Dawn Chatty

Leading Authority on Forced Migration & Middle East Anthropology; Professor Emerita at University of Oxford; Author of "Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East"; Fellow of the British Academy

Oxford, UK
Live Event: $5,000 - $10,000 Virtual Event: $5,000 - $10,000 More Fee Info
Author, Culture, Geopolitics, Government, Immigration, Influential Women, Professors, Research & Exploration, Resilience, Women, World Affairs, Youth
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Dawn Chatty Biography

Professor Dawn Chatty is a leading authority on forced migration and social anthropology in the Middle East. Chatty has developed her career in universities in the United States, Lebanon, Syria, and Oman, as well as with development agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF, Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Her doctoral research in Syria and Lebanon among Bedouin sheep herders, along with later work among camel nomads in the Sultanate of Oman, provided field-based experience across the Levant and the Gulf. Chatty joined the University of Oxford, where she spent the remainder of her academic career, initially serving as the Dulverton Senior Fellow at Queen Elizabeth House, now the Department of International Development. She was subsequently appointed university lecturer in forced migration and elected a Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford, before being promoted to Reader in forced migration. Chatty was later awarded a Title of Distinction as Professor of Anthropology and Forced Migration. She also served as Director of the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford.

Chatty's scholarship has produced a significant body of work that bridges academic inquiry and humanitarian issues. She held a Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship, and her research during that period was published as "Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East." The book traces the history of those who, as a reconstructed Middle East emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century, found themselves cut off from their homelands as refugees, with borders created after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Through personal stories and interviews within different communities, Chatty examines how some minorities, such as the Armenian and Circassian communities, integrated and created new identities, while others, such as the Palestinians and the Kurds, have been left homeless within impermanent landscapes. Her other major works include "From Camel to Truck: The Bedouin in the Modern World," "Children of Palestine: Experiencing Forced Migration in the Middle East," and "Syria: The Making and Unmaking of a Refuge State."

Her research interests cover a range of forced migration and development issues, including conservation-induced displacement, tribal resettlement, modern technology and social change, gender and development, and the impact of prolonged conflict on refugee young people. Chatty has worked with nomadic pastoral groups in Lebanon and Syria and extended her research to Oman, continuing to advocate for the rights of these populations to remain mobile and resist forced settlement. She is recognized as a scholar and advocate for the rights of refugees and other forced migrants.

Chatty was elected a Fellow of the British Academy, the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences. She has also delivered a British Academy lecture titled "The Duty to be Generous (karam): Alternatives to Rights-Based Asylum in the Middle East," demonstrating her commitment to applying scholarly expertise to global policy questions. Her decades of fieldwork, publications, and leadership at a major refugee research institution position her as a prominent voice on displacement, identity, and the resilience of communities in crisis.

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Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 06/02/2026.

Dawn Chatty Speaking Topics

  • Syria: The Making and Unmaking of a Refuge State

    Syria, ravaged and destroyed today, experienced a prolonged multicultural history long before the term was coined. Home to the two cities, Aleppo and Damascus, that claim to be the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, its history is that of origins, from the discovery of the first phonetic alphabet at Ugarit, to conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus, the home of the Umayyads, first Islamic dynasty, the Crusaders and the castles they left behind.

    Syria has been on our radar for centuries. In a broad historical sweep this lecture tells the two-century story of Syria as a place of asylum for Muslims and Christians refugees.

    It articulates the long forgotten forced migration of Muslims from Crete, and from the Balkans, Crimea, and the Caucasus, continuing with the Armenians, Kurds, Palestinians and Iraqis. And it closes with a narration of the tragedy of how Syrians have now become refugees from their own country.

  • The Duty to be Generous

    Challenging Ideas on Asylum for Refugees Until the mid-20th century, the humane response of granting refuge and asylum was a social duty. It was a 'gift' of hospitality to the stranger and the refugee that anticipated a return in kind. Post World War Two, the humanitarian response to refugees fleeing persecution and conflict became formalized in international law best expressed in the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees.

    The paradigm shifted from a ‘duty-based’ one to a rights-based mechanism which became main-stream. Once main streamed our own societal 'duty' to be generous became obscured. I argue that we need to shine a new light on our 'duty to be generous'.

Dawn Chatty Videos

Migration Talks Budapest: The Duty to be Generous (Prof Dr. Dawn Chatty)

Migration Talks Budapest: The Duty to be Generous (Prof Dr. Dawn Chatty)

The talk addresses the ways in which “the West”, has mainstreamed its responsibilities to provide asylum to the needy by leaning heavily on human...

See All Videos »

Syria The Making and Unmaking of a Refuge State
Syria The Making and Unmaking of a Refuge State
From Camel to Truck The Bedouin in the Modern World
From Camel to Truck The Bedouin in the Modern World
Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East
Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East
Deterritorialized Youth Sahrawi and Afghan Refugees at the Margins of the Middle East
Deterritorialized Youth Sahrawi and Afghan Refugees at the Margins of the Middle East

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  • What topics does Dawn Chatty speak about?

    Dawn Chatty is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Author, Culture, Geopolitics, Government, Immigration, Influential Women, Professors, Research & Exploration, Resilience, Women, World Affairs, Youth

  • Where does Dawn Chatty travel from?

    Dawn Chatty generally travels from Oxford, UK, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.

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Dawn Chatty is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Syria: The Making and Unmaking of a Refuge State and The Duty to be Generous. The estimated speaking fee range to book Dawn Chatty for your event is available upon request. Dawn Chatty generally travels from Oxford, UK and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Narges Bajoghli, Mariane Pearl, Sonia Nazario, Roya Hakakian and Ann Fradkin-Hayslip Ed.D.. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Dawn Chatty for an upcoming live or virtual event.

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