Abstract

The SSRC’s Sustaining the Humanities will support the multi-layered Displacement Studies Initiative, housed in the Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies at Virginia Tech. This initiative, an urgent response to the complexity of displacement, was stalled by the pandemic as budgets were cut, programs interrupted, and resources redirected. As civil unrest, climate change, domestic violence, resource scarcity, and lack of economic opportunity force more and more people to migrate, a humanities studies approach is more important than ever. Our humanities-focused initiative addresses intersecting issues through local and global exchanges as we work toward equitable and sustainable solutions to the impacts of forced migration. SSRC funding will re-launch these programs at a critical moment to fulfill three objectives: 1) create spaces to discuss convergences of displacement; 2) embed Displacement Studies into the university curriculum; and 3) disseminate our humanities-focused Displacement Studies approach locally, nationally, and internationally. The SSRC/NEH SHIP grant will support substantial progress on three key activities to achieve these objectives: 1) restart our “On Displacement” speaker series, 2) hold faculty workgroups to develop the Senior Capstone Course in our Displacement Studies Pathways Minor, and 3) develop a draft of a Displacement Studies Reader.