Science in Exile and Responsibility for Integration

Fri, 3 May 2019, 6 pm at the MKE

The short documentary film “Science in Exile” explores how violence in Syria, Yemen and Iraq has threatened the lives of four researchers, forcing them to suspend their work and flee their homelands.

The screening is followed by a panel discussion with Eva Alisic (Melbourne), Housam Darwish (Cologne), and S. Karly Kehoe (Halifax), moderated by André Grahle (LMU).

The event will close with the release of the new book “Responsibility for Refugee and Migrant Integration” (Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter, May 2019), co-edited by S. Karly Kehoe, Eva Alisic, and Jan-Christoph Heilinger.)

About the Film (duration 37 minutes)

They are scientists in developing countries, committed to a life of research. Working in a wide range of fields, they are pursuing discoveries and innovations that will improve life for the people in their countries and their regions. But then comes a conflict, a war. Universities are bombed. Colleagues are killed. And the thousands of scientists who remain – what should they do? Where should they go?

These scientists are the focus of "Science in Exile", a new documentary directed by Italian filmmaker Nicole Leghissa and produced by The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), based in Trieste, Italy. The film explores how recent conflict in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq has threatened the lives of four researchers – two women and two men – forcing them to suspend their work and flee their homelands.

"Science in Exile" is story of science, but also of humanity. It takes viewers into the lives of researchers with years of training and experience who are struggling to find their feet in new countries – a safe place where they can continue their research. It also features organisations in the Middle East, Europe, and globally who are working to support scientists displaced by conflict.

For a short teaser/trailer visit the official website of "Science in Exile".