17 March 2015
One important reason for my wish to spend time at the RSC as a visiting fellow is its unique status in the world as a centre for multidisciplinary research on issues surrounding refugees and forced migration. The question of how distinctive fields of knowledge production, such as health sciences, politics or accounting, interact through humanitarian standards and shape notions of humanitarian value(s) and accountability represents a central focus of my research.
As such, I hope to take inspiration from the RSC’s unique nature, which allows cutting edge research from disciplines as diverse as law, politics, sociology or logistics to meet around the common theme of refugee studies. I would therefore dedicate my time at the RSC to expose myself as much as possible to its vibrant academic environment and research facilities. Furthermore, I am interested in the RSC’s Humanitarian Innovation Project and its key question of how technological innovation can shape humanitarian practice.
In my recent field visits as part of my data collection I was impressed by how innovative technology was used to translate humanitarian standards into practice in many creative ways to improve refugees’ lives. I am therefore keen to meet with academics from the RSC, such as Naohiko Omata and Louise Bloom, and discuss the issue of technological innovation in relation to humanitarian standards. Visiting the RSC will therefore be an invaluable opportunity for the further conceptual and theoretical development of my research.