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Prior to completing a PhD at the University of New Brunswick in 2010 and joining the faculty of Wilfrid Laurier University, I worked for several years in the government and non-governmental sectors of Canada, the United States and Mexico in a number of areas including Canada’s foreign policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean, North American integration, the inclusion of non-governmental actors in international organizations and Summits, social policy and poverty eradication, and foreign qualification recognition. I have spent, and continue to spend some of the best moments of my life working, studying and traveling in Mexico, and I am developing academic connections and research projects in continental Africa.
My research examines migration, with a specific focus on immigrant and refugee youth, migrants with precarious immigration status, and the securitization of the international refugee determination process. I am currently leading a SSHRC Insight Grant-funded study of the postsecondary transition of African Refugee youth across Canada. The national project involves several community organizations. Five SSHRC-funded community engaged projects involving families with refugee backgrounds from the Horn of Africa in Waterloo, Windsor, and Hamilton, ON and Winnipeg, MB are connected to the larger national study. These include a new SSHRC Partnership Development-funded study of culturally appropriate conflict prevention and resolution models to support youth involved in violent peer conflict.
In addition to my Canadian-based research, I have ongoing projects in Mexico including studies of Central American and African asylum seekers with colleagues at el Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) and El Tec de Monterrey (ITESM), and life stories of stranded migrants in Morocco with WLU colleague Dr. Abderrahman Beggar. I am also deeply involved in ongoing research on the intercultural competence of university students and the ethics of conducting international field courses and internships in Mexico and Ghana.
I consider myself a qualitative researcher who loves to listen to people’s stories. I believe in George Marcus’s (1995) exhortation to “follow the people, not just the places that they are going, but also to the places they happen to go along the way.” I am a member of several research institutes and networks including the Tshepo Institute for the Study of Contemporary Africa (WLU where I serve as current associate director), the Balsillie School for International Affairs, The Canadian Centre for Mentoring Research, the International Migration Research Centre (WLU), the Centre for Refugee Research (York), and I am on the organizing committee for the annual Strangers in New Homelands Conference at the University of Manitoba.
I have published two books: “Getting Used to the Quiet: Immigrant Adolescents’ Journey to Belonging in New Brunswick, Canada” (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2012), which made a valuable contribution to the academic literature on immigration to small cities and rural communities, and “Immigrant Youth in Canada: Theoretical Approaches, Practical Issues, and Professional Perspectives” (Oxford University Press, 2018), the first university-level textbook on immigrant youth in Canada. I have also published several articles in national and international peer-reviewed journals and frequently contributes short articles and opinion pieces to newspapers.
Funded Research
- 2025-2028 Stacey Wilson-Forsberg (Principal Investigator), with Oliver Masakure (CI), Ardavan Eizadirad (CI), Karen Cyrus (CI), Rosemary Kimani-Dupuis (CI), Michelle Honeyford (CI) SSHRC Partnership Development Grant "Conflict Prevention and Resolution Strategies for Youth with Refugee Backgrounds."
- 2023-2024 Stacey Wilson-Forsberg (Principal Investigator), with Oliver Masakure (CI), Nothern Ontario Black Economic Empowerment Program "Developing a Socio-Economic Profile of Northern Ontario's Black Population."
- 2021-2022 Stacey Wilson-Forsberg (Co-Investigator) with Oliver Masakure (PI) SSHRC Connections Grant, "The Role of African Ethnic Associations in Preparing their Youth for the Future."
- 2020-2022 Stacey Wilson-Forsberg (Principal Investigator) SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant, with Oliver Masakure (CI) and Adventure4Change - “Brighter Futures: Equipping African Mothers with Refugee Backgrounds to Effectively Engage with Middle School”
- 2021-2022 Stacey Wilson-Forsberg (Co-Investigator) SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant, with Oliver Masakure (PI), Christopher Kyriakides (CI York University), Alpha Abebe (CI McMaster University), and Empowerment Squared, “Empowerment Squared Youth Council: Building a Platform for Newcomer Youth Engagement”
- 2021-2023 Stacey Wilson-Forsberg (Co-Investigator) SSHRC Insight Grant, with Oliver Masakure (PI) and Ardavan Eizadirad (CI), “Paths Less Traveled: Experiences of Young African Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Southern Ontario”
- 2021-2023 Stacey Wilson-Forsberg (Co-PI) SSHRC Insight Grant, with Abderrahman Beggar (Co-PI), “Life in Unintended Destinations: Stories of Irregular Migrants Stranded in Morocco”
- 2021-2024 Stacey Wilson-Forsberg (Co-Investigator) SSHRC Insight Development Grant, with Charles Gyan (PI McGill University) “From Vulnerability to Resilience: Highly Skilled African Immigrants' Experiences in the Quebec Labour Market”
- 2020-2021 Stacey Wilson-Forsberg (Principal Investigator) The Child and Youth Refugee Research Coalition (CYRRC) Grant, with Oliver Masakure (CI) and Adventure4Change, Weathering the Storm: Assisting African Refugee Families with School Work During the Covid-19 Self-Isolation.
- 2020-2022 Stacey Wilson-Forsberg (Co-Investigator) SSHRC Insight Development Grant, with Robert Ame (PI), Andrew Robinson (CI) and James Sefa Dzisah (CI), Assessment of host-country perspectives on key impacts of reciprocal bidirectional North-South student mobility arrangements (Canada-Ghana).
- 2020-2022 Stacey Wilson-Forsberg (Co-Investigator) CIHR and Association for Canadian Studies, with Lori Wilkinson (PI), Kiera Ladner (PI), University of Manitoba, Jack Jedwab (PI) Association of Canadian Studies and several co-investigators, COVID-19's differential impact on the mental and emotional health of Indigenous Peoples and Newcomers: A socioeconomic analysis of Canada, US and Mexico
- 2019-2023 Stacey Wilson-Forsberg (Principal Investigator) SSHRC Insight Grant, Promoting the Transition to Postsecondary Education for African Refugee Youth in Canadian Schools with: Oliver Masakure (WLU)
- 2015-2016 Stacey Wilson-Forsberg (Principal Investigator) SSHRC Connections Grant, with Andrew Robinson. Immigrant Youth in Canada Conference.
- 2015-2017 Stacey Wilson-Forsberg (Co-Investigator), with Edward Shizha (PI), Oliver Masakure, Magnus Mfoafo-M'Carthy, Ginette Lafrenière SSHRC Insight Development Grant. Enhancing Access to Post-Secondary Education for Male African Immigrant Youth in Ontario.
- Donald F. Morgenson Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence in Internationalization (2018)
- Most Engaged Faculty Member, sponsored by Laurier International (2016)
- Faculty Merit Awards (2012, 2015, 2018, 2019)
I am Cross-Appointed with the MA in Religion, Culture and Global Justice program, the PhD in Global Governance and the Masters in International Public Policy Programs and welcome the supervision of graduate students. I have research assistantship opportunities for senior undergraduate students interested in the field of immigration and I am always looking for Spanish-speaking students.
Books
- Wilson-Forsberg, S., and Robinson, A. M. (Eds.) (2018). Immigrant Youth in Canada: Theoretical Approaches, Practical Issues, and Professional Perspectives. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
- Wilson-Forsberg, S. (2012). Getting Used to the Quiet: Immigrant Adolescents' Journey to Belonging in New Brunswick, Canada. Montreal-Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
- Wilson-Forsberg, S. and Beggar, A. “’Even Shoes Became a Burden to my Feet:’ The Migration experiences of Sub-Saharan Africans Stranded in Morocco.” Chapter 18 in, J. Crush, A. Chikanda, and S. Ramachandran (Eds.). New Directions in South-South Migration. Springer Nature, 2025, pp. 329-348. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-9715-8
- Wilson-Forsberg, S., Masakure, O., Kimani-Dupuis, R., and Mondal, S. (2024). ““Sometimes we Struggle, Sometimes we Push Back:” School Experiences of Youth with Refugee Backgrounds from the Horn of Africa.” Canadian Journal of Education 47 (3), 634-672. https://doi.org/10.53967/cje-rce.6615
- Wilson-Forsberg, S., Kimani-Dupuis, R., and Masakure, O. (2024). “Weathering the Storm: How Mothers with Refugee Backgrounds Helped their Children with School During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” International Journal of Multicultural Education, 6 (2), 15-37. https://doi.org/10.18251/ijme.v26i2.3853
- Wilson-Forsberg, S. and Beggar, A. “Chasing Scorpions Across North Africa: Ethical Reflections on Life Story Research with Sub-Saharan Migrants.” (2024). Qualitative Research. DOI: 10.1177/14687941241259965
- Parent, N., Wilson-Forsberg, S., and Beggar, A. (2023). “The Tightrope of Transit and Containment: A Comparative Scoping Review of Literature on International Migration to Chiapas and the Canary Islands (1991-2021).” Revista Interdisciplinar da Mobilidade Humana, 31 (69) https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-85852503880006917
- Wilson-Forsberg, S., Monaghan, S. R. and Correa Corrales, D. (2022). “Witnesses to Inhumanity on Shifting Terrain: Embracing an Ethic of Discomfort for Optimal Learning in an International Field Course.” Education, Citizenship, and Social Justice. DOI https://doi.org/10.1177%2F17461979221097073
- Wilson-Forsberg, S. and Parra, C. (2021) “Hanging on to Hope in a Mexican Migrant Shelter: The Empowering Potential of Albergue Tochán/ Aferrándose a una esperanza en una casa de migrante mexicana: el potencial empoderador de Albergue Tochán.” Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 47(1).
- Shizha, E., Abdi, A. A., Wilson-Forsberg, S., and Masakure, O. (2020). “African Immigrant Students and Postsecondary Education in Canada: High School Teachers and School Career Counsellors as Gatekeepers.” Canadian Ethnic Studies Special Issue Beyond Blackness: Sub-Saharan Immigrant Knowledge and Agency in Canada 52(3), 67-86.
- Wilson-Forsberg, S., Masakure, O., Shizha, E., Lafrenière, G., and Mfoafo-M’Carthy, M. (2019). “Great Expectations: Perspectives of Young West African Immigrant Men Transitioning to the Labour Market without Postsecondary Education.” Journal of International Migration and Integration, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-019-00718-4.
- Wilson-Forsberg, S., Shizha, E., Masakure, O., Lafrenière, G., and Mfoafo-M’Carthy, M. (2018). "Disrupting an Imposed Identity or Performing the Model Minority? The Pursuit of Postsecondary Education by Young African Immigrant Men in Southern Ontario, Canada." Race, Ethnicity and Education, DOI: 10.1080/13613324.2018.1497965.
- Wilson-Forsberg, S., Power, P., Kilgour, V., and Darling, S. (In Press 2018). "From Class Assignment to Friendship: Enhancing the Intercultural Competence of Domestic and International Students through Experiential Learning." Comparative and International Education 47(1): 1-18.
- Brubacher, C., and Wilson-Forsberg, S. (2017). "The Experiences of Low German-Speaking Mennonite Men in Alternative Education Programs in Southwestern Ontario." Journal of Teaching and Learning 11(1):1-19 (http://dx.doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v11i1.4871) Summer Issue 2017.
- Wilson-Forsberg, S. and Sethi, B. (2015). "The Volunteering Dogma and Canadian Work Experience: Do Recent Immigrants Volunteer Voluntarily?" Canadian Ethnic Studies 47(3): 91-121.
- Wilson-Forsberg, S. (2015). “We Don’t Integrate; We Adapt: Latin American Immigrants Interpret Their Canadian Employment Experiences in Southwestern Ontario." Journal of International Migration and Integration 16(3): 469-489.
- Wilson-Forsberg, S. (2013). "The Adaptation of Rural Communities to Socio-Economic Change: Theoretical insights from Atlantic Canada." Journal of Rural and Community Development 8(1): 160-177.
- Wilson-Forsberg, S. (2013). "Budding Multiculturalism or Veiled Indifference? Inter-Group Contact Among Immigrant and Native-Born Adolescents in Small-Town Canada." Journal of Intercultural Communication 31 (March).
Book Chapters
- Shizha, E., Wilson-Forsberg, S. and Masakure, O. “Stereotyping High School Immigrant African Male Students in Pursuit of Postsecondary Education”, in A.A. Abdi (Ed.), Critical Theorizations of Education. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2020, pp. 143-156.
- Shizha, E., Wilson-Forsberg, S. and Masakure, O. (forthcoming), Stereotyping High School Immigrant African Male Students in Pursuit of Postsecondary Education, in A.A. Abdi (Ed.), Critical Theorizations of Education. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill
- Wilson-Forsberg, S. and Robinson A. M. (2018). "Introduction," in Wilson-Forsberg, S. and Robinson, A. M. (Eds.) Immigrant Youth in Canada: Theoretical Approaches, Practical Issues, and Professional Perspectives, (pp. 1-10). Toronto: Oxford University Press.
- Wilson-Forsberg, S. (2018). "Chapter 6 Just Trying to Fit in: The Importance of Friendship for Immigrant Youth," in Wilson-Forsberg, S. and Robinson, A. M. (Eds.) Immigrant Youth in Canada: Theoretical Approaches, Practical Issues, and Professional Perspectives, (pp. 121-137). Toronto: Oxford University Press.
- Wilson-Forsberg, S. (2017). "Claiming the Right to be Present: Serving Migrants with Precarious Legal the Sanctuary City of Hamilton, Ontario Canada," in Daenzer, P. (Ed.) Civil Society Engagement: Achieving Better in Canada, (86-104). New York: Taylor & Francis.
- Wilson-Forsberg, S. (2015). "Immigrant Adolescents’ Journey to Belonging in New Brunswick: Making Friends with Local-Born Peers," in E. Tastsoglou, E., Dobrowolsky, A., and Cottrell, B. (Eds.). A Home Away from Home? Immigrants in Atlantic Canada, (pp. 181-203). Sydney: University of Cape Breton Press.
- Wilson-Forsberg, S. and Easley, J. (2012). "Potholes Along the Roads: The Ethics of Health Research in Rural and Remote Canada," in Kulig, J. and Williams, A. (Eds.) Rural Health: A Canadian Perspective, (pp. 280-298). Vancouver: UBC Press.
- HR361 Migration and Human Rights in Mexico International Field Course
- HR100: Human Rights and Human Diversity
- HR260(oc): Introduction to Human Rights
- HR261: Multiculturalism
- HR365: Immigrant Youth in Canada
- HR328: The UN in the 21st Century
- HR163: International Development
- HR336: Immigration, Refugees and Human Rights
- S. Wilson-Forsberg, I.F Porraz Gómez, D. Correa Corrales, and S. R. Monaghan, July 2019. (Op-Ed). As Mexico Appeases Trump, Migrants Bear the Brunt, The Conversation.
- S. Wilson-Forsberg and I. F. Porraz Gómez, March 2019. (Op-Ed). Mexico's Frontera Sur: Life Carries on in this Place of Permanent Mobility, The Conversation (reprinted in the National Post)
- S. Wilson-Forsberg, January 2019. (Op-Ed). Hope and Anguish in a Mexican Refugee Shelter: Researcher Records Stories of Central American Asylum Seekers, The Conversation (reprinted in the National Post).
- Ottawa Citizen August 2, 2018 (press) Wilson-Forsberg and Parra: Why Canada Must Share Responsibility for Resettling Central American Refugees (reprinted in London Free Press, Montreal Gazette).
- CBC Kitchener-Waterloo, August 2017 (radio and press), Laurier students glimpse lives of asylum seekers in Mexico.
- Wilfrid Laurier University Featured Article, August 2017, Laurier students experience a Mexican response to asylum-seeking migrants.
- Brantford Expositor, April 2017 (op-ed), To reduce migrant flow, turn off the tap.
- CBC New Brunswick, January 2017 (press), Syrian youth in New Brunswick cities struggle to make friends.
- CBC New Brunswick, October 2016 (radio and press), Young newcomers flourish in rural New Brunswick over cities.
- Brantford Expositor, June 2015 (press), Education: Field course a 'huge eye-opener' for students.
Contact Info:
Office location: GRH 130
Office hours: Fridays, noon to 1:30 p.m. or by appointment.
Languages spoken: English, Spanish