Please join the Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute (DCII) and the John Goodwin Tower Center for Public Policy and International Affairs for the next event in the 2025-2026 Big Challenge Series on Understanding Migration: A lecture by Dr. Rawan Arar (University of Washington), co-author of The Refugee System: A Sociological Approach, with comments by Dr. Raymond Robertson, Helen and Roy Ryu Professor of Economics and Government at Texas A&M University and Senior Fellow at the SMU Mission Foods Texas–Mexico Center.

Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Time: 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Location: Frances Anne Moody Hall Atrium, 6404 Airline Dr., Dallas, TX 75205

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required and the seats are first come, first served. Please click below for registration.

https://booking.smu.edu/event/16246992

Some people facing violence and persecution flee. Others stay. How do households in danger decide who should go, where to relocate, and whether to keep moving? What are the conditions in countries of origin, transit, and reception that shape people's options? The Refugee System tells the story of how one Syrian family, spread across several countries, tried to survive the civil war and live in dignity. This story forms a backdrop to explore and explain the refugee system. Departing from studies that create silos of knowledge about just one setting or "solution" to displacement, the book's sociological approach describes a global system that shapes refugee movements. Changes in one part of the system reverberate elsewhere. Feedback mechanisms change processes across time and place. Earlier migrations shape later movements. Immobility on one path redirects migration along others. Past policies, laws, population movements, and regional responses all contribute to shape states' responses in the present. Presenting an analysis of refugee structures worldwide, this book offers invaluable insights for students and scholars of international migration and refugee studies across the social sciences, as well as policy makers and those involved in refugee and asylum work.

Any person who requires a reasonable accommodation on the basis of a disability in order to participate in this program should contact the SMU Tower Center at tower@smu.edu in advance at least 4 days prior to the event to arrange for the accommodation.

SMU Tower Center | http://www.smu.edu/TowerCenter

Southern Methodist University (SMU)

3300 University Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75275-0117

214-768-3954  tower@smu.edu