Migration Studies: UNC is the Place to Be
Photo by Daniela Paris.
From one south to another, North Carolina is a primary destination for migrants from South and Southeast Asia and Latin America. According to Carolina Demography, the applied demography unit of UNC’s Population Center, 11% of new NC residents in 2019 moved from another country, with Mexico, Honduras, and India being most common. Between 2010 and 2020, Facing South found that NC’s AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) population increased by 64%, and Hickory, NC hosts a high population of Hmong Americans, an indigenous group from Southeast Asia (SEA) who largely arrived from the Laos and Vietnam area. These ever-changing demographics in NC’s backyard showcase the critical need to invest in a thorough academic and cultural understanding of the forces shaping NC migration, from and to the global south.
Luckily, UNC has jumped to answer that call. Proud to be the people’s university, UNC’s programs seek to match the needs and interests of its diverse student body and reflect NC’s population. Through the Bringing Southeast Asia Home initiative, New Roots Oral History Project, and Refugee Community Partnership, UNC has demonstrated its commitment to the field of migration studies, an interdisciplinary field drawing from history, cultural and linguistic studies, economics, law, and more.
The Bringing Southeast Asia Home Initiative, funded by the Henry Luce Foundation, seeks to expand course offerings, study abroad locations, language programs, and research grants focused on SEA. Aptly named, the five-year project reflects the growing ties between NC and SEA, physically and culturally For the interested student, multiple funding opportunities exist for graduate and undergraduate research alike, including the SEA Research Awards and Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship for SEA.
Next, the New Roots Oral History Project is “a bilingual oral history archive that explores Latin American and Caribbean heritage in the U.S. South.” Started in 2006, the ongoing collection is a collaborative effort between the Latino Migration Project and the Southern Oral History Program at UNC’s libraries. About 20 new interviews are recorded each year between migrants, children of migrants, or community leaders working to assist with settlement. The archive covers a huge range of topics relevant to the migrant experience, ranging from religion, culture, and gender to citizenship, war, and activism.
Finally, UNC students have also built a thriving relationship with Refugee Community Partnerships, a grassroots organization working to connect recent migrant families to resources and friends in the community. 49% of the families RCP works with are from SEA and most are from Burma, all representing diverse ethnic groups. Students at UNC can join RCP to volunteer as a family advocate or tutor, and work to “redefine the resettlement process in North Carolina.”
These three programs are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to migration studies, but any one of them is a great way to explore this critical field. UNC must continue to prioritize this area, both as NC demographics evolve and climate-induced migration becomes a more common phenomenon. As UNC students, we are members of the global south and have a warm-weather bond that goes deeper than country, language, or ethnicity.