Biography

Dr Ceri Oeppen returned to Sussex as a Lecturer in Geography in October 2011. Ceri manages the Afghanistan and Afghan diaspora research for the international collaborative project ‘The Possibilities and Realities of Return Migration’ (www.prio.no/PREMIG).  At Sussex most of her teaching is in the areas of migration, development, conflict and research methods.  Prior to joining Sussex, Ceri worked as an Associate Research Fellow at the University of Exeter and a Senior Teaching Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).  Ceri has worked on a range of consultancy projects; predominantly related to Afghanistan and Afghan migration but also on wider migration and development issues, and public health.  Ceri completed her ESRC-funded PhD (Sussex), on the interactions between integration and transnationalism for the Afghan diaspora, in 2009.  She has an MSc in Social Research Methods (Sussex, distinction) and a BSc in Geography (UCL, first class).

Ceri has been researching issues relating to the Afghan diaspora for eleven years, and has carried out ethnographic fieldwork with Afghans in London, California, New Delhi, Peshawar, Oslo, and in Afghanistan.  She is co-editor of ‘Beyond the “wild tribes”: Understanding modern Afghanistan and its diaspora’.

Role

Lecturer in Human Geography

Community and Business

Ceri is a member of the Independent Advisory Group on Country Information (IAGCI), which operates under the remit of the Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency.  She is also a member of the OCR consultative forum on A-Level reform (geography). 

Ceri has a range of experience presenting academic research to a wider audience, in text or orally.  She has authored a book for 11-16 year olds called ‘Hopes, needs, rights, and laws: How do governments and citizens manage migration and settlement?’  She also regularly gives presentations and training sessions on issues relating to Afghanistan, the Afghan diaspora, return migration and migration and development; most recently to high-level Afghan government officials attending a training course at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy.

Current Research Projects:

Possibilities and Realities of Return Migration (PREMIG)

Funded by the Research Council Norway.  Led by Dr Jørgen Carling at the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo, with partners at Sussex, the University of Bristol and Statistics Norway.

Making Asylum Seekers Legible and Visible

Funded by the ESRC.  Led by Dr Nick Gill at the University of Exeter, partners at University of Lancaster and St. Peter's College, USA.

Research themes

Ceri's research activities thus far have primarily been about the ways in which migrants (including forced migrants) adapt to the new environments in which they find themselves.  This may be by maintaining connections across space to the place they migrated from, for example through transnational activities, and/or by building connections in their new place of settlement through integration.     

Ceri's ESRC-funded doctoral research used ethnographic fieldwork with Afghan refugees to examine the issue of how Afghans’ globalised connections (transnational ties and activities) can influence development in their country of origin, and how these connections interact with the way migrants negotiate membership in their cities and countries of settlement.  Her thesis suggests that rather than acting in opposition to each other, transnational and integration processes can be concurrent and even mutually supportive.

Recent work on asylum activist organisations represents a slight shift in focus from migrants themselves to the institutions and organisations that support and/or constrain their mobility and integration.  Ceri also continues her work on Afghan migration, through collaboration with the Peace Research Institute, Oslo, on a project investigating return migration from the UK and Norway.

In addition to academic research interests, Ceri has also undertaken a variety of consultancy work; predominantly related to Afghanistan and Afghan migration but also on wider migration and development issues, and public health.

Academic year 2012/13

Convening:

Theories of Development and Underdevelopment (MA core course)

Refugees and Development (MA course option)

Other: 

Supervising undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations, and undergraduate academic advisees.

PhD students

I welcome enquiries from potential PhD students interested in researching any topics similar to my own interests (click on the 'research' tab above).

Student Consultation

For teaching block two 2013, my advice and feedback hour is Thursday 10-11:00am.

Erdal, Marta Bivand and Oeppen, Ceri (2013) Migrant balancing acts: understanding the interactions between integration and transnationalism. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. pp. 1-18. ISSN 1369-183X

Oeppen, Ceri (2013) A stranger at 'home': interactions between transnational return visits and integration for Afghan refugees. Global Networks, 13 (2). pp. 261-278. ISSN 1470-2266

Oeppen, Ceri (2011) Afghan immigrants. In: Multicultural America: an encyclopedia of the newest Americans. Greenwood, pp. 1-37. ISBN 9780313357862

Collyer, Michael, Binaisa, Naluwembe, Qureshi, Kaveri, McLean Hilker, Lyndsay, Oeppen, Ceri, Vullnetari, Julie and Zeitlyn, Benjamin (2011) The impact of overseas conflict on UK communities. Project Report. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York.

Oeppen, Ceri and Binaisa, Irene (2011) The African Diaspora in the UK and Their Role in Development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Unset. Comic Relief.

Oeppen, Ceri, Deshingkar, Priya and Jena, Farai (2011) Migration and development. Development, 46 (3).

Oeppen, Ceri (2010) The Afghan diaspora and its involvement in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. In: Beyond the 'Wild Tribes': Understanding Modern Afghanistan and its Diaspora. C Hurst & Co Publishers . Hurst, pp. 141-156. ISBN 9781849040556

Oeppen, Ceri (2010) Hopes, needs, rights and laws: how do governments and citizens manage migration and settlement? Investigating human migration and settlement . Crabtree. ISBN 9780778751953

Oeppen, Ceri and Schlenkhoff, Angela (2010) Beyond the 'Wild Tribes': Understanding Modern Afghanistan and its Diaspora. Hurst. ISBN 9781849040556

Oeppen, Ceri and Schlenkhoff, Angela (2010) Beyond the 'Wild Tribes': Working Towards an Understanding of Contemporary Afghanistan. Beyond the 'Wild Tribes': Understanding Modern Afghanistan and its Diaspora . Hurst. ISBN 978-1849040556

Oeppen, Ceri (2010) Commentary on country of origin information service report on Afghanistan. Other. Independent Advisory Group on Country Information / Office of the Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency.

Oeppen, Ceri (2008) Afghan case study: prepared for the Understanding Muslim Ethnic Communities project of the Change Institute. Project Report. Change Institute, London.