Faculty of Social Sciences » Interculturalism, Migration and Minorities Research Centre » General » Research Area & Mission
Research Area & Mission
Common Research Line: MOBILITIES & BOUNDARIES
“What is essential is invisible to the eye” (Saint-Exupéry)
History
IMMRC (Interculturalism, Migration and Minorities Research Centre) has followed the research line on ethnicity which already started up under the supervision of Professor em. Eugène Roosens in 1974 in the former institute of CIMO (Centrum voor Interculturalisme en Migratie Onderzoek – Centre for Interculturalism and Migration Research). The activities of CIMO at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology were taken over by the Migration and Interculturalism Research Centre Leuven (IMMRC) under the supervision of prof. Johan Leman since April 2004.
Mission
IMMRC (Interculturalism, Migration and Minorities Research Centre) conducts state-of-the-art anthropological analyses of topics related to mobility and minorities. It focuses on tangible and intangible relations, and borders. Through in-depth ethnographic study, the researchers disentangle the diversified relations and their global (dis)connections, with special attention for minorities and less visible community building.
The various research projects focus on the following issues: (new) migrations, internal boundary creation, blurring of boundaries, and cross-cultural fertilization. Some research focuses on the intersection between disability and ethnic minorities. This allows for an in-depth reflection on the meaning of boundaries and the emergence of mobilities between and within cultures and societies.
The Mediterranean, Asia and Latin America (with their migrations to Europe) are geographical areas of interest.
