Events Archive

'Home: Displacement and Dispossession' Symposium 29th June 2009

As part of the Durham Institute of Advanced Study's year of events on the theme of 'Being Human', Law School staff Dr Lorna Fox O'Mahony and Dr James Sweeney are convening a special symposium to examine the connection between 'home' and the human experience. It is the fourth in a series of interdisciplinary symposia on the notion of 'home'.

It is a necessary aspect of being human that all of us - even the ‘houseless' - must ‘be' somewhere, existing in some relationship with place and experiencing the presence or absence (through displacement or dispossession) of a meaningful connection to home. Yet, despite the authenticity of home attachments, government policies, as expressed through laws, have not typically attached significant weight to these home meanings, or to their central role in the occupier's experience of ‘being human'. The focus of the fourth and final symposium in this series will be an examination of the legal and policy issues surrounding home and homelessness, including exiles and refugees. It will consider how insights into the meanings and values of home across disciplines could enable a more informed, reflective and coherent approach to these contemporary issues within the legal and policy framework. The symposium will also contribute to the development of the ‘Durham Home Research Charter', by identifying priorities and principles for future work in this area. Speakers at this symposium will include: * Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Joseph Rowntree Professor of Housing Policy and Director of the Centre for Housing Policy, University of York * Dr Padraic Kenna, National University of Ireland, Galway (Ireland) * Judy Nixon, Principal Lecturer in Housing Policy, Sheffield Hallam University (UK) * Professor Andre van der Walt, South African Research Chair in Property Law, Stellenbosch University (South Africa) * Dr Susan C. Breau, Reader in International Law, University of Surrey * Simon Underwood, Head of Social Inclusion (Chief Executive's Office, Newcastle City Council) * Alan Brice, Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture * Dr Lorna Fox O'Mahony and Dr James Sweeney, Durham Law School * Professor Susan Bright, New College, Oxford Organisers: Dr Lorna Fox-O'Mahony & Dr James Sweeney Further details of this workshop in June are available from the Displacement and Dispossession webpage: http://www.dur.ac.uk/ias/events/thematic/home/homedisplacement/ Attendance at these events is free but places are limited. Contact the relevant organiser to register.

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