Overview
The Refugees in Towns project (RIT) promotes understanding of the migrant/refugee experience by drawing on the knowledge and perspectives of refugees themselves as well as local hosts. The project was conceived and is led by Karen Jacobsen, and is based at the Henry J. Leir Institute for Migration and Human Security at The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
For refugees, migrants, and hosts, RIT offers an opportunity to develop and promote authentic narratives through participatory, reflexive, and local research. They author a range of case studies and reports in collaboration with students to identify the factors that enable and obstruct integration, and the different ways in which migrants and hosts co-exist, adapt, and struggle with integration.
For academics, RIT analyzes the global differences and similarities in the factors that enable or obstruct integration. Researchers further explore thematic areas of interest, for example the impact of COVID-19 or racism on integration. Additionally, RIT promotes its unique methodology, which utilizes participatory action research (PAR), reflexivity, localization, and a case study approach.
For policymakers and practitioners, RIT seeks to develop an understanding of potential solutions to the barriers refugees, migrants, and hosts face in integration through collaborative research and policy briefs informed by case studies.
RACE AND REFUGEES: HOW REFUGEES LEARN ABOUT RACE IN AMERICA
Since 2021, the Refugees in Towns project has worked with the Hello Neighbor Network to assess how refugees come to understand and experience race in the U.S.
The first phase of research, completed in August 2022, investigated understandings of race before, during, and after migrating, finding that refugees learned about US race relations through school, media (digital and print), word of mouth, and personal experiences of discrimination. However, the degree of this learning is heavily dependent on education level, age, and country of origin. Learn more about these findings in the literature review and report below, which were the foundation of RIT’s 3rd annual convening, the Race and Migration Symposium.
EXPLORE OUR CASE REPORTS
News
Our Office: Cabot Intercultural Center, The Fletcher School at Tufts University
Address: 160 Packard Ave., Medford, MA 02155
Contact us: If you are interested in contacting RIT, please email leirinstitute@tufts.edu.