From 24 to 26 June 2026, Friedensau Adventist University’s School of Social Sciences hosted the international conference “Diasporic Experiences in Time of War in Sudan: Transformation of Belonging, Livelihoods and Citizenship.”The event marked the culmination of a two-year postdoctoral fellowship funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s Philipp Schwartz Initiative, an initiative dedicated to supporting academics at risk. For Friedensau’s social sciences programs, the conference provided a significant academic framework, engaging students and faculty directly with contemporary research on forced migration and the Sudanese diaspora. The event convened approximately 40 participants, including university faculty and students.
Over the course of three days, roughly 30 international scholars presented research across seven thematic panels, participating both in person and virtually. Discussions addressed the mechanisms through which Sudanese communities reconstitute social security, business, and educational networks independently of state structures, as well as the regional and international policy responses of host nations—such as Uganda, Egypt, and Ethiopia—and the European Union. Additional panels examined the complexities of secondary and tertiary displacement, the role of documentation in defining citizenship and identity, and the impact of global refugee policies on the daily realities of displaced populations. The concluding session featured Dr. Mohamed Bakhit and Prof. Dr. Ulrike Schultz, who presented the initial findings of their two-year research project on Sudanese refugees in Uganda, drawing the fellowship to its formal close.
Academic presentations were complemented by cultural programming, including a screening of a documentary on Khartoum and a performance of live Sudanese music during the conference dinner. Informal exchanges throughout the sessions facilitated interdisciplinary dialogue and inter-institutional networking.
Participant feedback highlighted the value of the constructive peer reviews received during the panel sessions and the establishment of professional connections for future scholarly collaboration. Beyond concluding the research fellowship, the conference established a framework for ongoing academic partnership, with several attendees proposing joint publications and collaborative research initiatives. For the School of Social Sciences at Friedensau, the event expanded its global academic network and reinforced its institutional commitment to forced migration studies. The empirical findings derived from the fellowship will continue to inform future research and policy discourse regarding the Sudanese diaspora.
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