resolving such issues.

Our colloquium series is a mandatory requirement for all students enrolled in the MER specialization. Talks are scheduled during the academic year on a bi-weekly basis. In addition to our MER students and faculty, the colloquia regularly attracts students, staff, and faculty from the broader Western campus and local community members interested in what we do. 


2025-2026
September 25-26

MER Alumni Reunion
September 25

Social and Networking Event
September 26

Presentations on Current Migration Trends and Expectations for the Future

Talk 'Retention Is the New Recruitment'
Federica Guccini, PhD, Research Associate, Immigration, The Conference Board of Canada

Talk 'Think About Immigration in Terms of Economics and Culture: Implications for Anti-Immigrant Sentiments'
Paolo A. Palma, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Toronto Metropolitan University
October 9

Racialization of international students from Asia in Canada

Dr. Ann Kim, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology York University
October 30

Homing, Revisited: Approaching Ordinary Struggles and Emerging Dilemmas of Mobilities Between Ascribed and Achieved Homes

Dr. Paolo Boccagni, Professor of Sociology, University of Trento (Italy)
November 20

Transition to Permanent Residency and Retention of International Students and Temporary Foreign Workers in New Brunswick

Dr. Ted McDonald, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of New Brunswick
December 4

Exhibition 'Tropi-X: Brazilian Art in Canada, 1970s-Now' at Museum London

Curator: Dr. Alena Robin, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Art History at Western University
January 20

The Wall Between: Building Bridges Between Jewish and Palestinian People in Our Community

Raja G. Khouri (CEO of Khouri Conversations, a human rights and inclusion consultant, the founding president of the Canadian Arab Institute)
Jeffrey J. Wilkinson (PhD in Education, University of Toronto)
February 26

Black Muslim Refugee: Militarism, Policing, and Somali American Resistance to State Violence in Minneapolis and Beyond

Dr. Maxamed Abu-Maye, Assistant Professor in the Department of African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University
March 12

Are We Still Losing Our Minds? The Skilled Labour Migration Debate from Africa

Dr. Abel Chikanda, Associate Professor, School of Earth, Environment & Society, McMaster University
March 26

Adoption, Trafficking, and State Responsibility: Canada’s Dilemma in Post-Conflict Liberia

Michael Watts, Area Director, IRCC Ontario (Retired)