Working Group on Refugees, Europe, and Service Learning
Working Group on Refugees, Europe, and Service Learning
Now in its fifth year, WRESL – the Working Group on Refugees, Europe, and Service Learning – provides an informal space in which some of the Center for European Studies’ undergraduates, Excel EURO-TAM students, can discuss the circumstances of refugees in Europe and the US. This group actively seeks out opportunities to learn about the immigrant experience on both sides of the Atlantic and to engage with those involved in integration processes. Thus far, we have focused attention on the efforts of refugee assistance programs (Church World Service), community partnerships (Transplanting Traditions), student volunteer tutors, as well as international photographers and film makers. As the name suggests, we are interested in wrestling with the challenges and successes of migrants and the ways in which non-migrants contribute to the immigrant experience.
WRESL is currently planning our next event! Two TransAtlantic Masters (TAM) graduates, one in the US and one in Greece, will talk about their work with immigrants and refugees. Please RSVP to tam@unc.edu to receive the zoom link for this event on Saturday, February 6th at noon ET.
Stylianos KELAIDITIS ’10 will also join the discussion. As a TAM student, he studied overseas in Amsterdam and was in the first cohort of European Governance Track students. After TAM, we worked for the Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service at the American College of Thessaloniki. He is now a Project Assistant for the International Organization for Migratio in Thessaloniki – Greece.
On October 2, 2020 one of our TransAtlantic Masters (TAM) Students joined an alumni panel and discussed her work with refugees.
Nourah is a doctoral student at The University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Nourah’s research is on conflict resolution, transitional justice and international political economy. She is also one of the founders and Chair of a non-profit organization called Global Outreach Leaders (GOL). Started in 2014, this organization has 3 divisions: workforce development, community advancement, global health. Nourah and her team have been around the world mediating conflict and helping alleviate refugee’s struggles. Nourah is currently the General Manager of Corporate Culture and communications at a leading Asset management group in the UAE. She is also expanding her nonprofit organization in the US to the GCC and MENA region to focus on women’s empowerment. Nourah holds three bachelor’s degrees in Peace and Conflict Resolution studies, International Studies, and Political Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She enrolled in the TAM Program in 2013 and studied overseas in Prague and Siena.
WRESL Fellows 2020






Blog Posts
RECENT WRESL EVENT: SCREENING: THE FIELDS OF IMMOKALEE
At noon on February 7th, we screened a Bertelsmann-Foundation film in the GEC followed by a panel.
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OCTOBER 2019 WORKSHOP – CHRIS AND HEVAL
WRESL members were recently invited to take part in a workshop focused on reconciling differing opinions.
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MARCH 1ST: AN EVENING ON IMMIGRATION
Susanne Dieper, Director of Programs and Grants at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., joined us to discuss the AICGS project called “Integration: Made in Germany.”
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WRESL HAD ITS FIRST FALL 2019 MEETING ON SEPT. 20TH
We heard from Professor Christiane Lemke of the University of Hannover in Germany and from one of our WRESL members, Cameren Lofton, about a refugee theater project they worked on this summer.
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TAM Student Volunteering
After returning to UNC during the peak of the Refugee Crisis, Sam Barber got involved as a volunteer in the refugee community in Chapel Hill, via student organization INJAZ.
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A European Partner and Refugees
Center colleague Christian Wilhelm, from Humboldt University in Berlin, spoke with WRESL about creating a path for refugees in Germany to enroll in Humboldt’s German-Turkish Master’s Program. One student shared her reflection.
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Refugees in Europe and Berlin
My German colleague wanted to enable refugees to join GeTMA – the German-Turkish Master’s Program Humboldt has run in conjunction with The Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara.
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Volunteering with Refugees Overseas
The Center for European Studies hosted a panel discussion focused on undergraduates who will undertake or have engaged in volunteer work with refugees overseas.
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Students Visit Refugee Exhibition
A small group of Excel @ Carolina students who are part of our EURO-TAM Program recently went to The Friday Center to see a multimedia art exhibition called REFUGEE. The students shared their impressions.
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