Every American is a descendant of either a Native American, and enslaved person, an immigrant, or a refugee. This book is devoted to the fourth category. The essays in this volume will study the concept of refuge as well as historical forced displacement and statelessness, trying to provide potential lasting solutions to the many problems associated with this situation. This volume is not only timely but expansive, as it moves from the pressing crisis of refugees to the crisis of humanity that seeks to find refuge.

From refugees to asylum seekers, from climate change to war, from historical uprootedness and displacement to today’s crisis of refugeeism, these topics are mobilizing humanities scholars to think about refugees with a new sense of urgency. This book demonstrates how interdisciplinary cultural approaches grounded in the humanities can transform refugee conversations so often dominated by political science, economics, and other disciplines. In doing so, the collection sets up far more inclusive refugee discussions and urges humanities thinkers to respond by taking the lead in the face of environmental and sociopolitical uncertainties.