Academic engagement, protection and Global South perspectives on forced displacement
At the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), the Sérgio Vieira de Mello Chair — developed in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) — operates as a university-wide platform connecting higher education, research, and public engagement on refugee protection and forced displacement.
Embedded within a broader national and international academic network, the Chair positions the university as a site of protection, knowledge production, and institutional responsibility in the face of contemporary displacement crises. Its work is grounded in the understanding that higher education plays a decisive role in enabling long-term integration, fostering social inclusion, and supporting displaced scholars and students.
Building institutional pathways for refugee inclusion
At UNICAMP, the Chair contributes to the development of institutional mechanisms that facilitate access to higher education for refugees, asylum seekers, and individuals admitted through humanitarian policies. These include dedicated admission pathways, diploma recognition procedures, and support structures that enable academic continuity and social integration.
The initiative also operates through cooperation with public institutions and governmental bodies involved in migration governance and documentation processes, reinforcing the university’s role as an intermediary between policy frameworks and lived realities.
Research, knowledge production and international dialogue
Research constitutes a central dimension of the Chair’s work. It promotes interdisciplinary collaboration across institutes and research environments at UNICAMP, linking the humanities, arts, demography, social sciences, and health studies.
A close partnership with the CNPq research group Trajectories Without Borders: Contemporary Refuge Cinema (based at the Graduate Program in Multimedia Studies) strengthens the Chair’s engagement with audiovisual narratives, memory, ethics, and the representation of displacement. Through curatorial and research practices, the group contributes to expanding public debate on migration and refuge in Brazil and internationally.
The International Seminar on Academic Refuge
One of the Chair’s flagship initiatives is the International Seminar on Academic Refuge, conceived as a transnational platform connecting scholars, policymakers, civil society, artists, and people with lived experiences of displacement.
The first edition was held at UNICAMP in Brazil, the second at Campus Condorcet in France, and the third — scheduled to take place at Université Gaston Berger in Senegal — marks an expansion of the initiative into the African continent. This trajectory reflects a commitment to South–South and South–North dialogue and to the circulation of knowledge across different geopolitical contexts.
Extension, culture and public engagement
The Chair’s activities extend beyond academia through a wide range of cultural, educational, and community-oriented initiatives. Film screenings, exhibitions, debates, health communication projects, and employability initiatives connect research to public life and support refugee and migrant communities.
These actions reinforce the role of universities as civic actors and contribute to building bridges between academic institutions, civil society, and public authorities.
Advocacy and international collaboration
The Chair engages in national and international networks dedicated to refugee protection, collaborating with research institutions, international organizations, and public agencies. Through these partnerships, it contributes to policy debates, capacity building, and the development of collaborative research agendas.
Its work is guided by a commitment to positioning Brazil and Latin America within global debates on migration, not only as sites of analysis but as producers of theory, methodology, and institutional practices.
A Global South contribution to IMISCOE
Within IMISCOE, the Sérgio Vieira de Mello Chair seeks to contribute to collaborative research, comparative perspectives, and transregional dialogue on forced displacement, while strengthening the presence of Latin American and Global South scholarship within the network.
It aims to act as a bridge between academic research, institutional practice, and policy-oriented debates, fostering exchanges across Europe, Africa, and the Americas and reinforcing the role of universities as key actors in shaping more inclusive and responsive approaches to displacement worldwide.
Prof. Dr. Ana Carolina de Moura Delfim Maciel
President of the Sérgio Vieira de Mello Chair - UNICAMP/UNHCR
Permanent Professor of the Graduate Program in Multimedia Studies - UNICAMP
Fellow at the Institut Convergences Migrations
Fellow at Maison CNRS
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Prof. Dr. Adriana Nunes Ferreira
Academic Affairs Advisor to the Rector
Professor – Institute of Economics, Unicamp
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