Oak Foundation have now confirmed the £11.2m gift which will be used to create the MFI, a unique research and education hub focused on migration, hope and collaboration.
This grant represents the largest single philanthropic gift in Goldsmiths’ history.
We would like to invite you to join us for our next Migrant Futures Forum meeting that will be held in person at Goldsmiths on Thursday, 22 May, from 2pm, in PSH 326.
As a reminder we will be alternating the Migrant Futures Forum between on-line and in person meetings.
In this forthcoming forum we will report on activities to date, provide updates on future activities, including the soon to be launched engagement awards and invite your input as we seek to further clarify and distil the vision and aims of the MFI. It is also an opportunity to meet Sultan Doughan who has joined Mark, Mirca and Sue as the fourth acting co-director of the Migrant Futures Institute and meet others with shared interests and work in this area.
We are also pleased to announce that the forum will be followed by a lecture by Taran Khan, on Shadow Cities: Writing Across Borders.
Migrant Futures Forum and Lecture
PSH 326, Goldsmiths 14.00 onwards
Coffee / tea & cakes available from 14:00
14:15 – 15:15 MFI Forum
15.15 – 15.30 Comfort and Coffee Break
15.30 -17:00: Taran Khan, Shadow Cities
We do hope you may be able to join us and look forward to seeing you there.
You are warmly invited to the next MFI talk on 22 May 2025 at 15:30-17:00 in PSH 326, at Goldsmiths.
Taran Khan will discuss her journey from reporting in Afghanistan to engaging with Afghan communities globally. This includes setting up and running the Simurgh Centre, a cultural space for Afghan asylum seekers in Delhi, and reporting on Afghan artists in Hamburg, examining their creative responses to displacement. She will share insights from the writing workshops that she runs with women in Delhi and Kabul, and talk about her new reporting project that follows the lives of Afghan migrants in the UK.
Moderated by Sultan Doughan
Discussants: Marcela Pizarro and Najiba Rafiei
Taran Khan is an award-winning journalist and writer and the author of Shadow City: A Woman Walks Kabul. Her writing has appeared in Granta, The Guardian, Al Jazeera and McSweeney’s, among others. She has received fellowships for her work from MacDowell, Jan Michalski Foundation and Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council. She is currently Royal Literary Fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Marcela Pizarro is lecturer in Media, Communications and Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths. Marcela has worked as a journalist in international news and filmmaking for over 20 years. She began at the Associated Press and then went on to work at Al Jazeera English, most notably at The Listening Post, the channel’s media critique show. She has focused on the political economy, geopolitics and culture of the news media around the world. Her long form reports, documentaries and animations look at issues of race, gender and class and much of her work has been dedicated to histories of journalism in the Global South.
Najiba Rafiei is a member of Community Interest Company (CIC) in London, where she delivers employability training and support for refugees, helping them rebuild their lives and navigate the challenges of integration. Her lived experience of displacement as an Afghan-Hazara woman, who fled the Taliban in 2021 deeply informs her work. She is committed to creating spaces of empowerment and opportunity for others who have faced forced migration. She is also pursuing an MSc in Environment, Politics, and Society at University College London (UCL), where she continues to deepen her understanding of social and environmental justice.
The event will take place immediately after the Summer term MFI Forum (see separate announcement for details on this).
The Migrant Futures Institute (MFI) at Goldsmiths is recruiting for an Operations Manager – a pivotal new role as we prepare for the formal launch of the MFI. This post will play a key part in supporting the delivery of our research, partnerships, and public events.
We’re looking for someone with strong experience in operations and management – ideally in a research or higher education setting – with proven skills in administration, financial and budget management, institutional and external relationship-building, and delivering high-impact events for diverse audiences.
We strongly encourage applications from candidates from racialised and minoritised backgrounds, especially those with migrant, refugee, or diasporic experiences.
Full details here: Migrant Futures Institute – Operations Manager.
Deadline to apply is 8 May 2025, and interviews for shortlisted candidates will take place on 19 May 2025.
At the last MFI Forum we announced our new Social Engagement and Enterprise awards, for new or existing partnerships between Goldsmiths staff both teaching and research staff, full-time or part-time ) and external partners in the migration field who may be local, national or internationally based.
The projects can involve joint research, data sharing, performance, creation, enterprise, impact assessment, or campaigning – anything that supports and enhances the work that migrant-focussed groups want to take forward with us. Applications can be made from £2k-£10k and this is an annual scheme, so people who may be just beginning connections can opt to start small and build in the future.
This funding call will go out in early May and full details will be listed on this page.
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The Migrant Futures Institute (MFI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Sultan Doughan as the Institute’s fourth interim co-director.
Sultan is a political anthropologist whose work focuses on the secular governance of religious difference in Europe. Her current book project, Converting Citizens: German Secularism and the Politics of Holocaust Memory, explores how debates on memory, race, and migration shape citizenship for Middle Eastern diasporas in Germany.
Sultan’s research brings critical insight into the role of education, state institutions, and memorial culture in shaping belonging and rights for migrant communities—work that all aligns strongly with the MFI’s mission.
Please join us in welcoming Sultan to this important role, which is effective immediately.
Find out more about Sultan Doughan