Silvia Almenara Niebla

Silvia Almenara Niebla is a media anthropologist specializing in the intersections between emotions, borders and everyday media practices. Her research focuses on media practices among diasporas, refugees, borderlanders, and activists, with important contributions to the understanding of migration through digital and visual methodologies.

Her PhD research on gendered digital media practices in the Sahrawi case covered Algeria, Spain, and Mauritania. Within the Reel Borders project, as a postdoctoral researcher, Silvia has also explored emotional border experiences through visual methods, in particular film elicitation, at European and non-European borders. With extensive fieldwork experience in Algeria, Mauritania, Northern Ireland, Spain and Turkey, Silvia's experiences has also been enriched with different research stays at institutions such as Al Aasriya University in Nouakchott, Utrecht University, University of Oxford, Queen's University Belfast, University of Granada and University of Çukurova. Her academic achievements include awards such as the Extraordinary PhD Award from the University of La Laguna (2020) and the Best Paper Award by Emerging Researcher at the Fortress Europe Conference (Brussels, 2019).

Silvia has also been invited on different occasions to provide consultancy to policy-makers on issues related to the Sahrawi conflict and gender-sensitive migration. She has also participated as a migration expert in Euronews.

Research expertise: borders, migration, diasporas, media practices, gender, emotions

Research methodology: qualitative methods, multisited ethnography, digital ethnography, video-elicitation, interviews

For more information on publications, research projects, and other activities, click here.