KU security conference to focus on migration, security, securitization of immigration

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Office of Graduate Military Programs, Center for Global & International Studies, Center for Migration Research and Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies (CREES) will host a half-day security conference on Monday, April 10, featuring KU and international researchers.

The conference, titled Migration, Security and Securitization of Immigration, will take place from 1-5 p.m. in the Bruckmiller Room in the Adams Alumni Center. 

Speakers at the event include Cynthia Buckley, professor of sociology, the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Mariya Omelicheva, professor of political science, KU; Volodymyr Dubovyk, associate professor at the Department of International Relations and director of the Center for International Studies at the Odessa I. I. Mechnikov National University, Ukraine; and Austin Charron, doctoral candidate, geography & atmospheric sciences, KU.

“This is an annual conference where KU faculty and students come together with leaders in the military community to examine issues of national importance," said CREES Director Vitaly Chernetsky. "In the past, these conferences have focused on shifts in global power, U.S. policy in Central Asia and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, among other issues. This year, we are examining the issue of migration, a timely topic, but focused on Eurasia and how this issue intersects with security in general.”

The conference is free and open to the public, and participants need not register. Members of the military community at KU and Fort Leavenworth are especially welcome for this event, intended to bring together faculty, students and military leaders to discuss issues of national security.

Presentations:

• Cynthia Buckley, “Demographic Dividends Differed? Migration and Development in Eurasia”
• Mariya Omelicheva, "Migration and Crime: Debunking the Entrenched Myths in Russia" 
• Volodymyr Dubovyk, "Ukraine at the Crossroads of Migration"
• Austin Charron, "Crimeans in Mainland Ukraine: Displacement and Identity after Annexation."