My long-awaited Fulbright experience started on a tropical day at the end of August and finished with an exceptional winter storm right before Christmas. Unlike the temperature, my enthusiasm for living and studying in New England did constantly increase during those four months.
Category: 2022
Long ago, learning a second (and third) language as a teenager sparked my interest in international travel, which – after experiencing that travel – inspired me to study International Relations. This eventually led to my academic career and to the Fulbright-Schuman European Union Affairs award, so it seems apropos to return to these roots here. […]
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The Amherst playlists
I arrived in the peaceful, scenic town of Amherst, set in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts and home of three schools of the renowned Five College Consortium1, in mid-August 2021 for a seven-month stay in the Anthropology Department at the University of Massachusetts as a Fulbright Schuman Professor Awardee. I had made the move […]
My Fulbright project looked at why and how law is being used as a tool of democratic inclusion in Europe—the idea of legal mobilization. Specifically, I was investigating how lawyers on the ground in struggles for social justice work with clients, civil society organizations, and larger networks to formulate legal claims asking European-level courts—the Court […]
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A sense of community
In my line of research, I often ask respondents, “do you feel a sense of community” in their country of asylum. This question prompts various responses, where some have found their “tribe” and others feel like a lone wolf. Their answer often informs my follow-up question: “do you regret your initial decision to leave your […]
Are you familiar with Bob Dylan’s “Shelter from the Storm”? Inspired by this song, this blogpost is dedicated to all people and organizations in Louisiana who give, advocate for and lay the groundwork for the delivery of decent shelter to all human beings from recurrent storms and other stormy life events. I invite you to listen to this beautiful song while you read this post.