DPhil Migration Studies Student
Keble College
Thesis title: No Longer Earthlings: Impacts of Extreme Migration on Personal Identity
Research: My research explores the impacts of extreme forms of migration on personal identity construction, community formation, and intersubjectivity. I am particularly interested in how individuals and groups renegotiate their sense of self and belonging when displaced from familiar cultural, social, or geographic contexts.
My DPhil research examines this question in an unprecedented domain: human life in space. Working with astronauts on the International Space Station and with participants in simulated space missions, my project asks, “Who are we when we are no longer Earthlings?” Drawing on astronaut testimonies and analog environments, I investigate how identity and community are reconfigured when humanity is removed from Earth-bound frames of reference.
This work builds on my previous research with displaced and refugee communities, where I studied how migration reshapes identity through encounters with trauma, resilience, and the forging of new forms of solidarity. By placing terrestrial and extraterrestrial forms of dislocation into dialogue, I aim to extend existing migration theories into extraterrestrial contexts while also identifying the conceptual innovations required for the advent of a new space age.
Research interests: Migration, Space, and Refugee Studies, Identity Construction, Ritual, Transnationalism, Cosmopolitanism, Crisis, Disaster, Folklore, Storytelling, Borders, Experimental Methodology
Personal website: https://mwmurphy2015.wixsite.com/journeys
Email address: michael.murphy@keble.ox.ac.uk
