Dr. Amanda Lubit

Amanda Lubit is a guest in 2024. She is visiting the institute as a Marie-Sklodowska-Curie (MSCA) Post-Doctoral Fellow through Dublin City University. Amanda positions her research at the intersection of migration and disaster anthropology. She obtained a PhD from Queen’s University Belfast in 2023 where her dissertation engaged with issues of gender, visibility, movement and place-making as they relate to Muslim women in post-conflict Belfast. She previously earned master’s degrees in anthropology from Portland State University and public health from Tufts University, both in the USA, her home country. Her research developed out of her applied anthropological work in public service, humanitarian aid and development working on mental and physical health relating to HIV/AIDS, homelessness, pandemics, disaster, food security and displacement.

This 3-year project utilises multi-modal ethnography to examine of how converging public health crises affect displaced women across the island of Ireland. The research uses the analytical concept of “care” to identify how women coped with joint crises, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic, Ukrainian refugee crisis, Brexit, housing crisis, and economic crisis. It involves a cross-border approach, with research conducted in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and on the border between the two.

The pandemic demonstrated that crises disproportionately impact already marginalised populations like displaced women; impacts were gendered, racialised and unequally experienced, exacerbating existing inequalities. To improve societal outcomes during future crises, research is needed on how the most vulnerable sectors of society are impacted and respond. This research will engage with local, national, and international governmental and nongovernmental organisations to learn from recent crises and better prepare for the future.