NYU Gallatin Global Fellowship in Human Rights Blog

2017 Fellows

Language, Literature, and Human Rights

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Grace Larkin
English PEN
London, England

I’m a sophomore in Gallatin concentrating in Literature and Journalism of Human Rights. I’m very grateful to be a 2017 Gallatin Human Rights Fellow. I’ll be working in London with English PEN, part of PEN International, which has centers in over 100 countries. PEN works at the intersection of literature and human rights.

With my fellowship, I’m looking to understand how various types of literature and writing can promote social change. A big part of this is focusing on how censorship and restrictive governments can threaten writers and the right to free speech. This can include issues with technology, like surveillance and restriction of online information or access to the internet. However, it also includes examining traditional barriers to free speech like censorship and restriction of press, expression, and thought.

There are so many cases of imprisoned or exiled writers around the world whose cases are often ignored or forgotten. For example, I imagine much of my work at PEN will deal with Turkey. Over 150 journalists and writers are now detained in Turkey, making it the world’s biggest jailer of journalists. Since the attempted coup in 2016, academics, writers, activists, artists and contributors to independent media have been targeted and arrested on illegitimate charges.

Of course, I will also work on cases from other countries, as there is a wide range of violations against freedom of expression. In the UK, the British government’s Prevent program (part of a counter-terrorism strategy) has placed a demand on universities to police students and speakers, which has contributed to a censorious culture. In February 2014, Saudi Arabia passed a new anti-terrorism law, using a vague definition of terrorism to crack down on free speech. Eritrea, Bahrain, Iran and Egypt will also be among the countries of focus.

I’m especially interested to understand the various ways that PEN works to defend human rights. They have campaigns for legal reforms and government action at the highest level, as well as small vigils and letter writing events for writers in prison. They seek to provide visibility for writers through awards, readings, translation, campaigns, and other work. They also have a literature outreach program that runs workshops with refugees and asylum seekers, young people, and prisoners across the UK and then publishes their writing.  I’m eager to see what level of human rights work I will be primarily interested in.

An update from London coming soon. Thank you for reading!

A Nepalese Namaste: Arrival in Kathmandu, Nepal, and contemplation over refugee identity

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Mehreen Arif
FSB Nepal and HealthRight International
Kathmandu, Nepal

The transformative power of travel never ceases to amaze me and I continually express my gratitude to the NYU Gallatin Fellowship in Human Rights for providing me with the platform to further my passion to be a global citizen advocating for refugee and migrant health . This is my second blog post for the site but my first blog in a country of rich history, expansive Himalayan landscapes and inviting people: Nepal. Upon arriving  in the capital and the bustling metropolis that is Kathmandu city, I was greeted by bright sunny skies and a whiff of dust that I thought was due to some construction going on at the Tribhuvan airport. However, during my ride to the hotel I realized that most of Kathmandu was engulfed in clouds of dust owing to the construction and rehabilitation projects going on due to the 2015 earthquake.

large veranda
View from the Green Hotel veranda, which will be my residence for the next two months.

My residence Green Hotel is a four-minute walk to FSB clinic, which is extremely convenient. However, the main road to the clinic is very underdeveloped, and the government plans on expanding it by demolishing many buildings on either side that have flourished as businesses including FSB clinic that provides much needed healthcare services to the community of Jorpati and Boudha.

view of clinic from the street
FSB clinic entrance through the alleyway (<https://www.facebook.com/fsbnepal).

My first day at the clinic was the first day that I arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday, May 24, 2017. I was graciously welcomed by the Executive Director of FSB Mr. Sanjaya Singh Basnyat and the entire staff. I was shown around the clinic, which is a 4 story building that provides vaccinations, maternal and antenatal child care, family planning services, primary care physician consultations, blood workups, X-ray and EKG services and medicines to the local community (mainly Nepalese ethnic minorities and Tibetan refugees).

the author and Basnyat greeting each other with bows
Being welcomed by Mr. Sanjaya Basnyat (Executive Director of FSB) along with other staff members.
author greeted by a woman touching her head
Ms. Ishwori Shah (Finance and Admin chief) welcoming me with a Tikka blessing ceremony.

The Jorpati and Boudha area is of significant importance to Buddhists (mainly Tibetan refugees) due to the presence of the great Boudhanath Stupa. Due to the great location of Green Hotel the Boudhanath is also a four-minute walk but in the opposite direction from FSB clinic.

temple rooftop with colorful streamers
UNESCO World Heritage site : the Boudhanath Temple/Stupa.
people walking around colorful buildings
Entrance to the Boudhanath Stupa.

After the clinic hours (9am to 3pm), I venture out to Boudhanath to take in the essence of spirituality, to observe Buddhists monks and Tibetan Llamas perform prayers and incantations due to the holy month of Saka Dawa (honoring the Buddha’s life), and just blend in the atmosphere like a local (which isn’t really that hard because I have been told I “do not look American” and that I look Nepalese… up until I speak English that is). Fun fact: they charge a fee for foreigners at the Stupa but I have yet to be asked to pay up because I usually just walk right in with my back pack and my surgical mask (which is imperative to wear when outside because of the dust) and give a confident nod to any security guard present. Overall, I am getting by just fine because everyone here understands Urdu/Hindi with ease and even if I don’t speak Nepalese, speaking the other two languages has certainly bridged any communication gaps with everyone that I interact with.

I go to the clinic from Monday to Sunday (with Saturdays being the day off). The whole FSB staff has made me feel so at home at the clinic and I am so happy I chose FSB and HealthRight International for my Gallatin Human Rights fellowship. The only disconcerting issue is that I am waiting for research approval from the Nepalese research council and the NYU IRB board, after which I can formally start my research. Until then I am preparing everything for the project, helping around the clinic and volunteering as much as I can.

Just yesterday Ms. Rinchen Paldon (a former nurse at FSB and my Tibetan interpreter for the project) and I went over the whole interview script in English and Tibetan.

Rinchen standing in courtyard near souvenirs
Ms. Rinchen kindly offered to be my guide for my day off and took me to the Swayumbunath Stupa, another revered site for Buddhists and Tibetans.

Ms. Rinchen was born in Tibet and left the country when she was very young to be with her aunt and uncle in Kathmandu. Her parents sent her here in order to have a better life but Ms. Rinchen has never been able to meet her parents and her whole family who are still in Tibet ever since she came to Nepal at the age of 8. She is a Tibetan refugee herself and finished her nursing education in India. My conversations with Ms. Rinchen certainly made me cognizant of the immense dearth of mental health services for Tibetans in Nepal.

Moreover, it is extremely hard for Tibetans in Nepal to secure jobs due to the lack of identity documentation and their refugee status.

This all makes one think: what really constitutes identity discourse? We can identify ourselves in many ways but the truth of the matter is that our identity is documented by what passport we have or what country’s residency we obtain or whatever piece of paper we possess that states which country we essentially belong to—or rather, don’t belong to.

This is my parting thought of the day with which I leave you with. I hope to gain more clarity during my frequent rumination on refugee/migrant identity, mental health and human rights through the course of my time in Nepal. I will be writing again soon, hopefully after securing research approval!

Arrival in Thessaloniki & Refugee Rights

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Michael Leonetti
Elpída Home for Refugees
Thessaloniki, Greece

Hi! Thanks for coming back for part two of this blog. Today was my first full day in Thessaloniki, and I tried to cover as much ground as possible on foot to get familiar with the city.  Some photos of what I found are at the bottom.

I’m writing this in a small vegan restaurant (e.g., soy “beef” gyros) on Balanou Street. Before my first day at Elpída, I’d like to try to answer two fundamental questions that come up in conversations about refugee issues:

  • What makes someone a refugee?
  • What rights do refugees have?

First, a refugee is someone who is forced to leave her country of origin and who is unable to return due to a well-founded fear of persecution or other harm to life and liberty. This persecution is inflicted on a person as a consequence of one or more of the following: religion, nationality, race, political opinion, or particular social group. As mentioned, a person must be outside of her country of origin to be considered a refugee; if she is displaced but remains within her nation, she is referred to as an internally displaced person or IDP.

One point about the “refugee” label is especially important to remember: refugee status is declaratory, not determinative; giving someone the label of “refugee” does not make her a refugee but rather recognizes that she is one and has been from the moment she crossed her nation’s border regardless of documentation or asylum status.

To answer the second question, I’ll break down the rights of refugees into three categories: the relevant rights of all persons, the rights of asylum seekers during migration, and the rights of refugees when settled in a host country.

First, the International Bill of Human Rights (collective name for the Universal Declaration of 1948, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights of 1966, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966) grants all of us several human rights related to nationality and migration. We have the rights to leave our country and seek asylum elsewhere, to have a nationality, and to not be arbitrarily deported by one’s own nation or a host. These basic rights are complemented by international refugee law.

The second and third categories of rights come mostly from the 1951 Refugee Covenant and its 1977 Protocol. Most of the rights of asylum seekers during migration are more accurately described as restrictions on governments. For example, governments cannot send a person back to their country of origin before processing their claim to asylum. This “refoulment” is prohibited, as is sending a person to a third party country that can be expected to send them back to their country of origin. A recent example of refoulment is the effort by EU and Libyan coast guards to apprehend and push back migrant boats at sea. In sum, people have a right to apply for asylum (e.g., refugee status) and have that application processed.

Finally, refugees have extensive rights in the host country. The 1951 Convention grants property rights; economic, social, and cultural rights; and rights concerning access to social security, welfare, and education. Refugees also are protected from torture and other government cruelty. Simply put, refugees enjoy the same rights as citizens of the host country and are obligated to follow the local laws. Host governments hold primarily responsibility for making sure that refugees in their territory enjoy their human rights. This means taking steps to help refugees overcome barriers such as financial instability, language and illiteracy, lack of transportation, and so on.

Since this is a short blog post, these are simple answers. Find more perspectives and an article about shipwrecks (and who’s responsible) here:

http://www.ijrcenter.org/refugee-law/

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/05/responsible-deadly-refugee-journeys-170522080533683.html

Being familiar with these rights is important not only because the world refugee population is on the rise, but also because nations continue to take steps to shirk their responsibilities. Recently, there have been moves around the EU to classify refugees as “economic migrants” and “irregular immigrants,” two labels that deliberately omit the word “refugee.” If people are labeled as such, they would not have the protections to which refugees are entitled. The motivations behind this are understandable. The responsibilities that a refugee crisis places on host countries create a considerable and unevenly distributed burden, but it is nothing compared to the weight of inaction during a humanitarian crisis.

Thanks for reading! I look forward to writing more after I get started at Elpída. tall buildings in the distance Building with graffiti white buildings with french architecture

Healthy Living for All: Medicine, Public Health, and Community Development in Rwanda

by

Naa-Djama Attoh Okine
Health Development Initiative 
Kigali, Rwanda

I am a rising junior at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study designing a concentration around the intersection of health, history, and human rights in a sub-Saharan African context. Additionally, I am participating in the accelerated BA/MPH program to receive a master’s in public health with a concentration in epidemiology through the College of Global Public Health. I am both deeply humbled and immensely grateful to have been named a 2017 Human Rights Fellow, as my passion to uphold the right to health for marginalized populations falls directly in line with the goals of the program. 

This summer, I will spend approximately two and a half months in Kigali, Rwanda, to serve as an advocacy and policy intern at Health Development Initiative . As a member of the A&P department, I will assist a collective of physicians, community health workers and human rights activists with a series of projects, including the following:

  1. Advocating for Women’s Rights to Safe Abortions
  2. Organizing youth education programs centered around sexual and reproductive rights
  3. Working with members of Parliament, human rights activists, and sex workers in an effort to decriminalize sex work

Additionally, I will work alongside the Center for Health and Rights to conduct a research project discussing the effects of the criminalization of sex work on the migration patterns, social gains, health, and stigmatization of female sex workers  in Rwanda. 

This summer, I hope to reconcile with the following inquiries:

  1. How does the criminalization of sex work impact the health of sex workers, their clients, and their families?
  2. How does a human rights organization address sensitive topics such as sex work or LGBTQ rights that come into conflict with certain cultural beliefs?

I cannot tell which emotion is more all-consuming at the moment: excitement, fear, anxiety, or a twisted combination of all three. I selected Rwanda as a fellowship destination due its tumultuous past, the sheer mass of its growth, and the bright prospects of its future. The republic survived one of the most violent genocides of recent history, rebuilt a majority of its cities, and stands as one of the few developing nations to install a successful universal health care policy, all in a time frame of two decades. I hope that by working under a health-based NGO in Rwanda, I will be able to analyze the practices that made its recovery possible and to apply them accordingly. 

Climate Change, Human Rights & Food Security in East Africa

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Victoria B. Berg
World Food Programme, East Africa Regional Bureau
Nairobi, Kenya

Hello All,

My name is Victoria Berg and I am a second-year masters student in the Gallatin School concentrating in “Climate Change and Human Rights.” I have some experience in human rights outside of this fellowship and university, as I sit on the Steering Committee for UNICEF’s Next Generation at UNICEF USA.  This position has made me an advocate for the rights of children worldwide.  I would like to expand on these skills and experiences in order to advocate for the right to food security for all people.

I was also an intern at the Inter-Agency Standing Committee at the Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs at the United Nations this past semester.  This position gave me valuable insight into how policy is created and implemented and how it shifts with feedback from programs in the field.

I look forward to increasing my ability to enact change this summer, when I will complete my fellowship at the World Food Programme (WFP), the food aid arm of the United Nations. Since its inception in 1961, the WFP has been working towards its vision of a world in which “every man, woman and child has access at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life.”

I will be in Nairobi, Kenya, at the WFP’s Regional Bureau for East and Central Africa.  My position is in the Vulnerability Assessment and Mapping unit, which provides “actionable food security information by combining traditional assessment methods with advanced and emerging technologies, to identify food insecure populations and to establish the underlying causes of food insecurity.”

Through my time at the WFP, I wish to acquire knowledge of how to create a call for reparations for climate change, using food security as a human rights issue. I feel as though this is a very timely project, as the “Four Famines” is currently causing death, suffering, displacement, and sorrow in Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia.  The UN has declared it the “largest humanitarian crisis since 1945” and estimates that 20 million people are at risk of starvation.

the author giving a presentation
Talking about UNICEF and UN programs

Climate change is a much discussed topic, but I personally feel as though it is often an after-thought.  People and agencies tend to address a situation and then state that climate change is making said situation or problem worse without addressing climate change as the issue.

For me, what it ultimately comes down to is the international community’s accountability to the affected people.  What are the steps that we take to ensure that those who are affected by climate change and famine get the help that they need in order to live their lives with dignity? This will be the main theoretical question that I attempt to answer this summer and throughout my career.

Refugee Agency in Thessaloniki

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Michael Leonetti
Elpída Home for Refugees
Thessaloniki, Greece

Hi all! My name is Michael, and I am a rising junior at NYU double-majoring in Global Liberal Studies (Politics, Rights and Development) and Spanish & Latin American Literature and Culture, with a minor in Social & Public Policy from Wagner. This year, I was honored to be included among the 2017 Gallatin Human Rights Fellows. This is the first blog of a series that I will write over the next few months.

Broadly speaking, my project focuses on the rights of asylum seekers in Greece and their ability to realize those rights using their own agency. I see this topic as part of a broader effort to create a new narrative of humanitarian relief; specifically, that refugees and asylum seekers are ‘agents’ rather than ‘patients’ or ‘victims.’

I will spend the summer at the Elpída Home for Refugees in Thessaloniki as both a volunteer and researcher. This organization is a public-private project (funded by both philanthropists and the Greek government) initiated by Frank Giustra of the Radcliffe Foundation and Amed Khan. The two opened Elpída after witnessing the substandard living conditions of Greece’s many refugee camps. One of the failures of existing relief, in their eyes, was that it ignored the opinions, capabilities, and individuality of those receiving aid.  

Elpída’s mission is to maintain a humane living environment for families seeking refuge by prioritizing the individuality and agency of every resident. Unlike many asylum seekers in Greece, Elpída residents enjoy their rights to autonomy in many forms: they manage their own living spaces, control resource distribution points such as the food market, and are involved in decisions about the camp’s day-to-day functions.

This summer, I hope to profile the camp as an example of refugee agency in action. I will seek to answer the following questions:

  • What does refugee agency look like at Elpída? How do the residents contribute, and what leadership positions do they hold? How does their involvement contribute to the standard of living (including access to essential resources, meaningful occupation, and empowerment within the camp and surrounding community) enjoyed in the camp?
  • Are there structures at Elpída, such as democratic bodies or camp dispute resolution systems, that allow the residents to make decisions and administer justice internally?
  • How does this structure of a refugee camp allow asylum seekers to enjoy their human rights?

These questions will guide me over the next several months. I hope to illustrate my research with conversations with many of Elpída’s residents and leaders, in addition to personal experiences and observations.

Thank you for reading! I look forward to posting the next entry from Thessaloniki.

A Tainted Nirvana: Finding a Safe Haven for Tibetan Refugees in Kathmandu, Nepal

by

Mehreen Arif
HealthRight International
Nepal

I am a first-year master’s student at the NYU College of Global Public Health pursuing my MPH degree in Global Public Health, and I am extremely grateful and honored to be amongst the growing community of distinguished Gallatin Global Human Rights fellows.

My project is based in Kathmandu, Nepal, and I will be working with a health NGO called HealthRight International, which operates from within a human rights framework, and the local FSB (Friends of Shanta Bhawan) clinic. HealthRight and FSB Nepal work together to provide care to local Nepalese ethnic minorities and Tibetan refugees in the Boudha and Jorpati area of Kathmandu.

Health is a human right that, in an ideal world, would most certainly be available to all. Mental health, moreover, is a crucial part of people’s overall well-being. Unfortunately, mental health is a subject that is often eschewed or not even discussed in low- and middle-income countries, especially in South Asia. My research will focus on assessing the burden of mental health issues (specifically, the prevalence of depression, trauma, PTSD, and discrimination) on the Nepalese ethnic minorities and Tibetan refugees in Kathmandu, as well as understanding the barriers impeding Tibetan refugees’ access to mental health services in Kathmandu.

Tibetans have sustained numerous human rights abuses, including torture, in Tibet under Chinese authority, and they have faced obstructions to their religious and cultural daily lives as refugees in their adoptive nations as well.

I chose to do my project in Nepal as opposed to Dharamsala, India, and its surroundings (where the majority of Tibetan refugees reside in proximity to His Holiness the Dalai Llama). Nepal, while a beautiful country, has been riddled with civil unrest and is prone to natural disasters, so support and awareness has been needed to highlight the plight of Tibetan refugees within its borders.

I anticipate some challenges for my project this summer. For one, I must obtain approval from the Nepal Health Research Council board, and it will be a long process. Further, I don’t know how the interview process will pan out. I will be working with a Tibetan language interpreter, and there are a lot of elements to take into consideration, mainly bias and trying to provide a safe environment for the refugees to open up about their mental health stressors. Alongside all of that, I must survive the monsoon season!

But ultimately, my goal is to understand and help Tibetan refugees, a rapidly diminishing and often overlooked faction of Nepalese society.

Water, Mercury, and Gold in Colombia

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Liza Martinez
Universidad del Rosario’s Environment and Human Rights Research Group
Bogota, Colombia

I am excited to write this blog—the first of a series I will produce over the next twelve weeks. I am one of the 2016-2017 Gallatin Human Rights Fellows, and this summer I will go back to my native country, Colombia, to work alongside the Universidad del Rosario and its Environment and Human Rights Research Group.

The Environment and Human Rights group is working to create awareness of the possible consequences of using mercury in gold mining. It also works toward providing ways to help informal miners abide by the country’s legal frameworks.

large building courtyard
Universidad del Rosario campus in Bogota

My project focuses on the existing tension between the state’s ability to protect, respect, and enforce the right to health and water for individuals who live in areas where gold mining is practiced (Antioquia), with the state’s need to exploit the country’s natural resources as a means to economic development.

What interests me most about my project is the opportunity to work with a group of researchers who examine environmental issues through the lens of human rights. I have always had a keen curiosity about issues related to water, and with my medical background, I have always seen the health side of the story. This is my first opportunity to get involved in a project that looks at water from a different angle.

mercury being poured onto the ground
Mercury facilitates the separation of the ore from the rock when mining

All the above have motivated me to pursue this project, and I still have many unanswered questions. For example, to what extent can individuals affected by water contaminated with mercury be identified? How can reparations be provided? To what extent can these legal tools be used by individuals? And most importantly, is the water contamination issue overshadowed by the economic gains made from the gold market?

One of the biggest challenges that I anticipate is being accepted by the community, because building trust with them might require more time than I have. However, the work the university has done previously with them might ease my access to them.

If you are interested in Colombia, its water, gold, and the havoc that the use of mercury in the informal mining sector is causing, please follow my blogs. You will have access to uncurated information from the point of view of a native Colombian woman!

For additional resources, you can visit the following websites:

http://www.urosario.edu.co/Facultad-de-Jurisprudencia/Grupos-Investigacion/Derechos-Humanos/Lineas-de-Investigacion/

http://www.ddhhur.com/index.php?idVar=semillero

Photo Sources:
1) https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5dcYzvXUMJo/hqdefault.jpg
2) https://images.vice.com/vice/images/articles/meta/2016/05/25/stephen-ferry-fotografia-colombia-oro-libro-1464215110.jpg?crop=1xw:0.84375xh;center,center&resize=1050:*

Prisons and Environmental Health

by

Hai Zhou
Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC)
Lake Worth, FL, United States

Hi all! My name is Hai Zhou and I am a first-year graduate student at Wagner School of Public Service specializing in public and nonprofit policy. This summer I will undertake an internship at Human Rights Defense Center, and I will explore the violations of prisoners’ health rights, with a focus on their environmental health.

The United States has only 5% of the world population, yet it is home to approximately 20% of the total prisoners across the globe. This is a salient problem, and people are starting to pay attention to the social and economic implications of mass incarceration. However, one issue seems to elude people’s minds—environmental health concerns.

In the 1980s, Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) to fund the effort to clean up environmental hazards, and since then, the EPA has been responsible for making sure that people’s environmental health is protected from hazardous wastes. There is one group, however, that has been constantly neglected by the EPA, and they are none other than prisoners. Living on or next to hazardous sites such as abandoned coal mines, landfills, and former nuclear power plants greatly increases prisoners’ risk of getting cancer.

Moreover, some prisons in the southwestern part of the country are located on hot spots of Coccidioidomycosis, a disease that disproportionately affects ethnic minorities, who are much more likely to end up in prisons than white people. Some prisons are located where natural disasters (i.e., Hurricane Katrina) are frequent, and there are no evacuation plans when disasters strike. Many jails and prisons are poorly ventilated and are not air-conditioned, and overheating can increase inmates’ risk of cardiovascular diseases.

I am interested in learning a few things from this project:

  1. The mass incarceration process.
  2. The relative burden that environmental health places on prisoners, compared to other health concerns such as HIV/AIDS and TB.
  3. What nonprofits can do to make policy changes.
  4. The potential role of the Eighth Amendment in protecting prisoners.

Currently, criminal justice reform is not on many lawmakers’ agenda, and few people care about prisoners. Improving prisoners’ living condition is no easy task and is a hard to sell to the public. The framing of this issue is key to making change. Human rights are never easily achieved, and that is why we need to work hard to protect them.

Human Rights in France’s Banlieues

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Katie Mulkowsky
International Urban Development Association (INTA)
France

Hi all! My name is Katie and I’m a sophomore at Gallatin concentrating in sustainable development and urban theory. A lot of what I’m studying surrounds the various intersections of environmentalism, city planning, geography, and policy, and I’m so excited to explore these topics further in France this summer as a Global Fellow in Human Rights.

My project concerns a very specific interest I have in promoting human rights through space. To me, public housing developments throughout the urban fringe of Paris raise questions surrounding not just access and separation but also about what it means to be “French” and the ways that religious and ethnic minorities can become excluded from that narrative. Human rights pertaining to migrants, living standards, religious expression, local activism, women, and labor all come into play when considering the Parisian banlieue, or suburbs, and recent ways in which counterterrorism measures have directed public sentiment toward it.

France’s banlieues are generally peopled by working-class North African and Middle Eastern immigrants. In a New Yorker article describing the situation inside one of them, George Packer writes that “to many Parisians, the 93 [district] signifies decayed housing projects, crime, unemployment, and Muslims.” He goes on to say that “France has all kinds of suburbs, but the word for them, banlieues, has become pejorative, meaning slums dominated by immigrants … Conceived as utopias for workers, they have become concentrations of poverty and social isolation.”

In such a context, I’m looking to situate my project within the framework of both urban justice and planning. It will be overseen by International Urban Development Association (INTA), whose Paris office I will be working with part-time while I conduct my own interview-driven research in the banlieues. I hope to eventually compile this into some sort of oral history project. This summer, INTA will be coordinating a seminar on the impacts of sustainable urban development on mass migration and refugees. I am greatly looking forward to learning from the organization as well as the people I meet, and can’t wait to keep you updated once I’m on the ground!