Education, Migration, and Racism. Challenges and Opportunities from Antiracist Thought and Action
25 de February de 2025
Barcelona, April 29, 2025.
Auditorium Can Jaume Andreu, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
On April 29th 2025 the seminar Education, Migration, and Racism Challenges and Opportunities from Antiracist Thought and Action will take place. This seminar aims to create a space for reflection and debate on racism and education, with a particular focus on the mechanisms and logics of structural racism that shape the life experiences and educational trajectories of racialized migrant children and youth.
Despite its evident relevance today, racism directed at migrants is not an emerging phenomenon necessarily linked to recent contemporary migration processes. Rather, it stems from a long and continuous tradition of racist economic and social hierarchies, constructed and naturalized through European colonial history.
By bringing together diverse voices, experiences, and perspectives on anti-racism, we hope this gathering will contribute to a deeper critical understanding of the interrelation of practices, policies, and discourses that sustain the structural racism embedded in educational systems. At the same time, we aim to foster alliances that promote alternative pathways for change.
The seminar is organized by the Nodes research group of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and serves as both the closing event and presentation of the research findings from the project Crossing Borders to Connect Routes: Researching with Educational Communities to Promote Equity and Fight Racism Towards Immigrants in a Post-Pandemic World. This international study, funded by the Spencer Foundation, includes six case studies across five countries (Spain, the United States, Malta, Brazil, and Uruguay). Its main objective has been to understand, from a multidimensional perspective, how immigration, educational inequity, and racism intersect in different educational contexts.
ATTENDANCE
The seminar is open to all audiences, including academics, professionals, and the educational community in general. Admission is free, but places are limited. A certificate of attendance will be issued upon request.
GENERAL PROGRAM
| 09:30 | Accreditation |
| 10:00 | Institutional welcome |
| 10:15 | Presentation of cases from the research project Crossing Borders,with the presentation of the results developed in five countries (Spain, United States, Uruguay, Brazil and Malta). |
| 11:15 | Coffee Break |
| 11:45 | Debate table with entities with the participation of: El Llindar Marisela Montenegro, Project BridgesMaria Becares Centre de Recursos en Drets Humans, Ajuntament de BarcelonaÚrsula Santa Cruz, Asociació Sembrar |
| 13:00 | First part of the seminar’s closing |
| 16:00 | Conference with: Teun A. van Dijk. Linguist specializing in critical discourse analysis. He has researched topics such as racism, ideology, and power in language. He is a professor at Pompeu Fabra University and the founder of the Center of Discourse Studies in Barcelona. He has published numerous works and leads international journals in his field. Cristina Zhang-Yu. Holds a PhD in Educational Psychology and is a researcher and educator. She is a group facilitator using Theatre of the Oppressed. Her main research areas include the analysis of institutional racism in the education system and action research to develop critical and sustainable pedagogies. Ainhoa Nadia Douhaibi. Independent researcher studying the structural relationship between race, criminalization, the state, and capitalism through the analysis of various institutional and state racism mechanisms, such as the child protection system, the deportation regime, and radicalization prevention policies. She has authored several publications and is the co-author of the book The Radicalization of Racism: State Islamophobia and Anti-Terrorism Prevention. |
| 17:30 | Performance and glass of cava |