Ms Olivia Sheringham
PhD student
School of Geography
Queen Mary, University of London
Mile End Road, London E1 4NS
Email: o.sheringham@qmul.ac.uk
Research interests:
Brazilian migration; transnationalism and religion; integration; identity and belonging; urban geographies.
PhD Supervisors:
Dr Cathy McIlwaine
Professor Jon May
PhD Funding:
ESRC
PhD Research / Academic Interests:
Everyday Transnationalism: Religion and Brazilian Migrants in London and ‘back home’
My doctoral research examines the role of religion in the transnational, everyday lives of Brazilian migrants in London. I am looking at the ways in which religion takes on a particular role in the migration context: through facilitating transnational ties for Brazilian migrants while, at the same time, providing a space in which migrants can feel ‘at home’. On the other hand, I also consider the extent to which religious institutions play such a crucial role in migrants’ experiences due to the absence of other sources of support, and the deeply embedded barriers to their structural integration. My research thus seeks to consider the ways in which religion can potentially (re)create barriers to inclusion within wider society, as well as within the Brazilian diaspora itself. My research takes an ethnographic approach, including interviews and participant observation in both London and Brazil.
Many of the ideas are being developed from my MA research into the experiences of Brazilian migrants in a small Irish town in Galway, which itself drew on another postgraduate study on the emigration of members of an indigenous community in Mexico. My academic background is in Modern Languages (BA, French and Spanish, University of Cambridge) and Latin American Area Studies (MA, Institute for the study of the Americas), and more recently this has developed into an interest in Latin American migrants and their experiences of living across borders. I have also worked as a research assistant on various projects relating to Latin America and migration, including a research project on Latin Americans in London, led by Dr Cathy McIlwaine and funded by the City Parrochial Foundation and Latin American Women’s Rights Service. I am also currently involved in a research project into the London Living Wage, led by Professor Jane Wills and funded by trust for London.
Selected Presentations:
Transnational practices, local attachment and place-based identity among Brazilians in Gort, Ireland. Presented at the International conference hosted by the Department of Modern Languages, University of Southampton: ‘The Portuguese-Speaking Diaspora: Transnational Relocations, Identities and Integration’, 26-27 June 2008.
‘Transnational belonging: Brazilians in Gort, Ireland’ Paper Presented to Post Graduate contemporary history seminar, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 11th February 2009.
‘Everyday transnationalism: the role of religion in the lives of Brazilian migrants in London and ‘back home.’ Presented at ‘Association of Contemporary Iberian Studies 30th Anniversary Conference’ at Dublin City University, 8-10th September 2009.
‘ “O Brasileiro e um povo de fé”: the role of religion in the lives of Brazilians in London’. Presented at Brazilian Migration to the UK Research Group (GEB) seminar series, 6th November, 2009.
‘Creating 'alternative geographies': religion and Brazilian migrants in London and ‘back home.’’ Presented at Geographies of religion: a new dialogue conference at Newcastle University, 8th-9th March 2010.
‘Brasileiros na Irelanda e em Londres. O factor da religião’ Presented at Migrações Internacionais: Brasileiros no Mundo conference at Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, University of Lisbon, 19th October 2010.
A fé a traves das fronteiras: a religião na vida cotidiana dos Brasileiros em Londres e no Brasil’. Presented at 1 Seminario de Estudos sobre Brasileiros na Europa, University of Barcelona, 25th-27th November 2010.
Publications
Sheringham, o. (2009) ‘Ethnic Identity and Integration among Brazilians in Gort, Ireland’ em Irish Migration Studies in Latin America 7:1 (March 2009), pp. 93-104. Available online (www.irlandeses.org/imsla0903.htm)), accessed 21 September 2009.
Sheringham, O. (2010). ‘A Transnational Space?: Transnational practices, place-based identity and the making of ‘home’ among Brazilians in Gort, Ireland’. Portuguese Studies Vol. 26 (1), pp. 60-78.
Sheringham, O. (2010) ‘Creating Alternative Geographies: Religion, Transnationalism and Everyday life.’ Geography Compass. Vol. 4 (11), pp. 1678–1694.
Working Papers:
Sheringham, O. (2008)
Geographies of Religion Working Paper Series, School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, UK Working paper: (2010) Everyday Transnationalism: Religion in the lives of Brazilian migrants in London and Brazil.
Research Groups:
Events Officer for of ‘Brazilian Community in the UK Research Group’:
http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/clcl/geb/
Annual Conference to be held 25th January 2011.