Mapping a Nation of Refuge across Time, Space, Institutions

and Disciplines

Symposium | 10 September 2026 | Museum of English Rural Life (MERL), Reading

Research on displacement, asylum, and refuge in Britain has become increasingly interdisciplinary looking at aspects related to history, politics, sociology, media studies, geography, literary and cultural studies. Scholars have discussed how classifications such as “refugee” and “migrant” shape public debate and how public sentiment can shift rapidly in response to political rhetoric or misinformation. Yet despite rich academic work, public discourse often remains polarised oscillating between depictions of “illegal migration” and nostalgic celebration of past humanitarianism. This symposium aims to initiate a conversation to examine how Britain imagines “refuge,” why these narratives matter, and how they might be reframed. 

Hosted by the four‑year UKRI‑funded project Nation of Refuge (launched November 2025), this event explores how Britain has thought, talked, legislated, remembered, and felt about “offering refuge” across the last century.  

We are delighted to announce that Professor Tony Kushner (University of Southampton) will be giving the keynote lecture. Professor Andrea Hammel (University of Aberystwyth), Dr Sarah Linn (Manchester Metropolitan University), Dr Agnes Woolley (University of Southampton) and Paul Dudman (University of East London) will open the conference with a roundtable discussion on current developments in the field.  

We invite contributions that look at the historical, spatial, institutional, cultural, emotional, or experiential dimensions of refuge. We welcome proposals engaging with (including but not limited to): 

• Historical case studies of refugee reception in Britain 

• Memory, heritage, and the shaping of contemporary debates 

• Borders, infrastructures, and everyday geographies of welcome or hostility 

• Local and regional experiences of hosting refugees 

• Museum, archival, and material cultures of refuge  

• Media and political discourse 

• Law, policy, and governance 

• Creative practice, education, and community engagement 

• Refugee narratives and lived experience 

• Literary perspectives on refuge and refugee representations 

Submission Details 

Please send your title, an abstract of 300 words, and a short biographical note of 100 words to nationofrefuge@reading.ac.uk by Sunday, 31 May 2026. Notification of acceptance will be sent in mid-June.