From to 90s until the present, Arabic literature in the Mediterranean region have displayed a common theme of forced migration among many works of fiction. Forced migration is the involuntary movement of a certain group of people because of environmental, political, or societal causes. These could include (but are not limited to) natural disasters, coercion, discrimination, threats from other groups, etc. This type of literature focuses specifically on the perspective of refugees and those who have been displaced. The main idea of this theme is that these people, either real or fictional, did not have a choice in their forced movement. Many books also display themes related to the idea of belonging somewhere, the concept of borders, and non-realist narratives to name a few. Because many countries in the Mediterranean region have literature with the same themes, many questions about refugees, and they are grouped into various categories when studied by scholars. The earliest example of this kind of book discussed at Professor Sellman’s presentation was Bird of the East written in 1938. This book touched upon the idea of a disillusioned Western civilization and the differences between the East and West hemispheres of the world. Dr. Sellman also brought up the idea of seasons of migration and how that affects the different literary works. Seasons correspond with the idea of something happening to someone that is outside of their control, much like the weather or the forced migration represented in Arabic books. Many writers who do not display migration stories from experience romanticize this idea to connect to their readers. They create their art from alienation, and these works must be treated as art when analyzed by scholars and those involved in research on this topic. The danger of not taking this approach is that someone will think that because they read one book from the viewpoint of a refugee experiencing forced migration, they will think they have read all books that fit into this category. They then place all refugees’ stories into one category without experiencing the diversity in this described set of works of art. This makes them resistance to the wide variety of works present. Dr. Sellman talked about four different approaches she took while doing research on this topic: responding to media narratives on refugees, critical border and citizenship studies, intertextuality, and defamiliarization. Overall, Dr. Sellman made some very good points on analyzing this specific set of literature while explaining her thought process and research priorities. With the conflicts that occur on a daily basis in this area, migration is seen as a “crisis” and keeps us involved the present actions happening in the world around us, even if we are not there to witness it. Many aspects of these books relate to those before it from the same regions and display similar symbolism and perspectives while also adapting to modern day occurrences and slightly changing perspectives. In summary, she explained the importance of the methods used to analyze literature while also keeping the cultural contexts in mind.