Maggie Neil

My work currently explores bordering and reception practices at Europe’s Mediterranean edge. I examine the interrelatedness of local praxis and political narratives (around hospitality, tolerance, conviviality, diversity, welcome, etc.) with national and supra-national structures of power, social abandonment and marginalization, and processes of re-making social and cultural identities. I am interested in how bordering Europe is inscribed affectively, politically, existentially, and in the imaginaries of people involved on the ground (‘locals’ and ‘newcomers’ alike). My geo-political vantage point is southern Italy, with a particular emphasis on Sicily and the Mediterranean. My doctorate is funded by the ESRC and St. Edmund Hall. I hold an MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies from the University of Oxford and a BA in Humanities (Arts and Literature) from Yale University. My Master’s work was funded by the Rotary Scholarship Foundation. I was a 2016 recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, and a 2014 recipient of a Yale-China Teaching Fellowship.

In addition to my teaching and academic research, I have consulted for migration projects at the UN and the Open Society Foundations and volunteered for several NGOs and associations in Sicily and internationally. I have also contributed written pieces to various online and print publications. I have an avid interest in translation, and am fluent in French and Italian, proficient in Spanish, and get by in Mandarin Chinese. I would be very happy to speak to any prospective students.