In October of 2018, I participated in a course, “Migrants and Refugees in the 21st Century: Children in and out of schools” directed by Marcelo Suárez-Orozco. I was one of 25 scholars invited from around the world to come together to co-construct collective knowledge about one of the most pressing global issues of our time: the forced displacement of 68.5 million people worldwide and the implications for children in the 21st century. During our time in Erice, we grappled w/the macro & micro complexities of this crisis via interdisciplinary perspectives (e.g., social work, law, anthropology, education, government, medicine), and I walked away with a renewed sense of urgency to work locally with colleagues, community partners, schools, and teachers to address the question: What does it take to change negative perceptions of immigrant and immigration in the United States?
In December 2018, I received a Network for Global Civic Engagement grant, which is supporting our Summer 2019 GLOBE project with RDC youth and interns – Stories of Perceptions, Connections, and Transformations: Building Global Awareness through Intercultural Communication. In this project, we will explore the essential question above through arts-based inquiry and storytelling. I believe, through my own experience and witnessing others’ experiences, that transformation happens when we engage in the process of building relationships. This requires a willingness to not know, the ability to really listen, and a shedding of the armor around our hearts.
In Erice, we exchanged seeds of knowledge, compassion, and commitment. Now I am taking those seeds that were so graciously shared with me and carefully planting them through my work as a scholar, a community member, and a teacher. Growth happens one seed at a time.
