One of the participants was Tamar Kalichava, a PhD candidate at the Graduate School for Social Research within the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Polish Academy of Sciences. Her research focuses on how Georgian migrant parents in Poland use digital technologies to maintain family ties and parental roles across borders.
“My doctoral project, titled Parenting and Maintaining Familyhood Using Digital Technologies: The Transnational Family Life of Georgian Migrant Parents in Poland, investigates how Georgian parents sustain their roles in parenthood and familyhood while engaging in the Polish labour market,” Tamar explains. “Using qualitative interviews and digital ethnography, I explore how gender roles in parenting are either upheld or redefined as these parents navigate new work and family dynamics.”
The course addressed topics such as flexibilisation, precariarisation, upskilling, deskilling, and polarisation, inviting students to analyse how migration and labour market processes shape and are shaped by one another. Lecturers included Maja Cederberg, Andrea Spehar, Eleonore Kofman, Pieter Bevelander, Branka Likic-Brboric, Vedran Omanovic, and Ylva Wallinder.
For Tamar, one of the most rewarding aspects of the course was the opportunity to interact directly with leading scholars in migration studies.
“The most valuable part was the guidance from our instructors, Maja Cederberg and Andrea Spehar, which connected me with experts whose work aligns with my research interests,” she says. “I particularly appreciated a discussion with Oksana Shmulyar Gréen, a noted specialist in the intersection of family and migration.”
Tamar also found the interdisciplinary setting of the course highly enriching.
“An interdisciplinary environment is crucial for understanding the broader challenges faced by migrants, refugees, and states,” she reflects. “Although participants focused on different topics and migrant groups, we encountered shared policy and institutional challenges within the European Union.”
The course not only influenced her academic thinking but also resonated with pressing societal issues in both her home country, Georgia, and her current country of residence, Poland.
“In Poland, the integration of migrants into the labour market is a key issue within the EU context, while in Georgia, economic hardship and limited employment opportunities continue to drive labour migration,” Tamar notes.
