International Studies Fairfield Migration Project
Jesuit Refugee Service-Fairfield Migration Project
Fairfield University believes migration is an important and timely topic of study for students of international studies today. Everyday, migrants attempt to cross the U.S. and other borders, creating a host of challenges, and benefits for the migrants, their home countries, and for the receiving countries.
At Fairfield, the study of migration takes on an interdisciplinary approach, with courses being taught from political, economic, sociological, and legal angles. Students are not only encouraged look at migration strictly in the context of each disciplinary, however, but to juxtapose migration policy to address its social justice implications. Additionally, as a Jesuit university, Fairfield is pleased to be able to link two of the four international Jesuit priorities of education and migration in partnerships with Latin American institutions. Such a partnership brings our Jesuit mission directly into Fairfield's research and classroom experiences.
The Jesuit Refugee Service
The Jesuit Refugee Service is an international Catholic organisation, at work in over 40 countries, with a mission is to accompany, serve and defend the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced people. The mission given to JRS embraces all who are driven from their homes by conflict, humanitarian disaster or violation of human rights, following Catholic social teaching which applies the expression 'de facto refugee' to many related categories of people.
JRS undertakes services at national and regional levels with the support of an international office in Rome. With a priority to working wherever the needs of displaced people are urgent and unattended by others, JRS offers a human and pastoral service to refugees and the communities who host them through a wide range of rehabilitation and relief activities. Services - including programs of pastoral care, education for children and adults, social services and counselling, and health care - are tailored to meet local needs according to available resources. http://www.jesref.org/
Experiential Learning
Fairfield offers a variety of experiential learning options for students. Such opportunities allow students to apply what they've learned in the classroom to real world situations, promoting a greater understanding of the issue at hand.
Options include:
- Volunteering at the International Institute, a non-for-profit agency working with refugees and asylum seekers from around the globe. Volunteers are needed to tutoring and translation work. http://electronicvalley.org/ii/
- Internships with the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) at their headquarters in Washington, DC
Fairfield Courses on Migration
EN 284 Writers of the Asian Diaspora
This course examines the phenomenon of the explosion of Asian fiction/cinema in the west, particularly in the U.S., in an effort to understand the concepts of diaspora, colonial histories, border identities, and cultural and ethnic representations. We read novels, see films, and view art works that deal with the interpellation, for example, of contemporary Indian, Pakistani, Chinese, Japanese, Bangladeshi, Vietnamese, and Sri Lankan writers/artists into western culture to analyze the burdens of traditions and the arbitrariness of modernity.
HI 342 Immigration, Ethnicity, and Race in U.S. History
This course in an intensive reading, writing, and discussion seminar on the history of U.S. immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries. Arranged thematically rather than chronologically, situates the U.S. within the context of global migration patterns and economic development. Investigates patterns of migration and community settlement, family strategies of survival and adaptation, and immigrant cultures. Analyzes how successive groups of immigrants were received by U.S. society by examining the origins and effects of recurrent waves of racism and nativism, as well as ethnic and class antagonism that pervade American history.
IL 295 Seminar - International Migration
This course is an introductory seminar primarily for juniors and seniors. It examines the issues arising from the migration of peoples across national boundaries whether they are seeking economic opportunity, family reunification, or safety from political persecution or natural disaster. The causes of migration are multifaceted. The course will take an interdisciplinary approach to describe and analyze international migration. While migration is a universal phenomenon, when examining particular migration flows we will draw our cases primarily from migration in the Western Hemisphere from WWII to the present.
PO 151 Politics of the Immigrant: The Irish Catholic and the East European Jewish Communities
This course explores how two immigrant groups, the Irish and the Jews, adapted politically in the United States. The Irish mobilized locally and were, until late in the 20th century, a major force in big city politics, while the Jews largely eschewed local politics and concentrated their efforts on national politics. An examination of the two groups has a great deal to teach us about ethnicity and political mobilization in the United States.
SO 184 Population: Birth, Death and Migration
Demography is the study of population. The causes and consequences of population change are studied in detail. Global population problems are those faced by the United States are addressed. Real demographic data is analyzed in a "hands-on" fashion during weekly demographic techniques sessions.
Useful Links on Migration
Forced Migration Review
www.fmreview.org
Tufts Feinstein Center
famine.tufts.edu
Georgetown University Institute for the Study of International Migration
www.georgetown.edu/sfs/programs/isim
www.forcedmigration.org
University of Texas
lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/immigration/
Jesuit Refugee Service
www.jesref.org
United Nations High Commission for Refugees
www.unhcr.ch
Central America Political Asylum Project
www.refugees.org
Inter-University Committee on International Migration
web.mit.edu/cis/www/migration
International Organization for Migration
www.iom.int
Migration Dialogue
migration.ucdavis.edu
Migration Review Tribunal
www.mrt.gov.au/
Migration Policy Institute
www.migrationpolicy.org
Southern African Migration Project
www.queensu.ca/samp/
Information on Nicaragua
lanic.utexas.edu/la/ca/nicaragua/
Information on El Salvador
lanic.utexas.edu/la/ca/salvador/
Information on Guatemala
lanic.utexas.edu/la/ca/guatemala/
North American Congress on Latin America
www.nacla.org
University of Houston Center for Immigration Research
www.uh.edu/cir/
U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform
www.utexas.edu/lbj/uscir/binational.html
U.S. State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
www.state.gov/g/prm/
European Commission
europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/intro/fsj_intro_en.htm
ASEAN Immigration Department
www.aseansec.org/4966.htm
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