The Influence of Social Media on the Integration and the Inclusion of Newcomers in Host Societies

Presentation by Nadia Naffi

Free lunch will be provided to all participants. While the presentation will be given in English, the discussion will be in English and French. Kindly confirm your presence by email: cipe.cepi@concordia.ca

Abstract of Presentation:

As Syrians were seeking asylum in host countries, online transnational conversations sparked debates between people who wished to accept them and people who rejected them. The unfortunate terror attacks in Europe had ramifications on the resettlement of Syrian refugees across the world, which were largely caused by the outreach of online conversations. The Internet in general and social media in particular facilitated the dissemination of racism and of intolerance. Research on youth and social media claim that youth are influenced by the plethora of messages shared online. They are viewed as victims whose thoughts and behaviours are easily triggered and manipulated by exterior online forces. Through her research, Nadia Naffi argues that host society youth need to be considered as agents of change and key players in the integration and the inclusion of Syrian refugees. Her overarching objective is to develop a thorough understanding of the influence of online content on the integration and the inclusion of newcomers in host societies in order to better prepare host society youth to play their role of agents of change.    

Biography of Speaker:

Nadia Naffi is a PhD candidate in education (with a focus on educational technology) at Concordia University in Montreal and one of its Public Scholars for the 2017/2018 academic year. Her SSHRC funded research focuses on online transnational interactions about the Syrian refugee crisis after terror attacks, how Canadian youth construe them and predict their role in the offline integration and inclusion of Syrian refugees in Canada. Her study constitutes a first step towards the development of recommendations that aim to inform policy makers and help governmental and non-governmental representatives, social workers and key leaders and players in educational settings to better intervene and create learning and training programs that focus on facilitating the inclusion and the integration of newcomers, such as the Syrian refugees, in a context where the potential presence of these newcomers is construed through social media.

She is also a part-time teaching faculty at University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), a performance consultant, an instructional designer and a consultant in the development of online courses, with over twenty years of experience working in educational settings. She specializes in the design of synchronous and asynchronous training and interactive learning in a problem-based learning approach.

• Email address: nadianaffi@gmail.com
• Twitter: @NadiaNaffi
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadianaffi