Professor Bridget Anderson appointed Director of the Migrant Futures Institute
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A leading immigration and citizenship expert has been appointed as the inaugural Director of the Migrant Futures Institute (MFI) which is housed at Goldsmiths.
Professor Bridget Anderson, inaugural Director of the Migrant Futures Institute
Professor Bridget Anderson will lead the MFI, which is our groundbreaking centre focused on advancing migration research and dedicated to addressing the challenges faced by migrants through research, partnerships and engagement with migrant communities locally, nationally and internationally.
Professor Anderson joins Goldsmiths from the University of Bristol, where she is Professor of Migration, Mobilities and Citizenship and Director of Migration Mobilities Bristol (MMB).
She will take up her post at Goldsmiths in July 2026. Established with a transformational £11.2 million grant from Oak Foundation to create the Institute, the MFI advances research, learning and public engagement on migration through the arts, humanities and social sciences.
Professor Anderson said: “It is a real privilege and responsibility to have the opportunity to serve as Director of the Migrant Futures Institute. A better life for migrants must be a better life for everyone.
“By bringing people with lived experiences of migration together with rigorous scholarship and the radical potential of the arts and humanities we can explore new possibilities for justice and collective life. I am honoured to lead this initiative and contribute to Goldsmiths’ legacy of radical thought and public engagement.”
Professor Anderson pointed to recent immigration raids in Goldsmiths’ home borough of Lewisham as examples of increasing divisions in society which the MFI will address.
She said: “The recent, widely-publicised immigration raids in Lewisham highlight that those targeted for enforcement are often low‑waged workers in precarious employment. These raids devastate individual lives and do nothing to create secure, decent jobs for British workers.
At a time when division is so easily fuelled, we must instead focus on bringing our communities together – long‑term residents and new arrivals alike – to build a fairer and more just society for everyone. Meeting this challenge demands new thinking, creativity and organising, and the Migrant Futures Institute is committed to playing a full and active role in shaping that future.
Professor Bridget Anderson, inaugural Director of the Migrant Futures Institute
Professor David Oswell, Vice-Chancellor (Interim) of Goldsmiths, said: “The Migrant Futures Institute has been established to build on Goldsmiths’ creative energies to provide vital and constructive engagement with one of the most important issues of our time.
“We are delighted to appoint Professor Anderson who brings a wealth of experience and who will be a powerful amplifier of voices that are so often ignored.”
The MFI brings together creative inquiry, civic engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration to reshape discourse and practice on migration.
Working with partners in London, across the UK and internationally, the Institute integrates arts and creative practice with research, amplifies diverse voices in communities of welcome, and provides a dynamic space for critical inquiry, collaboration and public programmes that envision futures marked by hope, resilience and dignity. Anderson’s appointment comes at a time when Goldsmiths seeks to apply for University of Sanctuary status.