York offers many educational opportunities concerning refugee and forced migration issues across the university, from course content to campus events to community engagement opportunities.
The Centre for Refugee Studies
Centre for Refugee Studies Summer Course
Undergraduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma in Refugee and Migration Studies
Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees
The Centre for Refugee Studies
Since its inception in 1988, York’s Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS) has been recognized as an international leader in the creation, mobilization, and dissemination of new knowledge that addresses forced migration issues in local, national and global contexts. It offers a number of initiatives of interest to the entire York campus. It has also compiled information on key issues and suggested responses to the global refugee crisis.
It also brings together a team of nationally and internationally recognized academics working in the interdisciplinary field of Refugee Studies.
It is also a member of the Canadian Council for Refugees, a national non-profit umbrella organization committed to the rights and protection of refugees and other vulnerable migrants in Canada and around the world and to the settlement of refugees and immigrants in Canada. The membership is made up of organizations involved in the settlement, sponsorship and protection of refugees and immigrants. The CCR website contains extensive information on matters related to refugees and migration in Canada and globally
An organized research unit, the Centre is successor to the Refugee Documentation Project created in 1981 for the conservation and analysis of research documents and data collected by Operation Lifeline during the Indochinese Boat People crisis. Its reach and scope are far reaching, and we encourage you to take the time to explore the Centre’s website. It is serving as the host and a strong collaborator in this initiative. It provides the following opportunities and resources that should be of interest to all members of the York community interested in refugee issues which we encourage you to share with students, staff and faculty alike.
The Centre for Refugee Studies Summer Course
For more than twenty years, York’s Centre for Refugee Studies has offered its annual Summer Course on Refugees and Forced Migration.
The Summer Course is an internationally acclaimed, non-credit course for academic and field-based practitioners working in the area of forced migration. It serves as a hub for researchers, students, practitioners, service providers and policy makers to share information and ideas. The Summer Course is housed within the Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS), York University. All participants who complete the full course receive a York University Centre for Refugee Studies Summer Course Certificate.
Undergraduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma in Refugee and Migration Studies
The Undergraduate Certificate and the Graduate Diploma in Refugee and Migration Studies offer unique opportunities for students to complement their degrees, with a specialization in the growing field of forced migration studies. Through the Diploma and Certificate programs, students connect with faculty, students and visiting scholars at York’s internationally recognized Centre for Refugee Studies. At graduation, students receive a printed copy of any Diploma awarded and a notation is made on future transcripts showing Diplomas earned.
For undergraduate students, the Centre for Refugee Studies offers a General Certificate Program in Refugee and Migration Studies to registered undergraduates. This General Certificate will be awarded concurrently with the B.A., B.Ed., B.E.S., or B.Sc. degrees for which the students are registered in, provided both sets of requirements are completed.
For graduate students, the CRS Diploma program allows a student enrolled in a graduate program at the University to formally specialize in refugee and migration studies, and to be awarded a Graduate Diploma in Refugee and Migration Studies by the Faculty of Graduate Studies upon successful completion of all degree requirements.
Students or faculty at the graduate or undergraduate level that wish to see other courses added to these lists can contact the CRS Education Coordinator through the program website.
Refugee Related Courses
Undergraduate students who cannot fit the entire certificate into their program of study but want to learn more about refugee studies and forced migration may still be interested in the list of approved courses provided by the certificate program.
Graduate students who cannot fit the entire diploma into their program of study may still be interested in the list of approved courses provided by the diploma program
Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees
Founded and housed at York’s Centre for Refugee Studies, Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees is the only open-source, non-profit, interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, bilingual journal in the field of forced migration studies. It publishes analytical, reflective, and probing articles from a wide range of disciplinary and regional perspectives, presenting writing of academics, policy-makers, and practitioners in the field of forced migration. The journal provides space for discussion of emerging themes and debates, as well as ongoing topics. The journal also features a book review section and occasionally publishes special issues on specific themes related to forced migration. Refuge publishes articles in both English and French.
All current and archived issues from the past 25 years are available to view and download.
You can subscribe to receive notifications of new issues here.
