Migration is topic of conference

Published April 2, 2018 This content is archived.

“Homo Migrans: Modeling Mobility and Migration in Human History,” a two-day conference examining the long-term consequences of human movement, will take place April 7-8 at UB.

The conference will take place on the ground level of Greiner Hall, North Campus. It is free for members of the UB community. Register online.

It is presented by UB’s Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology (IEMA), and co-sponsored by the departments of History, Geography and Transnational Studies.

Migration is one of the great constants throughout human history, conference organizers say, with our story being one of continuous movement and exchange, defying tendencies to order and categorize human societies into distinct groups.

While the study of migration crosses numerous fields and pushes for true multidisciplinary collaboration, it remains a fraught topic: difficult to capture and measure, and constantly challenging our persistent perceptions of humans as being part of neat, defined and separate cultural groups.

Organizers say migration remains — and will remain — one of the most vital topics across all disciplines in the 21st century.

The conference, which will bring together scholars from the fields of anthropology, archaeology, genetics, classics and history, will feature addresses by renowned Danish archaeologist Kristian Kristiansen from the University of Gothenburg and Joel Millman, spokesperson and senior press officer for the International Organization for Migration.