Social Engagement Research Sabbatical

We are pleased to announce that Niki Khan from the School of Applied Social Sciences successfully applied to the new Social Engagement Research Sabbatical Scheme at the University. Niki joined Brighton as a lecturer in Psychology in 2008 from the University of Sussex where she completed a Phd in Social Anthropology on ethnic militancy amongst young men in a migrant community in Karachi, Pakistan. 

During this sabbatical she will develop a new project on Afghan diaspora in Brighton (involving some supplementary fieldwork in Pakistan). Brighton’s Afghan community number around 300. These are mostly men who arrived as refugees or asylum seekers during the last fifteen years. Research on Afghan diaspora has tended to focus on the political and economic factors driving migration and settlement, and to leave relatively neglected social, cultural and psychosocial elements. This project will research some of these unelaborated elements in the making of everyday life for Brighton’s Afghans- and include a separate focus on mental health- particularly, on the notion of ‘immobility’ (or being ‘stuck’) in a landscape that is characterised by multiple, interrelated mobilities (physical, social, economic). Next, in collaboration with local NGOs- she will seek to identify mechanisms for improving mental health resources for migrants generally, and more specifically for Brighton’s Afghans. Third, she will put forward recommendations at the meta-level of analysis for ways the University can address needs of migrants in partnership with local and wider non-governmental organisations.

We wish Niki all the best for her research and are looking forward to working more closely together with her.