Rethinking migration and movement
At Bristol, we’re exploring migration and mobilities in theory, policy and practice to contribute to a more just world.
Bristol’s unique approach to migration research
Our creative, conceptual and critical approach, connects migration to other forms of movement beyond the human and across time.
Key Statistics
- World-leading
5th in UK for research (THE analysis of REF)
- Globally connected
Research partnerships in over 40 countries
- Research-led teaching
Top 10 UK University (QS World Rankings, 2024)
Explore our perspectives
At Bristol we do not simply see human movement as a problem to be solved but use it as an interdisciplinary lens to discover unexpected connections between migration and other issues including race, welfare, environment and development.
We are impactful
Hear from Professor Katharine Charsley as she explains her latest research, exploring the experiences of the first cohort of UK-EU couples navigating the complexities of the UK's family immigration system post-Brexit. She has partnered with Reunite Families UK to raise awareness of the challenge, and together they aim to shape future policy and practice.
We are transformative
In this film, Professor Bridget Anderson, Director of Migration Mobilities Bristol – a Specialist Research Institute focusing on migration research at the University, explains our transformative approach to migration. She highlights a shift in perspective that recognises how research shapes our world and emphasises the responsibility of researchers to drive positive change.
We are shaping the future
The work of Dr Rob Sharples explores how school systems can be better aligned and better supported so that teachers can do what they need to support bilingual children. There are 1.6 million bilingual children in the UK, all at different stages of language learning. These can include children just entering pre-school or children arriving in the UK as teenagers – often having faced traumatic migration journeys.
We are interdisciplinary
Hear how labour lawyer and social-legal scholar Dr Manoj Dias-Abey and Brendan Smith, Professor of Medieval History have brought their different perspectives into conversation to develop new insights around migration and the status of a migrant.
Discover more
Research-informed education
As a research intensive university we are able to design and deliver teaching programmes based on cutting edge research evidence and expertise. We offer the opportunity to study issues connected to migration and mobilities in a range of areas.
Rethinking Migration - out now
Humans have always moved, but across the world ‘migration’ has become a major policy, political and media concern. How can we understand human movement without positioning ‘the migrant’ as a problem?
This interdisciplinary collection rethinks migration and movement. It explores mobility beyond the human and across time, from the movement of soil in the Middle Ages to contemporary cow passports. It also examines the histories of international borders and how they are intertwined with the politics of race and nation. The book illustrates that conceptually based, critical and creative thinking is as important for practice as it is for theory and can help us understand and respond to migration as a force that connects rather than divides.