The Team

Mirca Madianou

Mirca Madianou (co-investigator) is Professor in the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies and interim co-Director of the Migrant Futures Institute at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research focuses on the social consequences of communication technologies, infrastructures and artificial intelligence (AI) in global majority contexts especially in relation to migration and humanitarian emergencies. She is the author of Mediating the Nation: news, audiences and the politics of identity, and Migration and New Media: transnational families and polymedia. Her latest book Technocolonialism: when technology for good is harmful was published in November 2024.

Charlotte Hill

Charlotte Hill (co-investigator) is an Assistant Professor at the Media Arts and Design program at Chiang Mai University. She has worked extensively with displaced people in refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border for over ten years. She has written on how refugee youths navigate and mediate their everyday lives, explored gender through rap music, and unpacked the intersection of offline and online experiences for young Karen living in protracted displacement. As part of a project supported by ODI and the Humanitarian Policy Group, she investigated protracted displaced youths' perceptions of well-being through participatory drawing in camps along the Thai-Myanmar border LINK.

Hayso Thako

Hayso Thako (Post-Doctoral Researcher) is based at Chiangmai University in Thailand. He has been working with the refugee community in Thai-Burmese border since 2015. He was former chair of Karen Peace Support Network and currently serves as member of Karen Refugee Committee (KRC) and Asia Pacific Network of Refugee (APNOR). His latest publication is Schooling, Identity and Nationhood. Karen Mother-Tongue-Based Education in the Thai-Burmese Border Region LINK.

Kyaw Min Aung

Kyaw Min Aung (Research Assistant) is an educator and private IT tutor with experience in independent research, translation, and interview facilitation. His work often bridges education and technology, and he is committed to supporting learning in both formal and community settings.

Naw Thu Zar

Naw Thu Zar (Research Assistant) is an independent researcher with experience in conducting interviews, transcribing materials, and supporting community-based projects. She also works closely with students in a hostel setting, providing care and assistance in their daily lives and education.

Sam Goodner

Sam Goodner (Project Coordinator and Exhibition Curator) has been an Asia-based filmmaker since 2005. Her most recent film is The Cliff, produced in northern Thailand and Cambodia. She has a Master of Fine Arts in film from the University of California- Los Angeles and a BA in cultural anthropology from Columbia University.

Phavine Phung

Phavine Phung (Postdoctoral research assistant) is based at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her work explores family migration, belonging and social justice through creative and participatory methods. Her doctoral research developed a collaborative craft-making approach to explore the lived experiences of migration, alongside working with migrant communities in the UK. Outcomes from this work have been exhibited in venues including Coventry Cathedral and the House of Commons.