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Oral History Projects: Understanding the Migrant and Refugee Experience

Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities

oral history project

What is an oral history project focused on a global issue?

Oral history projects provide students the opportunity to document and preserve family histories. These projects provide an authentic means for students to learn about their own histories, or the histories of others. They require students to engage in the following:

  1. Structuring and conducting interviews
  2. Synthesizing information
  3. Making choices about how to present information

Oral history projects can also be a powerful tool for meaningful learning about a member of one’s community. Interviews often reveal personal, social, economic or cultural factors that affect a person’s experiences and identity. Oral histories can bring a human element to a theme that may otherwise seem distant or foreign to students.

sustainable goal 10

Now, how do I make this project authentic?

Knowing more about the migrant and refugee experience is critical for students to understand. These global issues provide a variety of concepts to investigate. Including factors that impact poverty, education, hunger, and equity. Opportunities to learn firsthand about the experience of migrants and refugees help students to develop their empathy and social emotional skills. First, it is critical for students to know the difference between migrants and refugees. 

A migrant is a person who makes a conscious decision to leave their country to seek a better life elsewhere. Before they decide to leave their country, migrants can seek information about their new home, study the language and explore employment opportunities. They can plan their travel, take their belongings with them and say goodbye to the important people in their lives. They are free to return home at any time if they wish to visit family members and friends left behind.

Refugees are forced to leave their country because they are at risk of, or have experienced persecution. The concerns of refugees are human rights and safety, not economic advantage. They leave behind their homes, most or all of their belongings, family members and friends. Some are forced to flee with no warning and many have experienced significant trauma or been tortured or otherwise ill-treated. The journey to safety is hazardous and many refugees risk their lives in search of protection. They cannot return unless the situation that forced them to leave improves. (UNHCR)

Try this virtual project with your students and watch how history will unfold right before their eyes! 


Here is an example:

oral history project

Additional Resources (Recordings available from past events)

  • Alan Yang and poster of Tigertail
    Discussion
     /  New York

    [WEBCAST] Tigertail: Alan Yang on Immigration and Sacrifice

    Monday 18 May 2020
    6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
    New York Time
    Calculate your local time »
    Join us for a chat with Alan Yang, writer and director of Netflix's Tigertail, on his family-inspired debut film ,immigration, identity, and the American dream with acclaimed Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning producer Janet Yang.
  • Min Jin Lee discussion
    Discussion
     /  New York

    [MEMBERS-ONLY WEBCAST]: Author Min Jin Lee

    Thursday 14 May 2020
    6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
    New York Time
    Calculate your local time »
    Join us for a members-only webcast about experiencing art in the age of coronavirus with Min Jin Lee, the award-winning author of 'Pachinko' and 'Free Food for Millionaires.'

  • Webcast Immigration
    Texas

    Global Immigration Firm Chair Charles Foster Analyzes COVID-19 Impact on Immigrants, International Students

    In conversation with Texas State Representative Gene Wu, Foster LLP chairman Charles Foster examined the myriad roles immigrants play in the U.S.'s economy and the many ways they are affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Vietnamese American author Andrew Lam. (Andrew Lam)

    Interview: Author Andrew Lam

    From heartbroken Vietnamese refugee to best-selling author
  • Japanese Americans at the Tule Lake Segregation Center in Newell, CA, ca. 1942

    Asian Americans Then and Now

    A look at the long history of Asian Americans and its role in shaping American identity.
  • Ashraf Shazly/AFP/Getty Images

    UN Inaction in Syria

    Analysts say the United Nations Security Council is failing to prevent mass atrocities and is in desperate need of reform.

  • BM #58 - Rocco animation - thumbnail
    series
     /  Australia

    Briefing Monthly #58 | January 2023

    Election watch | Students return | Aid shake-up looms | ASEAN business challenges | China export hopes
  • 01-Sep15
    article
     /  Northern California

    Asian American Histories of the United States

    September, 15, 2022 — View photos from Asia Society Northern California's Program on Asian American Histories in the United States with Cathy Choy and Russell Jeung, sponsored by First Republic Bank and Southwest Airlines.
  • Naturalization Ceremony Held For 50 New Citizens At Rockefeller Center In NYC

    Asia In-Depth Podcast: Asian American Ghosts

    Jia Lynn Yang explains how the 1965 Immigration and Nationalization Act shaped the peculiar identity of Asian Americans.
  • BTS

    Asia Society's Five Most Popular Videos of 2020 (And Five More We Liked)

    A look back at a most unusual year.
  • Savitri Taylor Disruptive Asia
    series
     /  Australia

    Reversing the boats: a humane response to a regional dilemma

    By Savitri Taylor, Associate Professor Law School, La Trobe University

    What would a humanitarian asylum seeker policy look like?

Attachment

  • Oral History Project.pdf (PDF, 37.6 KB)
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