Worldwide violent conflicts contribute to people fleeing their places of origin and seeking refuge, safety and protection elsewhere. According to estimations by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in the course of the year 2025 the number of forcibly displaced around the world due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order has reached more than 117 million. A great share of forcibly displaced is hosted in camps in countries in the Global South. Together with humanitarian organisations, UNHCR provides protection and assistance in these spaces. Although different forms and types of camps exist, their structures are very similar worldwide and predominantly characterised by remote geographical location, restrictions of movement, aid dependency, legal uncertainty, exposure to various forms of violence and limited livelihood opportunities.

Against this backdrop, this seminar places gender and gender experiences of women, men and LGBTQ+ individuals at the core. Precisely, it asks: what are the gendered realities and implications of displacement and encampment? It aims to explore and reflect how gender impacts flight (decisions), experiences during flight and in exile in camps.

To this end, the seminar is structured as follows: the first block day reflects central concepts and engages with the causes and consequences of displacement, hereby exploring the multifaceted nexus of conflict and displacement. The second block day places focus on camps, its structures and characteristics with a critical analysis of its impacts on displaced people in camps. Building on this, participants engage with gender experiences and explore the various gendered realities women, men and LGBTQ+ individuals face in situations of displacement and encampment.

The seminar combines blocked seminar session, in which participants study the academic literature and jointly discuss theoretical concepts, and project work in small groups where students independently focus on and engage with gender-specific risks and coping strategies of women, men and LGBTQ+ individuals during flight and in host countries. To explore these gendered realities, students establish an own focus and a research question for their project work in the course of the seminar. The aim is to develop a theses paper (‘Thesenpapier’) that guides the presentation of their results during the final seminar workshop. ‘Prüfungsleistungen’ are term papers or oral exams.

Kurs im HIS-LSF