Human Rights in Transit

Hosts Dr. Jennifer Suchland and PhD student Pritha Prasad speak with University of Texas, Austin professor Dr. Karma Chávez. They discusses the practice of coalitions, the importance of intersectional politics, and the struggle structural change working within institutions such as academia.

In this episode, Kathryn Metz and Eleanor Paynter discuss conditions of transit for migrants both outside and inside EU borders. What factors shape the journeys of migrants as they reach and attempt to enter the EU? How do migrants’ descriptions of their own experiences of transit complicate popular representations of migration to Europe? Our conversation draws on fieldwork observations and interviews from Summer 2017.

Dr. Jennifer Suchland and Dr. Katherine Marino discuss different origin stories for human rights.

A conversation between graduate students at Ohio State University about language, linguistic practices, and issues of discrimination in higher education.

This episode focuses on contemporary migration to the EU, and in particular on circumstances related to Mediterranean crossing. Eleanor Paynter, a PhD student in the Department of Comparative Studies, speaks with Dr. Vicki Squire, a Reader in International Security at the University of Warwick, UK. They discuss what has been termed a migration or refugee “crisis” in Europe. Squire’s work at EU and US borders and her recent collaboration with artist Bern O’Donoghue inform their conversation about issues related to dignity and human rights, and the role of individual narratives in research and outreach.

Sujatha Subramanian, a PhD student in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, is in conversation with fellow OSU graduate students Jennifer Nunes and Tatsiana Shchurko about the complexities of translation in a transnational space. In their conversations, the speakers discuss the complexity of translating concepts, theories and epistemologies, and complicate the idea of translation beyond concerns of accuracy or faithfulness to focus on the political, social and cultural contexts in which translation takes place.

This episode takes up questions related to the potential of art for community building by focusing on a Columbus-based project with the local Somali community. Eleanor Paynter, a PhD student in the Department of Comparative Studies, speaks with Qorsho Hassan, an educator, researcher, and community organizer, and Ruth Smith, an artist, researcher, and educator, about their participatory photography and book project, Urur Dhex-Dhexaad Ah: Community In-Between.

In episode three, we discuss the issue of sanctuary, which is now widely discussed in local governments and university campuses across the nation. With the recent rise in political rhetoric and policies that aim to detain and deport undocumented migrants/immigrants in the United States, many are asking for sanctuary policies. But, what does this mean? What is a sanctuary city? In this episode, Dr. Mathew Coleman of OSU’s Department of Geography shares a wealth of knowledge about the history and practice of sanctuary. Importantly, he clarifies that sanctuary is not a form of amnesty, but rooted in community policing practices that are tied to previous waves of Central Americans seeking refuge in the United States. Sanctuary policies have sought, through community policing practices, to have a positive impact on vulnerable populations and community safety. Listen in for an in-depth discussion of sanctuary past and present.

Malia Lee Womack, a PhD/MA Ohio State student in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Latin American Studies (respectively), interviews Dr. Katherine Borland, an Associate Professor of Folklore Studies and Comparative Studies at Ohio State University for a podcast titled “Problematizing Humanitarian Intervention in Latin America.” The podcast explores the complexities of United States residents volunteering in and providing aid to Latin America, and examines human rights strategies and grassroots organizing occurring in the region. Womack and Borland consider in what ways disadvantaged communities are generally more able to identify the problems they face and the most ideal solutions to these problems. Given the value of grassroots organizing and critiques of imperial intervention in Latin America, what obligations do wealthier nations and their citizens have to contribute to the empowerment of people in Latin American countries? How should this intervention be modeled?

In episode one, we feature a dialogue between Professors Amy Shuman and Daniel Rivers on the interconnections between the refugee and resettlement experiences of Indigenous Americans and those coming from other countries. Not often considered in relation to one another, there are important similarities, tensions, differences, and possibilities for solidarity in thinking across the forced migration and resettlement imposed by settler colonialism and the resettlement of refugees from other countries coming to the United States. Theme by Monopole.