معرفی
Melissa Gatter is an Assistant Professor in Anthropology and International Development at the University of Sussex's School of Global Studies. She joined the university in 2022 after serving as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Sheffield's Institute for Global Sustainable Development (2021-2022). Her academic journey includes a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Cambridge (2020), an MPhil in Middle Eastern Studies from Cambridge, and a BA in International Studies, Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, and Human Rights from the University of Chicago.
Dr. Gatter's research centers on the anthropology of forced migration, development, and time, with particular focus on the intersection of time, space, and aid in refugee camps and spaces of displacement in Jordan and the United States. Her acclaimed book Time and Power in Azraq Refugee Camp: A Nine-to-Five Emergency (American University in Cairo Press, 2023) won the 2023 Alixa Naff Prize in Migration Studies. Currently, she is researching the emerging situation for asylum seekers in shelters and camps in New York City and Chicago, funded by a British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant.
Her scholarly work spans themes of carcerality and borders, digital surveillance, humanitarian governance, and refugee resistance. Dr. Gatter has published in prestigious journals including Ethnos, Territory Politics and Governance, Refugee Review, and Contemporary Levant, with her 2025 article 'Resilience for Whom? Resiliency Humanitarianism and Everyday Resistance in a Carceral Camp' representing her most recent contribution.
- 2023 Alixa Naff Prize in Migration Studies
- 2022-23 Winner, Learning Together Award
- 2023-24 Nominee, Teaching to Disrupt Award
- 2024-25 Nominee, Innovation and Research Culture Award
As a supervisor, Dr. Gatter currently advises PhD student Aris Dougas Chavarria researching migrant deaths at sea. She teaches courses including Gender and Development, Feminist Approaches to Global Development, and International Development Thesis. Beyond academia, she has extensive practical experience having worked with Save the Children, CARE, and Plan International in Jordan's refugee camps, and consulted for Frontline Aids and the Euromed Feminist Initiative on programs for displaced women across the Middle East.
