Migration and Aesthetics is a collaborative and multi-disciplinary project that aims to establish a digital archive of global migration in its aesthetic representations. This project collects and analyzes literary, photographic, cinematic, theatrical, and artistic materials in different languages and presents them in English to reach a broader audience. This digital archive serves as a repository for teaching and research in migration, refuge, and related issues such as identity, displacement, hybridity, home, tradition, memory, and trauma. The digital collection can be used by students, faculty, and communities alike. In this time of the global pandemic, this digital archive gathers collective effort and addresses the need for remote education. It will grow to include more languages and regions.
Currently, we introduce works in seven languages including English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, and Spanish. Each work has a brief general introduction and an analysis of a few key passages, images, or scenes in English. The associated regions are Europe, Africa, North and South America, North and South Korea, and China.
The participants are graduate students and faculty members at UC Davis as well as affiliated researchers from other universities. The diverse group of participants fosters dialogues between African and African American studies, Asian and Asian American studies, anthropology, French studies, German studies, Italian studies, international relations, Latin American studies, and performance studies.
Migration and Aesthetics is co-sponsored by Davis Humanities Institute and Global Migration Center at UC Davis.