Journeys project
About our Project
Our project features the long-distance journeys of dispossessed people — refugees, migrants and asylum seekers who have traveled far to escape persecution and grinding poverty. We examine their stories though a financial lens to better understand the costs and strategies involved in their journeys as well as the economic approaches they use when putting down roots in new surroundings.
We cover journeys from Asia to Europe, Africa to Europe and both Asia and Africa to Latin America. Men, women, families and children make their way across massive mountain ranges, vast stretches of desert, turbulent seas, and perilous jungles to reach their destination. We report on successful journeys but also on failed ones, ones where violence disrupted forward motion sending refugees back to their country of origin or into permanent limbo as they await permission to move on or resettle.
The project’s material has been prepared by our lead researchers and graduate student researchers who hail from the Fletcher School, Tufts University, the University of Peace, SOAS and Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. The Journeys Project is an initiative of the Henry J. Leir Institute at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.
Meet the Team
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Kim Wilson
LEAD RESEARCHER
Senior Lecturer, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
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KATRINA BURGESS
LEAD RESEARCHER
Director, Leir Institute & Professor of Political Economy, The Fletcher School at Tufts University
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Karen Jacobsen
LEAD RESEARCHER
Henry J. Leir Professorship in Global Migration, Associate Professor The Fletcher School at Tufts University
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Roxani Krystalli
LEAD RESEARCHER
Visiting Fellow, Feinstein International Center at Tufts University & Lecturer (Assistant Professor), University of St Andrews
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Swati Mehta Dhawan
LEAD RESEARCHER
Research Associate, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
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Hans-Martin Zademach
LEAD RESEARCHER
Professor of Economic Geography, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
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Julie Zollmann
LEAD RESEARCHER
Developer, Researcher and Consultant
academic partners
The Center for Flight and Migration at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Inglostadt
The Center for Flight and Migration at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt teaches students job-related and intercultural skills, supports refugees by offering them educational opportunities, and promotes dialogue between research, teaching, and practice on diverse topics on migration. The center’s aim is to promote quality research, education and coaching, and dialogue. The center is a close collaborator with the Leir Institute in two research studies in Kenya and Jordan.
The Henry J. Leir Institute at The Fletcher School
The Henry J. Leir Institute focuses on human security. Many people around the world live insecure lives. Violence, poverty, and natural hazards pose ongoing threats to their survival and block opportunities for personal and family wellbeing. The Leir Institute houses a network of researchers from the Fletcher School who study multiple dimensions of human security — from migration to corruption — and work to propose policies to eliminate or reduce it.
The Hitachi Center for Technology and International Affairs
The Hitachi Center for Technology and International Affairs is part of the Fletcher School, Tufts University. The center focuses on supporting student and faculty research that investigates the intersection between technology and the worlds of diplomacy, development, and defense. The center has supported the Journeys Project by funding student researchers conducting studies in the US, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The Institute for Business in a Global Context
The Fletcher School’s Institute for Business in the Global Context IBGC) sits at the intersections between private enterprise and politics, people, and the planet. Recently, as part of its focus on inclusive growth, IBGC has seen the study of migration as vital to economic, financial, social and technological inclusion. The center has supported student and faculty research in Latin America with plans to continue with similar research in Asia and Africa.
Refugees in Towns Project at Tufts University
The Refugees in Towns project (RIT) promotes understanding of the migrant/refugee experience by drawing on the knowledge and perspectives of refugees themselves as well as local hosts and working with them to develop case studies and reports on the towns in which they live. The project was conceived and is led by Karen Jacobsen and is based at the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University.
Contact Us
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
Tufts University
160 Packard Ave.
Medford, MA 02155 USA