The Undergraduate History Council would like to host an event called “Modern Mass Migration in the 21st Century” which broadly will be a conversation about the Migrant Crisis today in the Middle East and Europe. The numbers are staggering across the world: In the Middle East: 12 million Syrians displaced by the war since 2011, over 3 million Iraqis displaced since 2013. In Europe: 794,000 applications for asylum (as of September 22,2015), Germany expecting 1.5 million asylum seekers by the end of the year.

(Source: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/09/10/world/europe/scale-of-migrant-crisis-in-europe.html)

We hope to engage in a conversation with professors who specialize in different regions of the world- as we hope to emphasize that this is a global phenomenon.

Some questions we would think about: what is the historical context of this migrant crisis? Is it the “normal” displacement that comes after a war (the Syrian war), or something different? How did the Eurozone crisis change the response and the political atmosphere regarding migration? How will the migrant crisis change European-Middle Eastern relations? And how will the crisis change the social and political identity of Europe and the Middle East?

We would be so grateful if you could join us; please let me know as soon as you can if you are able!