To address these disparities, Terretta partnered with colleagues Michael P. Okyerefo, a sociologist at the University of Ghana-Legon; Ernest Messina Mvogo, a professor of history and international relations at the University of Douala in Cameroon; and Rose Ndengue, a historian at York University specialized in gender and politics. Together, they successfully applied for a SSHRC Partnership Development Grant to establish the Frontiers of Belonging International Research Training Group (IRTG): Refuge Seeking and Hospitality in West and Central Africa. The project centres on an approach that prioritizes historically and locally informed refuge-seekers and host communities, and takes gendered dimensions into account. It aims to question, challenge and ultimately change assumptions about displacement in Africa.
The Frontiers of Belonging IRTG is designed to train doctoral researchers, specializing in the social sciences and humanities, from the University of Ottawa, the University of Douala and the University of Ghana. The project brings together a cohort of six PhD students—two from each partner institution—who are studying in disciplines such as sociology, history, communication and migration studies. Terretta, along with project co-directors and collaborators, have formed an international, interdisciplinary research network to mentor these students, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary and cross-cultural dialogue.
The project has organized two major training sessions to date: one in Ghana in December 2023 and the other in Ottawa in June 2024. Workshop activities have included gender-focused research methods led by co-director Rose Ndengue, as well as digital skills workshops provided by Walk with Web Inc., a project partner. Additionally, intensive language training in English and French was offered in Ottawa in partnership with the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.
Gloria Lamptey, a PhD student and the project coordinator, has found the experience invaluable for her research on political exclusion and belonging in post-Nkrumah Ghana. She values connecting with fellow graduate students and scholars in Ghana and Cameroon, as well as the different pedagogical and disciplinary approaches and collaborative feedback beneficial to her work. The project’s emphasis on interdisciplinary training and engagement with non-academic actors has been particularly important, fostering a dynamic learning environment that has expanded the students’ networks and deepened their understanding of community and practitioner understandings of migration.
Working within this diverse group of scholars, students and practitioners has been a transformative experience for Terretta, challenging her own perspectives and reinforcing the importance of locally informed, interdisciplinary and cross-sector research in addressing issues of migration and displacement. “Our hope is that training the researchers of tomorrow in this approach will help to build an empirical foundation for more viable, sustainable refugee hosting practices within West and Central Africa,” says Terretta.