Alison Mountz, Wilfrid Laurier University
Canada Research Chair in Global Migration
Professor
Waterloo, Ontario
amountz@wlu.ca
Office:
(226) 772-3143
Expert In
Bio/Research
Hold a BA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Sociology from Dartmouth College, a master’s degree in geography from Hunter College – CUNY, and a PhD (2003) in geography from the University of British Columbia. Prior to joining Laurier, I was assistant and associate professor in geography ...
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Bio/Research
Hold a BA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Sociology from Dartmouth College, a master’s degree in geography from Hunter College – CUNY, and a PhD (2003) in geography from the University of British Columbia. Prior to joining Laurier, I was assistant and associate professor in geography at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University (2003-2011) and the 2009-2010 Mackenzie King Research Fellow with the Canada Program at Harvard University.
My work explores the tension between the decisions, displacements, and desires that drive migration and the policies and practices designed to regulate migration. You can see a complete list of my publications on my Google Scholar profile. Some are also listed on my webpage at the Balsillie School of International Affairs.
At Laurier, I direct the International Migration Research Centre. I also edit a journal called Environment & Planning C: Politics & Space.
The main focus of my recent research is the search for safe haven and erosion of access to political asylum and related struggles over detention. Broadly, I am interested in the relationships between border enforcement and human migration; legal geographies and territoriality. Recent projects include the Island Detention Project, a CAREER grant funded by the National Science Foundation to study the role of islands and border enforcement off the shores of Australia, Europe, and North America. I am also researching shifting landscapes of asylum and meanings of safe haven for US war resisters who migrated to Canada during US-led wars in Vietnam and Iraq. In 2019, I began a new, collaborative, cross-border project to study the recent spike in asylum-seeking across the land border that divides Canada and the United States.
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My work explores the tension between the decisions, displacements, and desires that drive migration and the policies and practices designed to regulate migration. You can see a complete list of my publications on my Google Scholar profile. Some are also listed on my webpage at the Balsillie School of International Affairs.
At Laurier, I direct the International Migration Research Centre. I also edit a journal called Environment & Planning C: Politics & Space.
The main focus of my recent research is the search for safe haven and erosion of access to political asylum and related struggles over detention. Broadly, I am interested in the relationships between border enforcement and human migration; legal geographies and territoriality. Recent projects include the Island Detention Project, a CAREER grant funded by the National Science Foundation to study the role of islands and border enforcement off the shores of Australia, Europe, and North America. I am also researching shifting landscapes of asylum and meanings of safe haven for US war resisters who migrated to Canada during US-led wars in Vietnam and Iraq. In 2019, I began a new, collaborative, cross-border project to study the recent spike in asylum-seeking across the land border that divides Canada and the United States.
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