Events
This section includes details of seminars, conferences and other events where the research team presents research findings over the course of the project and after its formal end.
If you would like to hear about these events, please follow us on our social media channels or email us at [email protected].
‘Rainbow On Ragged Terrains: Iranian Queer Poetic Across Borders’ (Nilofar Shidmehr)
26 May 2025, 'CARFMS2025: Canadian, Regional, and International Responses to Forced Migration', Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto
Speaker: Nilofar Shidmehr (Instructor at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Visiting Scholar in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada)
More information available here.
‘Assessing credibility in SOGIESC asylum claims: European comparative findings’ (Nuno Ferreira)
19 December 2024, NOVA Refugee & Migration Clinic (NRMC) Migration and Asylum Talks, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa
Speaker: Nuno Ferreira (University of Sussex)
More information available here.
NQIfFM project presentation (Moira Dustin and Nuno Ferreira)
© Mohammad Dalla
23 October 2024, '11th SCMR-JEMS Conference: Migration Dilemmas in a Rapidly Changing World', University of Sussex, Brighton
Speakers: Moira Dustin and Nuno Ferreira (University of Sussex)
More information available here.
'Language, Difference, and Identity Construction of Queer Iranians, Pre and post-Jina Uprising' (Mehran Rezaei Toroghi)
3-5 October 2024, 'Crossings and contaminations. Practices, languages and politics in transit in the Middle East and North Africa', Department of Political and Social Sciences University of Cagliari, Cagliari
Speakers: Mehran Rezaei Toroghi (Honorary Research Fellow, University of Sussex)
More information available here.
'Unravelling the knot of credibility assessment in SOGIESC asylum' (Nuno Ferreira)
© Geert van Tol
20 September 2024, Amsterdam, 'Believe it or not: International asylum conference on credibility assessment in SOGIESC cases', Striking Sirens Coalition
Keynote speaker: Nuno Ferreira (Professor of Law, University of Sussex)
More information available here.
'Asylum, identity, and time: The experiences of queer Iranians in exile' (Nuno Ferreira)
5-6 September 2024, Uppsala, 'Time, Temporalities & Migration Law: International Symposium on the Role and Meaning of Time in Migration Law', Uppsala University
Speaker: Nuno Ferreira (Professor of Law, University of Sussex)
More information available here.
'Power-Knowledge And Phenomenal Self; Examining A Non-Foucauldian Approach In Studying Iranian Queer Identities In Exile' (Mehran Rezaei Toroghi)
22-23 August 2024, Frankfurt, The International Conference on Contemporary Iranian Studies (ICCI), Goethe University Frankfurt – Campus Westend
Speakers: Mehran Rezaei Toroghi (Honorary Research Fellow, University of Sussex)
More information available here.
'Escaping homophobia and transphobia in Iran: Legal experiences of seeking protection in Turkey, the UK and Canada' (Nuno Ferreira)
and
'Do queer Iranian women need saving? Feminist theory and praxis' (Moira Dustin)
and
'Exploring Queer Identities: A Comparative Analysis of Poetic Narratives from Iranian Refugees and Migrants in Turkey, the UK, and Canada' (Nilofar Shidmehr)
and
Surveillance and Identity: Queer Iranian Refugees’ Navigation of Belonging (Isabel Rose Soloaga)
3-9 July 2024, Mexico City, The Migration Conference 2024
Speakers: Moira Dustin (Lecturer in Law, University of Sussex), Nuno Ferreira (Professor of Law, University of Sussex), Nilofar Shidmehr (Instructor at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Visiting Scholar in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada), and Isabel Rose Soloaga (Research Fellow, University of Sussex)
More information available here.
'Expressions of Freedom in Poetic Narratives of Iranian Queer Migrations' (Nilofar Shidmehr)
At workshop "Queerness and Gender Diversity in/to Migration: Norms, Discourses, Control Mechanisms”, at the French Institute for Anatolian Studies in Istanbul, Türkiye, on 26 April 2024
Speaker: Dr Nilofar Shidmehr (Instructor at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Visiting Scholar in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada)
More information available here.
'Forced Migration and Poetics of Iranian Queers in Exile'
Wednesday, April 14th, 2024, 14:00 – 16:00
Speaker: Dr Nilofar Shidmehr (Instructor at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Visiting Scholar in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada)
More information available here.
'Queer, Iranian and in exile: Comparing the experiences of Iranian queer refugees living in Turkey, the UK and Canada' (Nuno Ferreira)
and
'Art-informed Methodologies in Refugee and Forced Migration Research from the perspective of research about and with Iranian queer refugees' (Nilofar Shidmehr)
23-26 August 2023, Hamburg, The Migration Conference 2023
Speakers: Nuno Ferreira (Professor of Law, University of Sussex) and Dr Nilofar Shidmehr (Instructor at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Visiting Scholar in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada)
More information available here.
Dr Shidmehr's presentation won the prize for best paper in the Migration and Identities Track.
'Asylum, identity, and time: The experiences of queer Iranians in exile'
1-2 June 2023, Amsterdam, International Conference on the Temporal Dimensions of Migration Law
Speakers: Nuno Ferreira (Professor of Law, University of Sussex)
More information available here.
'Experiences of Iranian Queer Refugees in Turkey, the UK and Canada'
31 May 2023, 17:00-18:30 BST, 'Rainbow Pathways: Navigating the Journeys of LGBT+ Asylum Seekers' event
Speakers: Mehran Rezaei-Toroghi (University of Sussex) and others
90-minute ICEMiC event where we’ll explore the experiences of LGBT refugees and asylum seekers. Our panellists will share stories of resilience, courage, and hope as refugees and asylum seekers navigate a complex and often hostile system in search of safety. From the challenges they face in their home countries to the struggles they encounter in the asylum process, we'll gain a deeper understanding of their journey.
More information available here.
'The intersection of methodological and ethical quandaries from the perspective of research about and with Iranian queer refugees'
30 May 2023, 1.30-3pm Toronto time (6.30-8pm UK time), CARFMS23: 'Racism, Rights, and the Responsibility to Protect' Conference
Speakers: Moira Dustin (Lecturer in Law, University of Sussex), Kamran Matin (Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Sussex), Dr Nilofar Shidmehr (Instructor at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Visiting Scholar in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada)
This panel addresses the opportunities and challenges of ‘doing’ research with and about people who have experienced forced migration through the lens of an ongoing research project about queer Iranian forced migrants. In the panel we ask: what innovative methodological and theoretical approaches can enable the research team to achieve the project’s objectives in a way that is consistent with the team’s values and that does not misrepresent or – worse – jeopardise the safety of project participants and future forced migrants. The panel discussions concern questions the researchers are still grappling with and which we hope will inform other refugee scholarship as well as our own project.
More information available here.
'Agency vs vulnerability and resilience: creating agency through poetry'
5 May 2023, 15:15-17:30 Istanbul time, 'Exploring Vulnerability(ies) and Resilience: Learning from Populations on the Move' Conference, Istanbul Policy Center–Sabanci University–Stiftung Mercator Initiative
Speakers: Nilofar Shidmehr (Instructor at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Visiting Scholar in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada)
More information available here.
'Queer, Iranian and in exile: Comparing the experiences of Iranian queer refugees living in Turkey, the UK and Canada'
26 April 2023, 3pm (Ashdown House 106, University of Sussex, and online - register here) GenSeM IMISCOE & Ethnicity, Race and Diverse Societies Network (University of Sussex)
Speakers: Moira Dustin (Lecturer in Law, University of Sussex), Nuno Ferreira (Professor of Law, University of Sussex), and Mehran Rezaei Toroghi (Research Fellow in Law, University of Sussex)
Discussant: Sarah Scuzzarello (Senior Lecturer, University of Sussex)
