Leaving and Belonging: Making an Impact on Immigration and Displacement through Arts, Culture, and Storytelling
Two-day working symposium
April 17, 2026, 8:00 AM to April 18, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT
RSVP NOW CLOSED
Hosted by George Mason University’s Institute for Immigration Research, the symposium focuses on immigration, displacement, and belonging, with a particular emphasis on how arts, culture, and storytelling can be effectively used to build community, shift public attitudes, and inform immigration-related policy in the United States. The goal of the symposium is to think together, share best practices, identify challenges and gaps, and develop strategies for impactful work at the intersection of immigration and arts.
The symposium is free and open to the public. Please register below.
Location: Lecture Hall, Fairfax Campus, George Mason University
Dates and times: April 17 (8:00 am - 9:00 pm) & April 18 (9:00 am - 6:00 pm)
Symposium program
Presentation Abstracts
Presenter Bios
Registration for whole symposium: Here
Registration for Friday Keynote Performance/ Conversation only: Here
Art, culture, and storytelling are at the forefront of migration. Across contexts of mobility and displacement, people rely on creative practices to communicate and express emotion to cope, entertain, and generate livelihoods; sustain language and memory; navigate identity; build community; advocate and effect change; and share experiences across cultural difference. Arts and storytelling can also be used to create boundaries, reinforce hierarchies, emphasize differences, and galvanize exclusionary discourses, policies, and laws. Despite their profound influence, these creative dimensions of migration remain largely undervalued, under-resourced, and underrepresented within immigration-related scholarship, social services, and policymaking.
The two-day working symposium include individual presentations, panel discussions, films, workshops, art displays, and performances.
A special event on April 17 (7:00-8:30 PM) is the Keynote Performance/Conversation: Stories of Belonging: Immigration, Art, and Community (if you are not registered for the symposium but wish to attend only this event, register here).
Keynote Performance/Conversation
Stories of Belonging: Immigration, Art, and Community
Presented by the Middle East Institute Arts and Culture Center and George Mason University’s Institute for Immigration Research with support from the AbuSulayman Center for Global Islamic Studies, this panel brings together artists, cultural producers, community builders, and media specialists whose work centers the lived experiences of immigrants and refugees. Through storytelling, performance, and advocacy, the conversation explores how creative expression can reshape narratives of migration, cultivate a sense of belonging, and challenge dominant portrayals of displacement.
- Yasmin Elhady. Egyptian-Libyan American Comedian, attorney, and host of Hulu’s Muslim Matchmaker.
- Monna Kashfi. VP of Content and Communications at Welcome US. Senior media professional and seasoned creative producer with nearly two decades of experience in broadcast, documentary, and digital media production.
- Cara Mertes. Founder & Director, International Resource for Impact & Storytelling. Former director of JustFilms, the Ford Foundation’s creative visual storytelling initiative, and of the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and Fund. Previously executive producer of the PBS documentary series, POV.
- Omar Offendum. Syrian-American rapper, spoken word poet, and theatrical storyteller known for his signature blend of Hip-Hop and Arabic poetry.
- Lyne Sneige. Senior Director Arts and Culture Center, Middle East Institute (Moderator)
The IIR is committed to advancing collaborative and publicly engaged approaches to immigration research and practice. This symposium seeks to further that mission by centering arts-based, cultural, and narrative interventions as important sites of knowledge production, advocacy, and policy engagement.
