Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies is travelling to Cape Town, South Africa, this summer to continue her research on the experiences of refugee women. Her work is sponsored by a grant from the Picker Interdisciplinary Science Institute and builds on research conducted last summer in Cape Town and in Nairobi, Kenya, funded by the Lampert Institute for Civic and Global Affairs.
Thomson will document the realities of refugee life using a diary study research method, in which participants provide written responses to prompts in a journal. According to Thomson, prompts for participants are designed to be broad and allow each woman to 鈥渨rite from their heart.鈥 For example, prior prompts include 鈥淲hat was your life like before you had to flee your country?鈥 and 鈥淲hat does it mean to be a refugee in a new country?鈥
This summer, Thomson plans on working with approximately 30 women who have come to Cape Town from countries as far north as Ethiopia and Somalia. 鈥淥ne thing that surprised me is how much the women who are writing with me have enjoyed the process,鈥 Thomson said. 鈥淧articipation is totally voluntary and unpaid, so there is little incentive to write.鈥
Women working with Thomson have found both joy and refuge in the work, and will be listed as co-authors in Thomson鈥檚 resulting book. 鈥淢y role is to simply translate their raw writing material into something publishable,鈥 Thomson said.
After learning so much from her subjects, Thomson wants to use her research to prevent others from having to follow in their path. She hopes, one day, to bring the experiences of refugee women to policymakers in order to inspire change. 鈥淚t takes a lot of courage and patience for women to work with me,鈥 Thomson said. 鈥淭hey might never see the benefits of what we are doing, but we hope that we are able to use their stories to improve the future.鈥
Read more on Thomson鈥檚 experiences in Africa .