Material and Immaterial Boarders
Transformative Bodies and Intersectional Resistance: Without and within These Walls
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Qianru Li
In September 2017, the dance company Lenora Lee Dance presented the immersive multimedia dance performance "Within These Walls" at the immigration station on Angel Island, San Francisco, infamous for detaining and interrogating millions of Chinese immigrants during the enforcement of the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882). "Within These Walls," as a site-specific performance, examines this period of U.S. history. Because nearly half of this dance took place outside in front of the immigration station building, the landscape of racially diverse contemporary San Francisco became part of the set, which allowed the performance to present race as the intersection point of past and present given that the performance presents the stories of “Paper Sons and Daughters” from China, who endured discrimination because of their race. In presenting these stories against the chosen backdrop, "Within These Walls" invites further discussions of race as a factor in immigration. Angel Island was the border between the illegal Chinese immigrants and the U.S., and those from countries other than China who are also categorized as illegal immigrants nowadays share similar struggles that those Chinese immigrants endured in the past. Thus, "Within These Walls" underscores the continuing existence of the boundaries between marginalized groups and the center of society, boundaries that both derive from and perpetuate social injustice, exclusion, hostility, and displacement.
Gender and Migration: Immigrant Women’s Struggles with Canada’s Invisible Borders
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mirna E. Carranza
Women’s international migration has been on the rise over decades. This paper introduces the findings of a qualitative study, with sixty-one participants, exploring the intersection of women’s immigration, integration, and mental health in Canada. In partnership with various NGOs and grass root organizations, Community-Based Participatory Research informed the study design. Coloniality of power and borderland theories informed the data analysis. Coloniality of power is understood as a system of contemporary relations that continue to be shaped by power structures rooted in ancient regimes such as colonialism. Grounded Theory analysis indicates, not only, the gendered aspect of immigration, but also signals to the imaginary colonial matrix of race, as an organizing principle established during colonial times, significantly impacting the participants’ integration. Participants reported that they encounter multiple borders in their integration paths, which change according to the institutions and the actors involved at the time; some are more evident than others; others are full with tension and nuances. Collectively, these individual acts encompass a systematic exclusionary border preventing their full economic and social integration. Coming to terms with it, their ongoing acts of resistance in maneuvering and standing up to such borders impact their overall mental health and wellbeing.
Postcolonial Analysis of Cultural Competency and Cultural Safety in Study Abroad Programs among Undergraduate Students in International Placements
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Louise Racine, Susan Fowler-Kerry, Linda Wason-Ellam
This study provides results of a study aimed at assessing cultural competence and cultural safety in study abroad programs. A postcolonial theoretical approach is used to inform the study. Postcolonialism is located within a historical realist paradigm that acknowledges that knowledge is historically and socially constructed. Using an exploratory qualitative approach, data were collected to answer the following research questions: How do international educational experiences abroad facilitate or hinder the development of cultural competency and cultural safety? and How do international experiences deconstruct or maintain a priori racial and ethnic stereotypes? The sample includes fifteen to twenty students who participated in an international educational experiences. The type of experiences abroad may vary with disciplines but they all include exposure to cultural diversity and an adaptation to cultural differences. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Individual and focus group interviews were audio-taped. Informed consent was sought prior to data collection. Thematic analysis represents a "method for identifying, analyzing, and reporting (themes) within data" (p. 79). Constant comparison was used to analyze the transcripts of individual interviews and focus groups. Using constant comparison, similarities, and differences between and across all individual interviews were conducted. This research has educational and societal significance. For students to become global citizens, it is necessary that issue of power relations within education abroad settings be understood, otherwise educators run the risk of training (educating) culturally incompetent and unsafe students. Culturally unsafe behaviors maintain colonial stereotypes and affect health and social inequities. Results indicate that cultural competency and safety are sustainable and transferable skills of global citizenship.
Understanding the Multicultural Ethos of Indian Society through Use of Colors
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Bhavya Gupta
As graphic designers, one of the most crucial challenges is to work with color palettes. Color forms an integral part of one’s work. We play with an idea that essentially encourages us to carry out this research. India is home to a diverse group of ethnicities that are complexly woven into each other. This symbolism of color controls every aspect of Indian life be it religion, politics, language, etc. There are some colors that are highly preferred as a part of day-to-day chores in one part of the country but are perceived differently elsewhere. Is it possible to devise a palette of a particular region that can determine choices? What are the factors that one needs to consider while defining these choices? We decided to work on a software that would ease this process. Our first phase covered North India which houses 307 million people (about 23% of the total population) living in seven different states. We envisaged variations of color choices based on anthropological factors among these states. Some prominent factors included rituals, cuisines, music, dance, demographic, and geographical aspects. We intended to do this with a two-step methodology, including literature review and fieldwork. The fieldwork component studies day-to-day lifestyle and during festivities. The results indicate that there are fundamental color choices linked with ethnic choices in almost all of the states except Delhi. As the national capital region, Delhi is a hub of cosmopolitan culture. It has become a central space of confluence that houses these multitudes of diversities. Our project addresses this concept of diversity in a cosmopolitan space as it introduces a palette based on fundamental ethnic choices. This palette contributes to the development of a software that makes it easier for users to navigate color preferences and serves the diverse design needs of individuals and organizations alike. It can ease the process for designing branding campaigns and contribute to the fields of color theory and culture studies.
