Our transatlantic research network of migration scholars and cognitive scientists will advance the understanding of the cognitive impacts of mobility on migrants and receiving societies.
Rationale
International migration has emerged as a major global concern, not just because of its economic and political implications, but also fundamental questions that it raises about assimilation, integration, and social cohesion. The angst and apprehensions have been amplified by episodes of violence manifest in highly visible acts of terrorism on the one hand, and prejudice inflicted on migrants on the other.
While most migration scholars tend to have a normatively positive attitude towards mobility, wider social attitudes are much more ambivalent – but, to date, we have little understanding of the cognitive implications of international migration, either on the migrants or the society they move into. This network will develop an interdisciplinary research agenda on this vital issue.