Professor Sergei Shubin

• Untitled (current)

  PhD

  Other supervisor: Dr Angharad Closs Stephens

• Cataract: opacity of water governance vs. private influence (current)

  PhD

  Other supervisor: Dr Caner Sayan

• Sensing Wales: Conflicting Identities and Belonging of Young Ethnic Minority People in Wales (current)

  PhD

  Other supervisor: Dr Keith Halfacree

• Practices of welcome with refugee and asylum seeking migrants in rural Wales: ‘literacies of doing’ and the (re)writing of place. (awarded 2024)

  PhD

  Other supervisor: Dr Angharad Closs Stephens

• Exploring the role of new member state migrants in macro-regional integration in France and the UK in France and in the UK (awarded 2023)

  PhD

  Other supervisor: Prof Marcus Doel

• GE-S00 Year Abroad (Geography)

  Study at a partner institution abroad.

• GEB301 Interdisciplinary Field Course to the Indian Himalayas (Sikkim)

  This residential field course module explores the relationship between environment and society in the Himalayan state of Sikkim in NE India on the borders with China, Nepal, Tibet and West Bengal. The course is inter-disciplinary in approach and policy-oriented. Students work with members of University Staff in mixed groups of biologists, human geographers, physical geographers and zoologists. Through intensive inter-disciplinary group working, students utilise (and pass on) their specialist skills in the group exercises and projects that are undertaken.

• GEG230 Social Geographies

  This module is an overview of the processes co-constructing space and social relations, providing different ways of understanding our contemporary world and how people live within it. The module explores the field of social geography across different geographical scales, and relationships and interdependencies existing between these scales, creating boundaries and connections. These scales and spaces include the body, the home, community, the street, city and nation. The module emphasizes the multiplicity of approaches, theories and arguments about human life in Social Geography, and the connections and interrelations which exist between different fields of geographical enquiry. This approach focuses on multiple economic, political and cultural interactions in varying contexts, defined via places, power relations and systems of organization and control. It encourages students to be open to this diversity of interpretations and living patterns, and to think critically about different issues related to the co-construction of space and society.

• GEG329 Migration Theory

  The phenomenon of international migration continues to challenge global society on the levels of international politics, law and human rights, social and population policies. As a phenomenon underpinned by fluidity and radical difference, migration always escapes simple modes of representation and reductive theorisations. Indeed, as the dramatic events of the last decade have demonstrated, migration regularly takes shape around new scenarios, follows unpredictable routes and often involves migrant lives that exceed the expectations, representations and restrictions of mainstream migration studies and policy orthodoxies. The course introduces students to the major debates surrounding contemporary migration and aims to foster a sophisticated understanding of the relationship between migration and global structures, governance, development, state, space and time.

• GEG331 Dissertation Report: Geography

  The dissertation is an original, substantive and independent research project in an aspect of Geography. The dissertation research project is based on 20 - 25 days of primary research (e.g fieldwork, lab work, archive work) and several months of analysis and write-up. The end result must be less than 10,000 words of text. The dissertation offers you the chance to follow your personal interests and to demonstrate your capabilities as a Geographer. During the course of your dissertation, you will be supported by a peer-led discussion group and a staff supervisor. Lectures and guidance are delivered via this module and peer and staff led Dissertation Support Groups are delivered via GEG332. Participating in Dissertation Support Groups is vital, and is assessed and, in these groups, students will provide constructive criticism to fellow students undertaking related research projects, learning from their research problems and subsequent solutions. This support and supervision is delivered through GEG332, which is a co- requisite.

• GEG332 Dissertation Support: Geography

  This module provides structured, student-led peer-group support and academic staff group supervision for students undertaking the 30-credit 'Dissertation Report: Geography' module. This support and supervision is assessed through the submission of the Dissertation Outline and the Dissertation Support Group Reflection and Attendance Log. Working within a supervised Student Peer Group, students have the opportunity to provide constructive criticism to fellow students undertaking related research projects, learning from their research problems and subsequent solutions. Group sessions are the main support provision as student¿s work through their Dissertation. This module complements the 'Dissertation Report: Geography' module, which is a co-requisite.

• GEGM15 Qualitative Research Methods

  This is a ¿hands on¿ module concerned specifically with how to effectively and reflectively ¿do¿ qualitative methods in the social sciences. It complements and builds on similar modules in quantitative approaches and epistemological and ontological frameworks such as CRM02, CRM03, POM32 and EDM18. After two initial lectures situating the contested and shifting notion of ¿the field¿ and relationships between theory and practice, students will engage in a series of hands-on, practical workshops in specific methods. Workshops will be of 3 hours duration each and will include a theoretical element, a practice element and a reflection element. Following each workshop students will be asked to complete a short, 800-word reflection on the applicability of the research method to their discipline and set of research questions. Students will be encouraged in their reflections to consider both the practical and academic aspects of ¿doing¿ each method. The completed reflective portfolio will be handed in at the end of the course for marking. The methods will vary depending on the staff complement teaching the module from year to year, but are very likely to include: ¿ Ethnographic methods and observation ¿ Archival research, oral history and biographical methods. ¿ Organisational research and interviewing elite actors ¿ Questionnaires, interviews and focus groups ¿ Mobile methods ¿ Participatory action research ¿ Textual and online methods.

• GEGM29 Crisis and Global Change

  'Crisis and Global Change' is a compulsory module for the MSc in Society, Environment and Global Change. One part of this module is designed to provide an advanced introduction to key geographical concepts and frameworks for addressing global crises. This includes asking how we approach and understand 'crisis'? How in particular do we develop critical approaches for understanding and evaluating different crises? And at what scale are different crises addressed, by governments as well as various institutions and organisations? We will address how crises impact people and place unevenly, how crises for some are opportunities for others, what moments of crisis reveal about broader dynamics of power, identity, inequality and violence, and finally how crises also present moments for thinking about change in the world around us. The second part of the module is designed to allow students to explore particular urgent issues and debates in more depth. These will change in any given year, and will draw on staff's research expertise. It will include a focus on topics such as: The Pathologies of Global Cities; Financial and Economic Crises and Resilience; the Global Politics of Nationalism; Migration, Race, Memory and Culture; Imagining Climate Change; and Sustainability and the Politics of Place. These topical lectures will give students an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of some global crises, and to consider how crises interconnect. The module will conclude by considering questions about how we respond to crises, looking at the role of cities, communities, artists, civil society and social movements in engaging social change. Overall the module is designed so that students develop advanced frameworks for approaching and understanding the geographies of global crises, and for considering how crises interconnect and impact people and place differently. By the end of the module, students will be able to connect theoretical frameworks with discussion of urgent global issues, and feel confident that they have a wide-ranging understanding of how to address debates around crisis and global change.

My second teaching strand focuses on Development and Inequality. This teaching embraces different knowledge practices which create space for the understanding of “speechless”, “marginal” and “other” experiences of vulnerable people in their own “different” ways. My teaching in this field includes a range of media such as short films, cartoons, pop videos, documentaries and artistic performances enabling the whole class to engage in the process of (inter-)active learning. Working in close collaboration with artists and schools in Bangladesh and Wales, we co-developed teaching materials such as the illustrated children’s storybook to tell stories about poverty in different languages. I engage with the diverse communities and take teaching about inequalities outside of classroom – you can learn more about this from this short film.

I continue to develop these teaching interests and apply them in the context of different countries. With the support from the grants from the Higher Education Academy and Santander Universities, I provided training for PhD students in Moscow State University (Russia) and Rio Grande University the University of Grande Rio (Brazil). I have designed and delivered an innovative methods workshop for the Youth Summer School “Geography in the Modern World”, organised by the Russian Geographical Society.

My knowledge and expertise in development and poverty have been applied to the recent interdisciplinary Newton Fund project, where I worked together with biological, environmental, computer scientists, epidemiologists and social scientists to tackle poverty in India and Bangladesh (https://preventcontrol.org/). We challenged the principles measurement and calculative rationality in existing anti-poverty interventions and explored improvisation, experimentation, hope and repetition as mechanisms for critically evaluating aquaculture-led development. We have produced varied, creative and interdisciplinary outputs (exhibitions, films such as http://bit.ly/CREATENGAGE) from different research fields to broaden the target audiences and develop lasting partnerships that promote research and innovation.

Addressing the third important strand of my research on care and temporality, the recent ESRC-funded project on Social Support and Migration in Scotland explored changing spatio-temporal movement of Eastern Europeans, ruptures and continuities in their mobile being (https://bit.ly/37Iw2cl). By developing relational understanding of time-space, I used Participatory Action Research to co-develop research questions and support migrant-led initiatives, such as Language Cafes and Make It Happen events (http://bit.ly/MakeItHap). This study re-evaluated distance in negotiation of cultural preferences, highlighted affective and emergent practices

Greece: Centre for Security Studies (joint research project)

Iceland: University of Iceland (joint research conference)

India: Indian Council of Agricultural Research, National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (joint research project)

Italy: Universita Degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Universita di Bologna, Fondazione Bruno Kessler (joint research project)

Japan: University of Tokyo, Tohuku University (joint research project)

Latvia: University of Riga (joint publications and research project)

New Zealand: University of Auckland, University of Waikato (joint publications)

Poland: Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń (joint research)

Portugal: Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (joint research project)

Russia: Moscow State University, Tver State University, Russian Academy of Sciences (joint publication and research project)

Spain: Universidad de Granada, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

USA: University at Buffalo, State University of New York, University of Houston (joint publication and research conference)

• PERCEPTIONS, “Understanding the Impact of Novel Technologies, Social Media, and Perceptions on EU’s Migration Flows” 2019 - 2022

  This project has received funding from the European Union’s H2020 Research & Innovation Action under Grant Agreement No 833870, € 5,000,000

• “Exploring the role of cultural capital in the macro-regional integration of migrants” 2019 - 2021

  This project has received funding from the Cluster of Excellence (LabEx) DynamiTe (France), with Professor Marcus Doel (Swansea University), Professor Yann Richard, Professor Clarisse Didelon-L, € 50,000

• Ordnance Survey, "Evaluating the impact and improving delivery of public services in Wales’s night-time economy" 2017 - 2020

  This project has received funding from Ordnance Survey and ESRC, with Dr Matt Roach (Swansea University), Dr Andrew Williams (Cardiff University), £9,000 (OS) and £30,000 (ESRC)

• “Poverty alleviation through prevention and future control of the two major socioeconomically-important pathogens in Asian aquaculture” 2016 - 2019

  This project has received funding from Newton-Bhabha Fund, BBSRC and Department For International Development, with Dr Tanjil Sowgat, Dr Will Andrews, Dr Nilufar Ahmed (Swansea University), £2,500,000

• “Experiences of Social Security and Prospects for Long Term Settlement in Scotland amongst Migrants from Central Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union” 2013 - 2018

  This project has received funding from Economic and Social Research Council under grant agreement No. ES/J007374/1, with Dr Holly Porteous, Dr Alexandra Szoke, Claire Needler (Swansea University), £1,120,000

• “Forest dependent poor at the agricultural frontier: the complexity of poverty and the promise of sustainable forest ecosystems in Amazonia” 2010 - 2011

  This project has received funding from Natural Environment Research Council under grant agreement No. NE/I004467/1, with Prof Michelle Pinard, Dr Antonio Ioris (University of Aberdeen), £50,000

• “Environmental marginality and social exclusion in Scotland: a comparative analysis of two environmentally deprived areas” 2010 - 2011

  This project has received funding from the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, with Dr Antonio Ioris (University of Aberdeen), £4,500

• “Integration of East-European and Euro-Mediterranean Migrants in France and Scotland” 2009 - 2010

  This project has received funding from the British Council and French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (EGIDE), with Dr Lionel Guillemot, Dr Emmanuel Bioteau, Dr Chadia Arab (Université d'Angers), Dr Heather Dicke, £10,000

• “Integration of East-European Migrants in France and Scotland” 2008 - 2009

  This project has received funding from the British Council and French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (EGIDE), with Dr Lionel Guillemot, Dr Emmanuel Bioteau, Dr Manuella Roupnel-Fuentes, Dr Samuel Delepine (Unive, £10,000

• “Mobility and participation in Scottish society” 2007 - 2008

  This project has received funding from the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, £2,000

• Professor in Human Geography and Migration, Swansea University

  February 2020 - Present

• Associate Professor in Human Geography, Swansea University

  June 2013 - February 2020

• Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, Swansea University

  August 2011 - May 2013

• Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Aberdeen

  July 2015 - July 2011

• Assistant Professor in Human Geography, University of Saskatchewan

  June 2004 - June 2005

• Professeur Invité de la Recherche, Université d'Angers

  2019 - 2019

• Invited Researcher, University of Auckland

  2013 - 2013

• Professeur Invité de la Recherche, Université d'Angers

  2010 - 2010

• Director, Centre for Migration Policy Research

  2015 - Present

During my career I have been working closely with NGOs and disadvantaged communities (migrants, poor people, Gypsy and Roma Travellers) to make their voices heard. My work focused on culture-based and context-specific involvement of previously excluded, uneducated and overlooked groups in policy dialogue. In collaboration with the international artists, I use visual and performance art as novel creative practices to establish real community participation, inspire new thinking and catalyse partnerships.

In the recent PACONDAA project, we cocreated and shared educational resources, provided art and skills training, used memories and artistic expressions to co-design mechanisms for change, organised community festival and co-produced artists’ and children’s paintings. The results of this collaborative work have been displayed in a permanent exhibition and two temporary exhibitions. We helped young people in Wales to develop “poverty postcards” in response to the drawings produced by their Bangladeshi counterparts. These postcards were shared across schools in Wales and returned back to children co-created them in Bangladesh to challenge poverty stereotypes and represent alternative visions of the future (https://www-2018.swansea.ac.uk/press-office/news-archive/2018/childrensettoshareexperiencesofpovertyatspecialworkshop.php).

• “The flows of international students: From regionalization to regional integration”

  March 2019

  Université Paris 7 Diderot, France

• “Exploring different dimensions of poverty in relation to aquaculture in India and Bangladesh”

  January 2019

  Indian Ministry of Technology, Chennai, India

• “Transnational families and care”

  October 2018

  Reykjavik, University of Iceland

• “Evaluating mobile cultures in the process of cross-European migration: beyond cultural capital”

  May 2018

  University of St. Andrews, Scotland

• “Migration from Eastern Europe to Scotland”

  July 2016

  Russian Geographical Society, Moscow, Russia

• “Contemporary methods of geographical research”

  January 2016

  Moscow State University, Russia

• “Migration and international development”

  April 2015

  University of Grande Rio, Brazil

• “Life courses and times of Eastern European migrants in Scotland”

  July 2013

  Massey University, New Zealand

• “Drawing the “ideal” migrant worker: methodological challenges of exploring international recruitment discourse and practices”

  June 2013

  University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

• “Migrating Times: What they are and where they move”

  June 2013

  University of Auckland, New Zealand

• “Changing Spaces of Care in Rural Russia”

  March 2011

  St. Antony College, University of Oxford, UK

• Integration and mobility of Eastern European migrants in Scotland”

  October 2010

  Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland

• “Migration et mobilité en provenance de l’espace post-communiste en Europe: théories, méthodologies et épistémologies”

  November 2009

  MIGRINTER, Université de Poitiers, France

• “Mobility and participation in Scottish society: understanding exclusionary practices and experiences of Scottish Travellers”

  April 2007

  University of Aberdeen, Scotland