Welcome to Journeys
Journeys is an academic blog that explores the world through the eyes of a traveler and an explorer. This blog is a reflection of my personal experiences and my academic research in the field of anthropology. Here, I share reports from my travels, my academic blogs, albums of my photography, and diaries from my time as an explorer. Join me on my journey as I discover the world and share my stories with you. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in collaborating.
About Me.
I am an anthropologist, migration researcher, and postgraduate in migration studies. My work focuses on how extreme journeys change people. I am currently researching how journeys into space may change astronaut identities.
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I have worked on the US-Mexico border and in the UK with refugee and unhoused communities. Much of my work over the COVID-19 pandemic was done remotely with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh; Syrian, Iraqi, Afghani, Somali, Sudanese, and Palestinian refugees in Jordan; and Afghani, Mexican, and Honduran refugees in the United States.
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I am fascinated by the stories that take place on journeys. In academia and in public media, attention tends to focus on why migrants leave their original communities (willingly or unwillingly) and how well they adapt to the communities they settle into. While these are important considerations, my work centers on "the route" that migrants move along as a productive space. Identities, relationships, and world views are all fluid along the route, as they are influenced by rapidly changing encounters. Migration routes are made up of all kinds of different people pinging off of each other, and in the process, routes make people too. Because migration can span anywhere from weeks to generations, the liminal space of the route becomes an incredibly generative site.
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My questions of precarity, journeys, crises, and self-construction come from my own early experiences of being homeless, as well as nearly a decade of nomadic living.
Education
Current studies I DPhil in Migration Studies. University of Oxford.
2022 I MSc in Migration Studies. University of Oxford. Merit.
2021 I BA in Sociocultural Anthropology. University of California - San Diego. Summa Cum Laude.​
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Speaking
Royal Geographical Society EXPLORE Speaker
University of Oxford COMPAS Center
University of Oxford Anthropology Department
University of California - San Diego Undergraduate Research Council -- Keynote Speaker
Volunteer
Media Officer. Oxford University Exploration Club.
English Language Partner. Jesuit World Learning Center
Immigration Assistant. International Rescue Committee
Orientation Volunteer. Museum of Us (formerly Museum of Man)
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Michael Murphy
m.w.murphy2015@gmail.com
Professional Work
2023
Meraki Labs
Migration and Displacement Consultant
Create research-driven solutions for migration and displacement NGOs and International Organizations.
Mixed methodology in precarious locations, secure ethnographic work with at-risk populations.
2023
Scientific Exploration Society
Exploration Revealed
Magazine Editor
Curate exploration reports
Line editing
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Education
Current Studies
DPhil in Migration Studies
University of Oxford
My current research examines how astronaut identities and sense of belonging are transformed as they undertake extraterrestrial journeys. This is a first-of-its-kind ethnography, creating a bridge between terrestrial and extra-terrestrial migration theory while advancing scholarship of human migration beyond Earth's limits.
2022
MSc in Migration Studies
University of Oxford
My original research studied the process of identity reconstruction in displacement hub cities. Centered in Amman, Jordan, I conceptualized the migration route as a ritual of remaking, explored spontaneous instances of communitas, a redefined cosmopolitanism in displacement contexts.
Merit.
2021
BA in Sociocultural Anthropology
University of California - San Diego
Designed and undertook original research to study the personal and communal identity transformation of Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, and the methods of social media documentary that they employed to create self-representation and counter-narratives to common international discourse.
Summa Cum Laude.