Call for Papers

Migration in the Americas: 

Crossing Linguistic and Cultural Borders

Annual Graduate Students Conference 

Title: Migration in the Americas: Crossing Linguistic and Cultural Borders

Michele Bowman Underwood Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, University of Miami, FL

Thursday, February 26 – Friday, February 27, 2026

In-person event

Deadline for Submissions: November 7, 2025.

Visit our Conference Website

Send your abstracts to: MIA.Conference2026@gmail.com

Indicate the category that most represents your abstract.

Languages for Submissions: Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, French, and English 

Motivations and goal:

Migration is not only a demographic phenomenon but also a site where power, ideology, language, class, sex, gender, and identity intersect. This conference is motivated by the urgent need to challenge discriminatory practices and systemic inequalities affecting migrants across North, Central, and South America in the 21st century. We seek to  confront dominant narratives that often frame migration through exclusionary ideologies, stereotypes, and structures, and instead center the diverse voices and lived experiences of migrants, with special attention to women and gender-diverse communities. 

Our conference interrogates borders and identities as both physical and symbolic spaces—cultural, linguistic, and historical constructs that shape the lives, rights, and subjectivities of migrants. We aim to foster interdisciplinary dialogue across linguistics, literary and cultural studies, and critical theory to explore strategies of resistance and solidarity, including activism and digital forms of cross-border collaboration. We also highlight the role of art and literature as powerful tools for narrating migrant experiences, preserving memory, and illuminating realities often overlooked by dominant discourses on migration.

Conference Focus Areas and Topics:

Migration and Languages 

• Language and Identity among (Im)Migrants

• Language Contact

• Heritage and Second Language Acquisition of (Im)Migrants

• Protection of Minoritized Language in the Diaspora

• Multilingualism and Global Im/migration Policy Shifts

• Migration and Language Ideologies

• Im/migration Discourse

• Migration Linguistics

Migration, Nationalism, Racism, and Identity

• Migration and racial stereotypes in film, literature, and media outlets

• Digital media, xenophobia, and counter-narratives

• Art as resistance to racism and nationalism

• Populism, nationalism, and anti-immigrant movements

• Race, security, and border discourses

• Afro-descendant and Indigenous migrant experiences

• Sense of identity in migration: loss, transformation, and new identity ownership

• Religious identity challenges for migrants

• Classification and the obsession with race in the Americas (“What are you?”)

• Reimagining the nation through multiculturalism

• Global South–South migration patterns and trends in the 21st century

• Permanent vs. temporary migration: stories and trials

• Return migration and the process of acclimation to one’s country of origin

• Types of migration: forced, international, environmental

• Emerging migrations: digital nomads and their impact

• Anti-racist and pro-migrant activism

• Migrant networks and solidarity across borders

• Contributions of migrants to other countries beyond the socioeconomic

Refugees, Displacement, and Asylum Processes

• Forced displacement and humanitarian crises

• Refugee camps, shelters, and living conditions

• Asylum policies, international law, and human rights

• Narratives of exile, trauma, and survival

• Refugee integration and challenges in host societies

• Statelessness and legal liminality

• Gendered and generational refugee experiences

• Transnational networks and refugee diasporas

Migration and Women 

• Literature by migrant women: Denuntiation, creativity and flourishing

• Film and social media as tools for migrant women’s empowerment

• Challenging gender stereotypes: mobility and autonomy of migrant women as agents of change

• Women migration through the lens of race, gender, sexual orientation and age

• Visibility and activism of lesbian migrants through digital spaces

• Violence and vulnerability of migrant women in contexts of departure, transit, and arrival

• Trafficking of migrant girls and women

• Prostitution and migration: exploitation or sex work?

• Sexual and gender division of labor at borders: Feminist and transfeminist analyzes

• Motherhood in migration: Separation and transnational families

• Transnational surrogacy: Migrant babies and mothers in global fertility markets

• Survival and collaboration strategies for women in transit

LGBTQ+ Migrants

• Intersectionality: Race, class, and sexuality in migration narratives

• Trauma and resilience among LGBTQ+ refugees

• The intersection of trans identities and migration experiences

• Facing the intersection of xenophobia and homophobia 

• Media representation of LGBTQ+ refugees and migrants

• Oral history projects documenting queer migration journeys

• Art as a tool for healing and visibility in migrant communities

• Queer migration in popular culture: How film, literature, and social media shape narratives about queer migrants

• Role of universities in supporting LGBTQ+ migrant students

This event is sponsored by the Michele Bowman Underwood Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and the Joseph Carter Memorial Fund.