Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Studies

I am Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Studies and course coordinator of the MA International Social Welfare and Social Development.

I have a background in refugee protection, refugee and migrant rights advocacy, and humanitarian assistance. I have worked with NGOs and the UNHCR in South Africa, Angola, Ecuador and Portugal. Prior to joining the University of Bedfordshire in 2019, I was Programme Director of two MSc Programmes focused on Peacebuilding and Post-conflict Reconstruction at Durham University.

I conduct research in two interrelated areas:

Firstly, I am interested in exploring experiences of (forced) migration. I have previously investigated the experiences of undocumented young migrants in Cape Town (South Africa) through a theatre-based methodology. This research resulted in four publications, providing in-depth insights into undocumented young migrants’ everyday lives and agency and on the benefits and challenges of using theatre as a research method in migration studies. I also study how migrants are affected by urban change. Specifically, I have looked at how the emerging tourism sector in Johannesburg (South Africa) is intertwined with processes of urban regeneration and gentrification. Using walking tours as a case study, my research showed that walking tour operators promote a particular type of urban development that draws on Western notions of hip urban lifestyles and pan-African aesthetics. The results of this research were published in a free access article with Global Policy. Currently, I research (forced) migrants’ experiences of losing loved ones far away and how social support mechanisms that address loss and grief in the context of (forced) migration can be enhanced through social science/social work insights.

Secondly, I am interested in exploring the use and the role of arts and activism in eliciting insights into migrants’ experiences. For this purpose, I draw on arts-based research methods in my own work. In a recent project I investigate how museum activism can contribute to creating memories about contemporary forced migration. I used the online exhibition ‘Arriving: Life after Forced Migration’ by the Marienfelde Refugee Center Museum in Berlin as a case study to explore which forms of memory the exhibition creates, how and to which end. The online exhibition can be accessed here: Arriving. Life after Forced Migration. In another ongoing project I interrogate the aesthetics, ethics and politics surrounding the itinerant puppet performance festival Little Amal.

I am also part of the Community Targeted Outreach Programmes (CTOP) which belongs to Pillar 1: Talk, Listen, Change Workforce Research under the leadership of Prof. Nasreen Ali. This project forms part of the BLMK Integrated Research & Innovation Hub and seeks to tackle inequalities within the health and social care workforce.

I was awarded the ‘Staff Member of the Year 2023’ Award by the Student Union, University of Bedfordshire.

Other References

• Orcid ID
• Twitter @LenaSOpfermann

Qualifications

• PhD Politics, Centre for Applied Human Rights, University of York, UK
• MA International Humanitarian Action, Uppsala University, Sweden
• BA Cultural Studies, European University Viadrina, Germany
• PG Dip in Academic Practice, University of Bedfordshire, UK
• I also spent time at the following universities: Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Bogotá, Colombia), Universidad de Deusto (Bilbao, Spain), University of the Western Cape (Cape Town, South Africa), University of Cape Town (South Africa)

Teaching Role

• Humanitarian Aid, NGOs and Social Welfare in Disasters
• International Social Welfare and Social Development
• PG Dissertation in Applied Social Sciences
• Refugees, Displacement and the Politics of Migration
• Art, Activism and Social Change
• I previously taught Peacebuilding, Post-conflict Reconstruction and Conflict Analysis at Durham University

Research Interests

• Experiences of (forced) migration
• Migration, arts and activism
• Arts-based research practices
• Qualitative research ethics
• Critical humanitarianism

Recent Research Projects

• Loss and grief in the context of (forced) migration
• Forced migration, museum and memory activism in contemporary Germany
• Research ethics in migration studies
• Walking tours, insecurity and urban regeneration in Johannesburg
• Theatre-Based Migration Research with Undocumented Youth in South Africa (see interview about this research at scalabrini.org.za - New research on undocumented migrant youth in South Africa)

External Roles

• I am convenor of the University of Bedfordshire Forced Migration Research Cluster

Publications

• Opfermann, L. S. (2022). Ethics as a Moral Duty: Proposing an Integrated Ethics Framework for Migration Research. Journal of Human Rights Practice. Article available here:
• Opfermann, L. S. (2021) (with Bakonyi, J., Kappler, S., Nag, E. M.) Precarity, Mobility and the City: Introduction to the Special Issue. Global Policy. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1758-5899.12946. Article available here.
• Opfermann, Lena S. (2020): Walking in Jozi: Guided Tours, Insecurity and Urban Regeneration in Inner City Johannesburg. Global Policy, Special Issue on Precarity, Mobility and the City. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12809. Article available here.
• Opfermann, Lena S. (2019): ‘If you can't beat them, be them!’ – everyday experiences and ‘performative agency’ among undocumented migrant youth in South Africa, Children's Geographies, https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2019.1646890
• Opfermann, Lena S. (2019): Language, trust and transformation: exploring theatre as a research method with migrant youth, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2019.1645386
• Opfermann, Lena S. (2015): “Testing the ‘triple imperative’: A drama-based exploration of migrant children’s views”, Transnational Social Review, 5 (3), 224-240, DOI: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21931674.2015.1082777
• Opfermann, Lena (2016): “Just show them that we have feelings.” – Reflections on the representation of migrant children’s stories, DTC Matters No 15. July, https://www.york.ac.uk/cahr/news/2016/thewhiterosedtcmatters/

Contact Details

E: lena.opfermann@beds.ac.uk