Seattle University Project on Beyond Borders

Seattle University is doing something pretty cool this year:

“For the 2008-09 academic year, students and the campus community will embark on a conversation about what it means to live in a world where people cross borders including and beyond the geographical ones. Conversations on the subject will derive from a series of questions related to immigration such as why are people everywhere so deeply concerned today about others who cross international borders in search of a better life? What are their legal rights as they cross borders? How does this affect economic policy, health care, education and political citizenship?

First-year students and members of the faculty were given the book, Crossing into America: The New Literature of Immigration, to read in conjunction with the salons. Crossing into America is a compendium of stories by writers from Mexico, the Philippines, Kashmir, South Africa and Romania, as well as narratives of the immigrant experience as seen through the lens of children of immigrants.

Most incoming students received the book during summer orientation. During Welcome Week in late September, they reconvened in small groups with student advisers and faculty members to discuss main themes built around issues raised in the book.”

KJ