2020/21EDITORIAL TEAM
DOMIZIANA TURCATTI
Editor in Chief
Domiziana is a DPhil Student in Migration Studies investigating how families shape and are shaped by onward migration. Domiziana is also co-leading the public engagement project “Enhancing the impact of migration research with Latin Americans in London”, which seeks to understand the impact of Brexit and COVID-19 on London’s Latin American migrants by building links with the community. Domiziana joined OxMo in 2019 and as of September 2020 was appointed as convener of the interdisciplinary Oxford Migration and Mobility Network, which draws together researchers of migration and mobility from across the University of Oxford. Prior to moving to Oxford, Domiziana completed her MPhil in Sociology at the University of Cambridge in July 2019 with a Gates Cambridge Scholarship and completed her BA in Liberal Arts and Science at Amsterdam University College.
ANDREA ORTIZ
Editor in Chief
Andrea Ortiz has an MSc in Migration Studies with distinction from the University of Oxford and a B.A. in Social Studies and Economics with honors from Harvard University. Due to her ethnographic research experience on a Fulbright scholarship in central Mexico, her research interests have developed to be primarily in the areas of migration and development, Southern-led responses to displacement, and urban integration.
ASSAD ASIL COMPANIONI
Policy Editor
Assad is currently a MSc in Migration Studies candidate at the University of Oxford. He also volunteers at the student-led Global Security Initiative as Head of Research and Analysis, where he guides and oversees analytical work and publications pertaining to current international affairs. Currently, he is researching questions of sociocultural integration for his dissertation, though his wider academic and policy interests involve far-right political activity, migration and human rights, global governance, and sustainable development. During his undergraduate studies for a BA in International Relations, he developed a background oriented around critical theory.
CHUNKAI CAO
Academic Editor
Chunkai is currently an MSc Migration Studies candidate at the University of Oxford. In her degree, she is focusing on state-diaspora relations in the Global South, new technology, and the socialist and post-socialist perspectives on migration. Her thesis looks into Chinese diaspora engagement through a geopolitical lens of the rise of China. Previously, Chunkai completed a BBA in Accounting and Finance from the University of Hong Kong. She has also worked for a social enterprise for refugees in Malaysia and student-initiated projects on conflict resolution in the Sinophone area.
TIGER HILLS
Academic Editor
Tiger Hills is a graduate student in the Migration Studies MSc at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the intersection between non-state actors, social and climate justice, and ideas of 'hope' in the context of migration. She holds an ESRC scholarship which she will use to continue her research after the MSc. She has significant experience working alongside grassroots NGOs and graduated from Oxford University with a BA in Geography. She subsequently worked as a Geography teacher in North London.
MAURICE KIRSCHBAUM
Policy Editor
Maurice Kirschbaum recently graduated with an MSc in Migration Studies from the University of Oxford. His thesis looked into the ethics of repatriation of Syrian refugees from Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. He studied for a BA in International Studies/Middle Eastern Studies at Leiden University. He is currently working in the Middle East division of the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He previously co-founded two student-led multidisciplinary journals: Medusa at Leiden and the KCL Student journal of International Affairs.
NICK LANCASTER
Field Editor
Nick Lancaster is a current MSc student in Migration Studies at the University of Oxford and has a BA in History from University College London. His research is currently focused on how urban mobility has been incorporated into the planning of post-apartheid Johannesburg, and he is more broadly interested in the institution of urban planning and how cities are built to facilitate or prevent inclusion.
NINA MATSUMOTO
Artistic & Creative Expressions
Nina Matsumoto is a current Migration Studies MSc student at the University of Oxford. Prior to starting her studies at Oxford, she worked as an educator on a Fulbright scholarship in Bulgaria, an advocacy coordinator at a Japan-based grassroots NGO, and an interpreter/translator. Inspired by her previous work with minority youth communities, her current research interests include topics such as transnational identity formation, transitional justice, and immigrant social integration policies. She holds an honors bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a minor in Spanish from Pitzer College (USA).
FATIMA ZEHRA NAQVI
Artistic & Creative Expressions
Fatima Zehra Naqvi is a writer, editor, and educator. Her research, writing and community work centre on issues of borders, migration, (im)mobilities, and displacement, in particular how narratives shape ideas and policies around belonging and unbelonging. Zehra has written and edited for various publications internationally. She holds an MSc in Migration Studies and an MSc in Social Anthropology from Oxford, where she recently completed her studies as a Rhodes Scholar. Prior to Oxford, she graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BA (Honours) in English and Creative Writing.
ERICA SEWELL
Law Editor
Erica Sewell earned an MSc in Migration Studies from the University of Oxford in July 2016. There, she focused on U.S. media representation of immigrants and its impact on their social integration. She also holds a BA in Anthropology and Comparative Literature from Rutgers University where she previously worked advising international students on their immigration status. She currently lives in Seoul, South Korea to explore her research interests in immigrant integration policies and internationalisation of higher education in East Asia.
POONAM SANDHU
Law Editor
Poonam recently received an MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, with distinction, from the University of Oxford. Drawing upon a case study of Kalobeyei refugee settlement in Kenya and analysis of the key policy documents, her thesis explored the notion of self-reliance for refugees through a Derridean deconstructive approach. Poonam’s professional experiences include working as a public servant for the Federal Government of Canada and as an impact and evaluation researcher in Lima, Peru. She also completed a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations at the University of British Columbia, and is currently pursuing a joint BCL/JD at McGill University.
DRASHTI THAKKAR
Policy Editor
Drashti Thakkar is currently in the MSc Migration Studies at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on urban refugees, informal economies and policy solutions studying this especially in a comparative perspective. She volunteers for various London based migrant and refugee organisations like Hackney CVS and the Renewal Programme. Previously, she completed a B.A. in Mass Media and an M.A. in Political Science form Mumbai. She also has work experience as a State Government Fellow and an evaluation researcher in India.
TRINH TRUONG
Policy Editor
Trinh is currently pursuing an MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies at the University of Oxford, where she researches theories of citizenship and the social contract of asylum. Prior to moving to the UK, she spent a year in Cambodia researching the effects of deportation on refugees formerly resettled in the US. In recent years, Trinh has also worked to resettle refugees, to bail immigrants out of detention, and to organize sanctuary networks. She is currently establishing a community center for refugees in her hometown of Utica, New York, where she resettled from Vietnam at the age of 3. She holds a BA in Political Science from Yale University and a Certificate in Human Rights Studies from Yale Law School.
PAUL VERNON
Field Editor
Paul is currently pursuing a MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies at the University of
Oxford, where his research examines how humanitarian practitioners understand and internalise
the concept of protection. Other research interests include political anthropology, sovereignty,
and the global response to Burmese forced migration. Paul holds a B.A with High Honors in
Political Science with a minor in Sociology & Anthropology from Swarthmore College. Paul has previously worked with the Karen Human Rights Group at the Thai-Burma border, UNHCR’s
Malaysia Office, Refugees International Japan in Tokyo, and InterAction’s Humanitarian Policy
and Practice Team in Washington D.C.
EMMA WALKER-SILVERMAN
Academic Editor
Emma Walker-Silverman is a doctoral student in the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford. She is interested in intergroup relations and the forces that shape them, and her doctoral research focuses on the influence of social media on host community attitudes towards Syrian refugees in Turkey. She holds an MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies with distinction from the University of Oxford and a BA in Psychology with minors in Race & Ethnicity Studies and Middle Eastern Literature, Language & Culture, with distinction, from Stanford University. She has also been a visiting student at the University of Cape Town and Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. Before coming to Oxford, she worked with grassroots NGOs and conducted research as a Fulbright Scholar in Istanbul and Izmir, Turkey.