You are here

  1. Home
  2. Year of Mygration

Year of Mygration

Migrants and migration matter to The Open University and to all of us.

The Open University's Year of Mygration stands as a remarkable introduction to diverse perspectives of migrants and migration. The Open University is ‘open to people, places, methods and ideas’ so has always welcomed migrants as students and staff, and has encouraged pioneering methods of learning, teaching, research and engagement around the themes of migration, refugees, mobility and belonging. 250 separate contributions have been gathered under the heading of a Year of ‘My-gration’ to emphasise that we are all affected by migration, whether or not we ourselves or immediate families are migrants. The issues of migration are vital to understanding not just current UK politics but also the world’s economies and communities.

The origins of this Year of Mygration are in a collaboration between the Citizenship & Governance and the International Development & Inclusive Innovation Strategic Research Areas of the OU. The idea was to share a reflection every day, Monday to Friday, for 50 weeks of a year, on the broad theme of migration which showcased the work of the OU academics and our partners, be it a short blog, podcast or archive clip, a tweet or a link to a longer article. We numbered the posts from 1 to 250 partly so that anyone can start their own Year of Mygration in any year and at any point in any year. We appreciate that migrants and the whole world live with migration 7 days a week for the whole 52 weeks of the year but we believe that there is a value in this exercise and we would welcome anyone creating their own sequels. As the OU enters our 50th anniversary year, 2019, we remain committed to being ‘open to people, places, methods and ideas’.

FutureLearn logo

Day 49, Year of #Mygration: Free online course will look at why people migrate

New FutureLearn course starting 30 April will explore the realities of migration

8th March 2018
Male learner studying in a group environment

Day 48, Year of #Mygration: Join us for a series of events relating to migration

Over the next month, the OU will be involved in a number of migration-related events, which are free and open to all. Themes include technology-enabled language education, gender skilled migration and what it means to welcome new people into a community.

7th March 2018
Twitter logo

Day 47, Year of #Mygration: Using Twitter data to study refugee migration patterns

Studies have recognised the increasing use of social networking platforms amongst refugees to seek help and to express the difficulties they face during their journeys to their new destinations.

6th March 2018
Woman filming a man reading

Day 46, Year of #Mygration: An asylum seeker’s story

Today we highlight the launch of an upcoming documentary, ‘An Asylum Seeker’s Story: Collective Leadership in Diverse Communities’, produced in collaboration with OU academic, Dr Vita Terry.

5th March 2018
Concrete cows

Day 45, Year of #Mygration: Understanding Milton Keynes (Part II)

Today we share Part II of an Open University documentary, Understanding Milton Keynes, produced to mark the town's 50th birthday

3rd March 2018
Milton Keynes Central Railway Station

Day 44, Year of #Mygration: Understanding Milton Keynes

Today we look at Milton Keynes, and explore some of the reasons why the town attracts so many residents from outside of the UK

1st March 2018
Christine Olaniyan, Director of PADEAP, briefing staff working for NGOs

Day 43, Year of #Mygration: Understanding relational dynamics between refugees and host communities in South-West Uganda

Dr Craig Walker and Dr Ben Lampert from Development, Policy and Practice (DPP) within The Open University teamed up with two Ugandan NGOs – the Pan-African Development, Education and Advocacy Programme (PADEAP), an operational partner in the settlement, and Kulika, who provide skills and technology to enhance rural communities. Together they are interested in studying the places and spaces where refugees and host communities interact on a daily basis such as markets, hospitals and schools.

28th February 2018

Day 42, Year of #Mygration: Noncitizenism: Recognising Noncitizen Capabilities in a World of Citizens

Noncitizens have always been present in liberal political philosophy. Often hard to situate within traditional frameworks that prioritise citizenship, noncitizens can appear voiceless and rightsless, which has implications for efforts towards global justice and justice in migration.

27th February 2018

Day 41, Year of #Mygration: Navigating Refugee Smartphones and Maps

While researching how smartphones are used by refugees on their journeys, as part of an Open University multidisciplinary research project, we were shown a map by one of our interviewees that we now know thousands of refugees have used on their journeys.

26th February 2018
Shutterstock-575412109 People in a queue at arrival immigration

Day 40, Year of #Mygration: The Open University Law School Symposium on 'Belonging: Dominance, Governance, Identity, Memory'

An interdisciplinary Symposium on Belonging, hosted by the Citizenship and Governance Strategic Research Area will take place at the Open University Law School on 18th-19th April 2018. 

23rd February 2018