Craig Damian Smith

Biography

Craig Damian Smith is a Lecturer with the Master of Global Affairs program. He teaches the lab’s hallmark MGA course: “Global Migration Governance: State Sovereignty, Geopolitics, and Migrant Rights”. He is currently a Senior Research Associate at the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration at Ryerson University.

Craig earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on irregular migration, displacement, and refugee integration. His doctoral thesis “Malignant Europeanization: Schengen, Irregular Migration Governance, and Insecurity on Europe’s Peripheries” examines the effects of European migration governance on transit states. He has conducted several years of fieldwork throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Western Balkans, and Europe. His recently-completed SSHRC-funded research explains the emergence and transnationalization of irregular migration systems to Canada after 2016. His recently-awarded SSHRC project examines the impacts of access to legal counsel on refugee claimants in Canada. In addition to his scholarly work, he has provided media commentary on migration and refugee issues to major international media outlets, and is a frequent guest commentator on Canadian and American news television. He has appeared three times before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.