Book Talk with Dr. Lisa Gilman

Thursday, October 22, 2026 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM EDT
Fenwick Library, #2001

Forced migration is an international problem impacting global powers as well as smaller resource-constrained countries. Arts Initiatives by Refugees for Refugees is a narrative-driven book based in global multi-site research about the arts and cultural dimension of refugee “crises” in discrete geographic and social-political contexts. The stories highlight agency, creativity, pleasure, celebration, entrepreneurship, friendship, and community because we typically don’t associate these things with refugees. They emphasize how refugees contribute to their own communities and their host countries, contrary to stereotypical and often xenophobic anti-refugee assumptions. 

Join us for a book talk with Dr. Lisa Gilman, Director of the Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University and Professor of Folklore and English, as she discusses her new book, Arts Initiatives by Refugees for Refugees: Forced Displacement, Creativity, and Agency. 

RSVP here!