Month: February 2018 (Page 4 of 4)

Attached here is a map in which I’ve attempted to create a decent picture of where refugees have settled throughout major countries in Europe since the start of the migrant crisis in 2015. This graphic aims to create a basic overview and concrete vision of how this phenomenon has unfolded in various places. Clicking on the pin of each country brings up a brief summary of the nation’s interactions with displaced persons.

I say “decent picture” due to the complicated nature of tracking numbers of refugees, who tend to move from country to country quickly, oftentimes without documentation; additional difficulty arises from the fact that certain data sets are from different years. All numbers are taken from the CIA World Factbook except where otherwise noted, and most come from 2016. Some countries with particularly interesting or outstanding situations, such as Malta and the Vatican, receive a special note.

A larger version of this map can be found at this link.

Last semester I was taking a class about teaching English as a second language, and it brought to the surface how much I loved the time I spent in Indonesia helping university students with their conversational English. I was so excited then to hear about the opportunity to take this COPLAC Digital class called Voices of Migration. To have the chance to take a whole class that will allow me to not only learn about people migrating to my home, but also get to talk directly to people that have made that decision and journey is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Interviewing a person for an assignment allows me to ask deeper and more personal questions and really learn what they are about.

A class like Voices of Migration gives me a chance to create something worthwhile. Many times in my classes I only write an essay analyzing a piece of literature that many people have not read, and therefore will only be read by myself and my professor. Though I believe that sort of writing has it’s place and purpose I am looking forward to creating something that I would truly want to share with friends and family. Most of all though I just hope that I can help somebody tell their own story whom might not have otherwise.

I am interested in this course first and foremost because I find the migration experience fascinating, both in its own right, and as it relates to me and my ancestral history.  Some questions regarding causes of migration that I hope to explore in this course include: How do migration causes compare in different regions of the globe? What are the most universally prominent push and pull factors that influence people to migrate? How have migration patterns changed throughout the past century, in terms of both driving forces and locations?

I also hope to explore questions about the cultural experiences and transformations that migrants undergo, including: How are migrants’ customs lost, retained, and integrated into local culture throughout and following migration?  What sorts of cultural traditions and concepts do migrants lose when they settle in a new country, and what do they keep? Why do they lose some and keep others? How do some traditions mix with local ones and contribute to cultural hybridity, such as the “melting pot” that has constituted America’s cultural origins?

As a whole, I am excited to gain insight into a variety of intriguing first-hand accounts of migration, to take a stab at my first online course, to make an interesting and enjoyable website that will appeal to a broad audience, and to see how my project, as well as my classmates’ projects, develop!

Throughout my studies and the distant places they take me, I always look down to find myself tangled in the roots of the south, in particular, the  southern identity; our cuisine, art, and institutions (things I have been largely oblivious to) have resonated with me very recently, and in order to enjoy what comforts we appreciate today, I have found it ever more important to follow these roots deep in to soil. In many cases, South Carolina’s sordid history is an inescapable attribute, and we owe recognition to those unjustly persecuted and abused so we may better understand the present and equip ourselves for the future. After I learned about the COPLAC program, this opportunity was alluring because it would allow me to explore these topics. Savannah and I want to investigate if the Savannah River Site effected migration during construction and how, if this follows, the region was impacted.

There is a lot of work ahead of us, but we already have three contacts we are planning on speaking with to get started.

I was immediately intrigued at the idea of participating in COPLACDigital Voices of Migration, as I’ve been quite interested in exploring the human impact of the Savannah River Site and its influence on migration patterns of my hometown and surrounding areas. Local demographics and identity in the deep south are subjects that have fascinated me throughout my academic career. As a sociology major, I’m deeply interested in conducting geographical analysis of social problems and in studying the forces that contribute to migration, such as industrialization, urbanization, political conflict, access to labor force participation, resource scarcity, etc. I believe that COPLACDigital Voices of Migration has provided an outlet and means to shed a humanizing light on the migrant community in and around my hometown of Aiken, South Carolina.

My interests in this project stem from a passion for the Spanish language and my past contact with members of migrant groups within my own communities. I grew up spending entire days at my Mexican neighbor’s house, four years of high school with students from various Latin American and Asian countries, and have volunteered as a Spanish interpreter at a medical clinic. I have heard the personal and family stories of members of various migrant groups. These stories have impacted the way I see the world and the policies that exists in my own country. I believe if more people are able to read the stories of those who have chosen to make the difficult decision to immigrate to a new country, there will be a change in attitude towards immigrants and comprehensive legislation regarding immigration within the United States. As an American citizen, I wish to give a louder voice to those who are not being heard, whether because they are afraid of the repercussions of exposing themselves, or the comfortable ignorance some Americans choose to live in.

Mis intereses en este proyecto provienen de una pasión por el idioma español y mi contacto con miembros de grupos migratorios dentro de mis propias comunidades. Crecí pasando días enteros en la casa de mi vecino mexicano, cuatro años de escuela secundaria con estudiantes de varios países latinoamericanos y asiáticos, y estaba una intérprete voluntaria para español en una clínica médica. He escuchado las historias personales y familiares de miembros de varios grupos migratorios. Estas historias han impactado en la forma en que veo el mundo y las políticas que existen en mi propio país. Creo que si más personas son capaces de leer las historias de aquellos que han elegido tomar la difícil decisión de inmigrar a un nuevo país, habrá un cambio en la actitud hacia los inmigrantes y la legislación general sobre la inmigración dentro de los Estados Unidos. Como ciudadana de los EEUU, deseo dar una voz más fuerte a aquellos que no están siendo escuchados, ya sea porque tienen miedo de las repercusiones de exponerse a sí mismos, o de la cómoda ignorancia que algunos en los EEUU eligen vivir.

On this blog, I’ll be keeping a personal track record of the research and interviews Megan and I conduct throughout the semester. Other sections of the site will have more of an academic/professional orientation; these posts, however, will take on a more personal tone.

I found out about the Voices course offering (and about COPLAC itself) through my faculty advisor, who is incidentally our dean of Interdisciplinary Studies. She recommended it to me after I told her about my summer job as a journalist, which at times touched on migrancy coverage; I had also worked the previous semester as an office assistant for the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Rome. Thinking it would serve as a good résumé builder, we began to fill out the forms.

However, my interest in and, more importantly, concern for issues of immigration and refugees extends to before these jobs. Months before I started with JRS, I had paid more and more attention to the growing migrant crisis. The plight of many throughout the world plucked at my heartstrings: What must it be like to suddenly have everything, your home, your daily life, your family, even at times your children, ripped away from you by the powers that be or forces above your control? These questions sound cliche, but the issue lodged in my heart, in my mind, and in my prayers.

The new administration brought a heightened awareness of this crisis. Announcements of President Trump’s executive orders on a border wall and refugee vetting came as I sat in the Newark airport on my way to Italy; shortly after landing, I contacted my representatives, and my opposition to the measures was shortly thereafter hardened as the US Catholic bishops roundly condemned the orders; Pope Francis had already famously made the refugee crisis and immigration themes of his pontificate, which for Americans came into particular light during his visit to Ciudad Juarez at the US-Mexico border.

With this, weeks of pondering the migrant crisis, a pondering which had seemingly arisen in me of a sudden from nowhere, came to a head with amateur political activism as I called and wrote my representatives from Rome and tracked progress both in the White House as well as Congress. My time with JRS brought me an opportunity, to some degree, to let this percolate into my everyday life; however, due to my limited hours, a multi-layered language barrier, and an office staff who were almost as new as I was, I did not receive an opportunity to interact personally with any of the many migrants whom JRS helps in Rome out of our offices by the Chiesa del Gesù. The following summer, the brief of immigration panels I provided was even done remotely.

The Voices course, then, came as an opportunity for a long-delayed change of perspective. Rather than continuing to simply sit in some sort of journalistic or bureaucratic ivory tower as this issue continued to bump into my life, this presented me a tangible possibility of interacting personally with groups of people who had chosen to leave their homeland. Kirksville has been a good home, and migrancy has woven itself in and out of my life over the past year. A course covering immigration would allow me to turn my attention from headlines on a screen to a human person in front of me, and furthermore allow me to provide new resources to the community that so generously welcomes us undergrads. Voices, then, personally fulfills its name: I finally get to hear the voices of those I’ve read so much about.

Hello everyone! I am sure most of you all have never even heard of me and that is okay! So, I am Cristal. The reason I chose to enter this course is because I wanted to explore more in depth the meaning of being an immigrant. My parents both immigrated here and thank goodness, mostly luck, they were able to obtain their residency status and later became US Citizens.

I know that most of us take our legal status for granted. That is okay. It is okay, and a relief, not to have to worry about whether you are allowed to live in this country or not. The reason most people do not think about that issue is because most do not understand the true burden that comes with being an immigrant. There are burdens that most did not ask for and society is demanding explanations. Some of these explanations include, “why are you here?”, “why don’t you go back if the US treats you so bad?”, “you are taking away our jobs” etc etc. The list is endless.

Now I do not blame people for not knowing the subject matter. I have studied the immigration statues and not even I, nor most immigration attorneys, know what exactly it says or much less means. You see, the immigration system is in the eye of the beholder. The system is made so broad that all is permitted in the name of the law. Now, I understand laws and regulations change overtime however, it seems that the immigration system is the only one that has remained static for the past one hundred years.

I will continuously update you all on what this course will bring. However, for today I am in the course to give the voiceless a voice, the deaf a way to listen, and the ignorant a way to be educated. The most important reason I entered this course is the latter. What family you were born into and the privilege that entails or denies you is completely out of your reach however, ignorance can and should be addressed. Ignorance or living in the state of ignorance is a choice that each person makes and in the issue of immigration; ignorance is the difference between having your father, mother, sister, brother with you or deported.