Wednesday 17 November 2010

CMRB/Runnymede Trust Conference - 'Secularism, Racism and the Politics of Belonging' - 27 January 2011

Dear colleagues,

Following the highly successful conference 'Migration, Racism and Religion' in February, CMRB and Runnymede Trust are organising a follow up event which aims to explore some of the important themes that emerged from the last event.

The conference will address how questions of race, religion and religious affiliation operate in state policies and civil society in Britain and beyond. It examines how matters of faith are constructed in relation to old and new forms of racism and to other contemporary political projects of belonging. It considers the implications for citizenship and social solidarity in the context of “the Big Society”.

These issues will be examined in relation to specific questions which have occupied the British public in recent years: constructions of “faith communities” in relation to ethnic identities; the place of religion in equality legislation and legal pluralism; debates about dress codes; and the effect of particular forms of religious education, including separate faith schools. This conference will take these issues forward and promises to be highly charged.

Continuing with the inclusive and open format of previous events, this conference brings together academics and researchers, community activists, race equality groups, and leading figures from secular, Christian, Muslim and Jewish organisations.

As before, the event will be free of charge to attend and lunch and refreshments will be provided.

We would ask you to circulate these details to those you feel may be interested in participating in the discussion.

Further details are available at http://www.uel.ac.uk/cmrb/news.htm and will be updated regularly.

Kind regards,

Steve Thorpe
CMRB Administrator
s.thorpe@uel.ac.uk

Migrants' Rights Network Newsletter

Migrants' Rights Network (MRN) provide a very useful and informative e-mail newsletter which is available on a weekly basis.  It is entitled Migrants Rights News and in the words of MRN:

`Migrants Rights News is an information service which aims to inform our members and other groups working on migration issues related to regional and national policy developments, campaign news, recent research and upcoming events.

It includes a weekly bulletin and additional updates from our blog. The email goes out every Monday. Have a look at a previous issue to see what you're going to get in your mailbox.'

All you need to do is click this link www.migrantsrights.org.uk/about/newsletter and fill in the form.


Monday 8 November 2010

CMRB Seminars in November

"Blaming the victims - Sarkozy and the plight of the Roma".
Speaker: Dr Jim Wolfreys, Kings College London.
Wednesday 17 November:2-5pm (Room TBC)

“Muslim Women and Marriage in Trans-jurisdictional Contexts”

Wednesday 24 November: 2-5pm in room EB.G.10
Speaker: Dr Prakash Shah, Queen Mary, University of London

How do immigration officials and judges manage when judging the validity of acts of marriage solemnisation, which take place on transjurisdictional terms? How do we explain their responses? These are some questions raised by this paper, which presents evidence gleaned from the writer’s
own work as an ‘expert’ witness in immigration cases. Two case studies have been selected on the basis that the chief issue in contestation is the validity of a trans-jurisdictional marriage among South Asian Muslims, and therefore raise the issue of whether the marriages are valid according
to Muslim law. The paper also raises some questions for future research, given that we know little as yet about how recognition of minority transjurisdictional marriages takes place across European legal systems and, in particular, the role of experts who get involved in the legal processes in which such marriages are contested.

UEL Docklands Campus is adjecent to Cyprus Station, Docklands Light Railway
Centre for Research for Migration, Refugees and Belonging - www.uel.ac.uk/cmrb

Thursday 4 November 2010

Refugee Academics- Britain as a place of sanctuary November 8th, 5.30pm


Refugee Academics- Britain as a place of sanctuary November 8th, 5.30pm


University of East London, Docklands Campus.
Room:East Building 1.04
November 8th, 530-730pm

The Council for Assisting Refugee Academics would like to invite you:
Refugee academics - Britain as a place of sanctuary
Jeremy Seabrook, guest lecturer, renowned author

Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA) and the Refugee Studies Programme
University of East London,
November 8th
5.30-7.30pm

Jeremy will be looking at the history of refugee academics in the UK, whilst assessing the role of UK universities in welcoming refugee academics,including questions of academic freedom.

The talk will outline the history of CARA from 1933 to the present and its continuing relevance, as the numbers of academic refugees in the UK increase.

The trials, tribulations and politics of welcoming refugee academics will be highlighted with reference to the many testimonies in CARA's 75thanniversary publication 'The Refugee and the Fortress.'

The talk will be an opportunity to gain further understanding of refugee academics disposition in the UK from the 1930's to today, with the unique perspective of a charitable organizations that started in the UK in 1933.

To RSVP Please email info.cara@lsbu.ac.uk

UEL: Cite Them Right - Online Version

Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2010) Cite them right: the
essential referencing guide. 8th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (Palgrave Study Skills)

How to access Cite them right off and on campus
·         Open the University of East London website at http://www.uel.ac.uk
·         Click on UEL DIRECT

·       Students
·        Type in your network username and password e.g.
·       
·         Staff
·       
Type your network username and password e.g.
·         
Once you have successfully logged into UEL Direct
·         Click on UEL PLUS
·        
From  UEL PLUS, you have two options to read the book

Option 1 - Under Course List
·        
Click on Academic Integrity – Resources for students
·         Click on Useful links
·         Click on Cite them right.
·         The publication will load

Option 2 - Under Campus Bookmarks

·         Click on Cite them right
The book will load