Research

I study precarious migration as lived experience and via the representation of migrants and borders across a range of media. Situated in critical refugee studies, this interdisciplinary work links topics related to global migration, rights, media and public discourse, and race and belonging in Europe to illuminate the relationship between border, immigration, and asylum policy, public and political discourse, and the lives of migrants and local communities. This work, which has been recognized with ACLS and NEH grants, uses the methods of ethnography, oral history, and media and discourse analysis to examine how border crossing is entangled with histories of violence and conquest, bordering, and racial capitalism, as well as practices of solidarity and abolitionist politics.

My research focuses especially on Mediterranean migration to Europe and questions of asylum, migrant reception, human rights, and racial justice in Europe and in particular Italy. My work draws on the time I have spent in camps and reception centers, in workspaces, and with NGOs, activist collectives, and rescue crews. I also collaborate with a number of migrant-centered organizations, including as research advisor for the Greece-based NGO Second Tree, with whom I am working on several projects related to integration and anti-discrimination work.

My published work has covered topics including migrant reception and crisis racism in Italy, the politics of rescue, refugee filmmaking and life writing, deterrence media, and comparative work across Mediterranean and North American border zones. I've also talked about these issues in public-facing outlets and via the podcast Migrations: A World on the Move. My book Emergency in Transit, about emergency responses to migration in Italy, came out in November 2024. I’m currently at work on a project about notions of protection and safety in border spaces and how these concepts are alternately weaponized or reimagined at sites including farms, rescue ships, and detention sites.