Laura Ogden

Laura Ogden is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Maatschappijwetenschap at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University. Her research focuses on transnational mobility, education, and kinship, particularly among migrant youth between West Africa and Europe. She specializes in multimodal and audiovisual ethnography, conducting multi-sited and participatory fieldwork.

• PhD, Maastricht University
• MA in Cultural Anthropology and Visual Ethnography, Leiden University (2016)
• BA in Sociology, Spanish and Latin American Studies, Cross-Disciplinary Art and Design

Her research interests include transnational migration, youth mobility, educational trajectories, transnational kinship (especially sibling relationships), digital media in mobility, and global citizenship education. She employs innovative ethnographic methods, including visual and participatory approaches, to study the lived experiences of migrant youth. Her work emphasizes the role of social capital, cultural capital, and digital connectivity in shaping transnational lives.

Her recent publications explore transnational sibling relationships, school transitions of Ghanaian youth in Germany, digital mediation of mobility, and transnational cultural capital. These works reflect a strong interdisciplinary trend across anthropology, migration studies, education, and sociology, with a focus on qualitative, ethnographic methodologies.

• Fonds Dr. Catharine van Tussenbroek grant for research on transnational sibling relationships
• Child Rights Research Fund grant for a co-research project with migrant youth in Hamburg

Laura Ogden mentors and collaborates with young researchers, particularly in participatory projects involving migrant youth as co-researchers. She has worked on international development projects in Timor-Leste and in the public arts sector in Melbourne. She is actively involved in pedagogical innovation, including global citizenship education initiatives at Maastricht University, and contributes to public discourse through media outlets like The Conversation and podcasts.