BREM Upcoming Events

Book Talk

Queering UK Refugee Law: Sexual Diversity and Asylum Administration

Dr Alex Powell, University of Warwick

About the talk:

Queering UK Refugee Law: Sexual Diversity and Asylum Administration is the first book authored by Dr Alex Powell. In this talk, Alex will outline the key themes of the book, which sets out to critically examine the experiences of LGBTIQA+ people navigating the UK asylum system in the context of a global backlash against both migrant and LGBTIQA+ rights. The book draws on interviews with refugees, legal practitioners and charity workers to analyse the systemic challenges faced by LGBTIQA+ people seeking asylum. By blending empirical data and critical theory, the text highlights the contradictions between the UK's purportedly LGBTIQA+ inclusive narratives and its treatment sexually diverse refugees, offering insights for researchers, practitioners and policy makers on the pressures facing LGBTIQA+ people within the asylum system.

About the Speaker:

Dr Alex Powell is Associate Professor in Law at Warwick Law School. He is an interdisciplinary scholar who works at the intersections of law, gender, sexuality and migration. His work utilises critical and socio-legal methodologies.

About the event

18 February 2026 (5-6pm, online)

Register your attendance here to receive the Teams link

Project Presentation - Art Exhibition and Documentary Screening

Locating the Rural in International Aid Work

Dr Hannah Owens, University of Warwick

About the event: Locating the Rural in International Aid Work invites refugee communities in northern Jordan to creatively respond to the question: what does the rural mean to you?Formal refugee camps continue to be the main site of scholarly research and aid policy, positioning refugee communities living outside of camps as a possible threat. Refugee communities are increasingly geographically spread, and more difficult to identify, categorise and secure. Without clear categories, the rural, both as a space and form of living, has been understudied in academic literature and excluded in policy and practice in international aid, resulting in an aid policy unable to effectively respond to rural refugee needs. To the detriment of rural refugees, humanitarian action has become a system of technocratic governance, capable of their political, social and conceptual erasure. Bringing together community members and aid agency employees, Locating the Rural investigates the consequences of removing or amalgamating specific geographic spaces in policy.

Please join us for a discussion of these themes, alongside a short documentary-film screening and art exhibition which tell alternative stories of community, protection and displacement.

About the Speaker: Dr Hannah Owens, Assistant Professor in International Relations: Conflict and Security in PAIS.

About the event

Date: 19 March 2026 (4:15-6pm)

Location: OC1.06

Register your attendance here.