Kelsey LeBrun Keswani is a Ph.D. Candidate in Migration Studies at the Institute of Social Sciences (ICS) in the field of Political Science at the University of Lisbon. She received her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and Counseling at Michigan State University and worked for more than 15 years as a social worker, program director, and policy analyst for programs working with refugees, migrants, and unaccompanied children. Her research explores the role of discourse and migration frames in policy-making, programming, and governance of asylum seekers and unaccompanied children. Through a critical lens, she explores how power, ideology, and emotions impact what is considered knowledge in the policy process.
PhD Candidate: Migrations, Political Science
Institute of Social Sciences (ICS), University of Lisbon (UL)
Cases: U.S. and India
Titled Beyond Burden: The Role of Discourse in Refugee Policy-Making, this thesis examines controversial policies passed within the past five years which significantly impacted the global refugee regime, some of which bordered on human rights abuses. Using a gendered and historical lens to conceptualize who is considered deserving of crossing borders, this study intends to lend a new perspective towards why and how there is an urgency to reframe refugee narratives.
Keywords: refugee policies, discourse, unaccompanied children, ideology, policy frames