Making Migration Methodologies Series: Filmmaking, Participatory Video and Videovoice
The Centre for Refugee Studies at York University and the Oxford Department for International Development have partnered to present a unique hybrid workshop series for the Trinity term: Making Migration Methodologies - A Hands-On Exploration of Mobility through Creative Tools.
Migration is about more than movement—it’s about memory, loss, resilience, and belonging. This workshop series equips researchers, students, and advocates with creative, participatory tools to study and represent migration in more ethical and transformative ways. Across six sessions, participants will learn hands-on methods including photovoice, participatory video, body mapping, poetry, music, digital ethnography, and social cartography. Each workshop combines practical tutorials with critical discussion on how these methods can challenge dominant narratives, surface hidden geographies, and amplify migrant voices. Led by an international lineup of leading scholars, artists, and practitioners, the series explores real-world case studies—from bodymapping fisherfolk displaced by seawalls in the Philippines to Kurdish women documenting musical traditions in Germany. Whether you are a migration scholar, an artist, an activist, or a student, this series will give you new tools to make your research more visual, collaborative, and impactful.
Organizers: The workshop series was organized by Dr. Yvonne Su, Abril Ríos-Rivera, Carolina Rota and Tegan Hadisi.
Dates: Every Tuesday May 6th to June 17th (with the exception of June 3rd)
Time: 3:30pm BST / 10:30am EST
Location: ODID Seminar Room 1, 3 Mansfield Road, University of Oxford
Hybrid: Hosted by the Centre for Refugee Studies, please register: https://yorku.zoom.us/meeting/register/dsT5Yr64QuSSM-4hMbOaVA
Registration: Registration is required for online participation and preferred for in-person.
May 6th, 2025 - Introduction to Arts-based Methods and Photovoice Tutorial
Speakers: Dr. Yvonne Su, Abril Ríos-Rivera, and Tyler Valiquette
Moderator: Tegan Hadisi
May 13th, 2025 - Filmmaking, Participatory Video and Videovoice
Speakers: Dr. Amanda Alencar, Dr. Zhixi Zhuang and Dr. Yvonne Su
Moderator: Tyler Valiquette
May 20th, 2025 - Music and Poetry as Arts-Based Methods for Migration Research
Speakers: Dr. Helidah Ogude-Chambert, Dr. Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey, Rose Campion
Moderator: Abril Ríos-Rivera and Dr. Yvonne Su
May 27th, 2025 - Embodying Migration: How to do Body Mapping
Speakers: Dr. Maaret Jokela-Pansini and Dr. Yvonne Su
Moderator: Tegan Hadisi
June 10th, 2025 - Migrant Lives Online: Practicing Digital Research Methods
Speakers: TBD
Moderator: TBD
June 17th, 2025 - Drawing the City: Social Cartographies of Lives on the Move
Speakers: Dr. Valentina Montoya Robledo, Dr. Melissa Moralli, Carolina Rota
Moderator: Vasiliki Poula
Filmmaking, Participatory Video and Videovoice
Date: Tuesday, May 13th, 2025
Time: 3:30pm BST / 10:30am EST
Location: ODID Seminar Room 1, 3 Mansfield Road, University of Oxford
Hybrid: Zoom link hosted by the Centre for Refugee Studies: https://yorku.zoom.us/meeting/register/dsT5Yr64QuSSM-4hMbOaVA
Registration: Registration is required for online participation and preferred for in-person.
This hands-on workshop brings together leading scholars and practitioners who use participatory filmmaking, videovoice, and digital storytelling to center the voices of migrants and marginalized individuals. Dr. Amanda Alencar (Erasmus University Rotterdam) will share insights from her participatory filmmaking project and share examples of refugees and digital storytelling through her platform Translocal Lives. Dr. Zhixi Zhuang (Toronto Metropolitan University) will explore how film can document the cultural and political imprint of immigrant and racialized communities on urban and suburban landscapes, highlighting creative approaches to inclusive city-building. Dr. Yvonne Su (York University) will showcase her videovoice project with LGBTQ+ refugees and migrants in São Paulo. Together, the speakers will offer a critical and practical introduction to participatory media methodologies, exploring their power to challenge dominant narratives, influence policy, and amplify lived experience. Participants will gain tools to ethically engage in collaborative filmmaking projects and leave with new ideas for integrating visual and participatory methods into research, advocacy, and community engagement. No prior experience in filmmaking is required.
Amanda Alencar, Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Communication of Erasmus University Rotterdam
Dr. Amanda Paz Alencar is an Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Communication at Erasmus University Rotterdam, specializing in media, migration, and intercultural communication. Amanda is also the founder of Translocal Lives, a digital hub that investigates how technology shapes migration experiences through research, education, and collaboration. Her research examines how communication technologies influence the mobility and sociocultural integration of refugees in various contexts. Amanda has been involved in numerous international research projects and has published extensively in journals such as Communication Research and Media, Culture & Society.
Zhixi Zhang, Academic Director of the Centre for Immigration and Settlement
Dr. Zhixi Zhuang (MCIP, RPP) is a Registered Professional Planner and Associate Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, where she also serves as Academic Director of the Centre for Immigration and Settlement. Her research focuses on urban diversity, equity, and inclusion in planning policies and practices. Through filmmaking, photovoice and other creative methods, she explores how immigrant and racialized communities shape urban and suburban landscapes, infusing them with cultural and political meaning. Her interdisciplinary work examines immigrant settlement, ethnic place-making, and municipal policy, with publications on welcoming infrastructure, immigrant entrepreneurship, and suburban transformation in non-traditional gateway cities across Canada.
Yvonne Su, Director of the Centre for Refugee Studies
Dr. Yvonne Su is the Director of the Centre for Refugee Studies and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Equity Studies at York University. Yvonne is an expert on participatory, arts-based and digital methods - ranging from photovoice, videovoice to bodymaping and participant-aided sociograms. Her research is on forced migration, climate change-induced displacement and queer migration. She has worked with vulnerable communities in Southeast Asia and Latin America, including refugees, indigenous peoples and LGBTQ+ communities. She has over 30 publications and an extensive portfolio of external research funding, including grants for co-creating photovoice, videovoice, and podcast projects in the Global South.
Moderator: Tyler Valiquette, PhD Candidate in Human Geography at UCL
