Photo courtesy of John Yao
College Hosted International Human Science Research Conference
(L-R: Sitting): Annel Zamarrón, UTPA student Briana Hinojosa, UTPA student Agustin Ramos, Jean Semelfort, John Yao, UTPA student Stephanie Castellanos. (L-R: Standing): UTPA student Marcelina Pena, Ana Villarrutia, Ian Miller, Rachel Berry, Jamie Charniger, John-Robert Iruegas, and UTPA students Isabel Ramirez and Andrea Charkow, and Tatia Haywood and UTPA House on the Hill Head Start program in Goshen, NY. Emily Abbey, professor of Psychology
There are an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. As the number grows, so does discussion of their impact on the country’s resources. In a dual alternative spring break program organized by Ramapo College and the University of Texas-Pan American (Edinburg, Texas), students from both institutions examined the impact of undocumented immigration on the United States from a variety of outlooks.
Titled the Border Exchange Project, the project focused on recent immigrants in Texas, residents of Reynosa, Mexico and recent immigrants from the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. Ian Miller, an International Studies major who graduated in May, served as Ramapo’s student trip leader. With John Yao, a service learning coordinator in the Cahill Center who designed, planned and coordinated the project with the University of Texas-Pan American, Miller helped organize the itinerary and screened trip applicants.
Photo courtesy of John Yao
Ramapo College hosted the 2008 International Human Science Research Conference June 11 through June 14. The conference is the premier venue for scholars seeking to establish a rigorous paradigm for conducting empirical qualitative research in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Dr. Emily Abbey and Dr. James Morley, professors of psychology, organized the event. The conference attracted an international roster of academic researchers. Paper sessions and special sessions explored a diversity of human expressions including mental and physical health, culture, nursing and education. The theme for this year’s conference was “Imagination in the Human Sciences,” interdisciplinary and inclusive of several disciplines and professions. The scholarly community of human scientists has been meeting for almost 30 years and has developed into an ongoing international multi-disciplinary research community that convenes annually.
The Border Exchange Project
James Morley, professor of Psychology
At the Village of Arts and Humanities in Philadelphia, an inner-city neighborhood revitalization project, UTPA students (from left clockwise) Marcelina Pena, Agustin Ramos, JohnRobert Iruegas, Isabel Ramirez and Andrea Charkow spent an afternoon helping repair one of the facility’s mosaic stairwells.
On the first leg of the trip, from March 9 through 15, the University of Texas-Pan American hosted 11 Ramapo College students. They were accompanied by Dr. Charles Carreras, a professor of History and Latin American Studies who recently retired and returned as an adjunct this semester. Ramapo College students painted the exterior of a local church and beautified a park in Reynosa. They also restored a clothing storage room and food pantry for the Ozanam Center, a homeless shelter in Brownsville, Texas.
The second part of the exchange, from May 11 through 16, Ramapo College hosted their Texas counterparts to examine immigration issues in the New York metropolitan area. Participants worked at House on the Hill, a Head Start program for children of migrant farm workers overseen by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. They also volunteered with Grupo Cajolá, an agency in Morristown that helps recent immigrants from Guatemala learn English and use the Internet. In addition, students painted two apartments for the International Rescue Committee, which provides transition services for refugees.
The trip to Texas was the third alternative spring break trip Miller has participated in. He’s been interested in immigration policies and issues since high school and said he has had a willingness to understand other cultures. “I have an American perspective,” said Miller. “It’s important to see the other side of how United States’ policy affects immigrants.” Miller, who has been accepted to the University of Nottingham in England to pursue a master’s in diplomacy, said he was particularly moved by the appreciation from those who received help from Ramapo students. Ramapo magazine
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