HOMELandS Research, Knowledge Exchange and Networking Day

(Dmitri) Hui ken Chong is currently a doctoral researcher at the School of Architecture and cities. He completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours)(Architecture) from Taylor’s University, Malaysia and a MArch Architecture (RIBA Part 2) from University of Plymouth. His interests in migration and refugeeness are informed by hsi positionality as a migrant from the Global South and as part of a historically stateless ethnic group. The research methodologies he use include ethnography and interviews to better understand complex social issues directly from people with lived experiences. He had experience working with charities which engage with displacement and refugeeness.

Tim Freeman is Professor of Leadership at Middlesex University, UK. He has over 30 years of research experience exploring issues of public service delivery, policy and governance, and his current and recent funded projects and publications have an economic development emphasis, in relation to migrant communities within the UK and global south. He publishes widely in highly-ranked academic journals within the disciplines of Sociology, Public Policy, and Organisational Studies.  He has held Research Grants from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), British Council, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and National Audit Office (NAO) amongst many others.

Tom Green is a Senior Producer at Counterpoints Arts, an organisation working on the arts, refugees and migration in the UK and internationally. 

Jonathan Kasstan is a Senior Lecturer in French and Linguistics at the University of Westminster. He works with threatened and severely endangered language communities, with a particular interest in quantitative and qualitative approaches to structured variation and language change, and community-based research methods. Recent grants as PI include: Towards safeguarding Chagossian Creole: Understanding how language attitudes and ideologies shape practice in exile and exodus (BA/Leverhulme Trust), A Network for Rethinking Academic Research Ethics Frameworks and Processes in the Humanities (AHRC) and Universals of Linguistic Change in Language Obsolescence (Leverhulme Trust).

Erendira Leon Bravo is a Lecturer in Economics at the University of Westminster. She is an applied research economist with expertise in development studies. She is interested in how education and the labour market can alleviate poverty and achieve gender equality. Erendira teaches undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and equips students with practical economic skills. She helps students apply knowledge gained in class to address real-world social challenges. In addressing these challenges, Erendira works with many Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), such as the Development and Alimentary Sustainability Organisation (DAS), Alfajayucan Vive, and most recently, The Washing Machine Project (TWMP).

Kyoko Murakami is a lecturer in psychology at the Department of Psychology, the University of Westminster and an honorary research fellow at the University of Bath. Previously, she held an associate professorship in psychology at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. She received her PhD in psychology at Loughborough University. Her research topics include social remembering, reconciliation, learning in collaboration, dialogism and ageing. She is an executive committee member of the International Society for Theoretical Psychology and a member of the editorial board of Culture & Psychology. Her published books include Discursive Psychology of Remembering and Reconciliation and Dialogic Pedagogy and Activity Theory: An Introduction. 

Milica Pesic is the Executive Director of Media Diversity Institute (MDI). She has over 20 years of experience in diversity and media. She's led programs across Europe, NIS, MENA, South Asia, Sahel, Sub-Sahara, West Africa, China, and Cuba. As a journalist, she's reported for BBC, Radio Free Europe, and more. Milica holds an MA in International Journalism from City University, London. She co-designed an MA Course in Diversity and the Media jointly run by MDI and the University of Westminster. Prior to MDI, she worked for New York University, the IFJ (Brussels), and the Alternative Information Network (Paris). MDI operates branches in the US, Western Balkans, Belgium, and South Caucasus.

Nico Pizzolato is an Associate Professor in Global Labour Studies and the Director of Postgraduate Research Studies at Middlesex University. He is the author of Challenging Global Capitalism: Labour Migration, Radical Struggle and Urban Change in Detroit and Turin (Palgrave, 2013) and of numerous articles that focus on the interplay between labour migration, race and ethnic relations, and working-class self-activity. He has co-edited Antonio Gramsci: A Pedagogy to Change the World (Springer, 2017). His latest work is on the intersection between labour and coercion, in connection with the COST action project WORCK (Worlds of Related Coercion in Work) – worck.eu

Verónica Posada Álvarez studied Graphic Design in Medellín, Colombia. In 2017 she graduated from her MA in Arts and Visual Culture at the University of Westminster in London-England. She holds a PhD in Cultural Studies/ Visual Culture, in which she worked with the Latin American diaspora in London. The research is part of CREAM (Centre for Research and Education in Arts and Media) at the University of Westminster. She worked as a Museographer and other cultural institutions. Verónica has 8 years of experience as a lecturer; she has taught courses related to Human Geography, Visual Culture, Design and Sociocultural Theories. Verónica has a massive interest in contemporary artistic practices that aimed to raise political concerns to improve the life of communities at risk within cities, through visual culture.

Laura Stahnke is Stories and Media Coordinator at Parxis and Co-director of Migration Collective. She is communications and media expert with a strong academic and professional experience in social justice. In the past ten years she has developed strategies, curated communications and managed diverse portfolios of projects for charities and media outlets across Europe, Asia and the Caribbean, with a strong focus on migration and human rights.

Anne Stoltenberg is the Head of Development of Migrant Voice, a migrant-led organisation empowering migrants to speak out, challenge perceptions and change public debate'.

Miu-Yee Rose Wong is a Lecturer cum Course Leader in the School of Applied Management of Westminster Business School, University of Westminster.  Rose is a Chartered Surveyor (MRICS), Chartered Building Engineer (MCABE), Chartered Housing Manager (CIHCM) and Chartered Construction Manager (MCIOB) as well.  Before switching to higher education, Rose spent many years in facilities management and building surveying.  Prior to joining the University of Westminster in 2022, she worked at the Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU), where she obtained the HKMU President's Awards for Distinguished Achievement in 2021.  At University of Westminster, she teaches the modules across both undergraduate and postgraduate levels major in surveying and construction disciplines.

• Anna Brown (Research impact manager, UoW)
• Saskia Huc-Hepher (Reader in Diasporic & Digital French Studies, Humanities)
• Justine Kenyon (Collaboration manager, UoW)
• Terry Lamb (Professor of Languages and Interdisciplinary Pedagogy, Humanities and CETI)
• Federica Mazzara (Reader in Cultural Studies, Humanities)
• Lilian Miles (Professor in Sustainability and Social Enterprise, Organisations, Economy and Society)
• Roza Tsagarousianou (Professor of Media and Migration, Media and Communications)
• Cangbai Wang (Reader in Chinese Studies, Humanities)