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.

On Friday, March 26 we heard from Sam Barber, a TAM grad from the class of 2020. Excel @ Carolina student, Mackenzie Hansen, moderated the discussion.

Sam Barber grew up in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. As an undergraduate he obtained Bachelor’s degrees in Arab Cultures and Global Studies, as well as a minor in French, at UNC-CH. During his time at Chapel Hill he studied abroad in Morocco for a semester and completed a Senior Honors Thesis that analyzed a collective of contemporary Syrian filmmakers. He also dedicated much of his time during his undergraduate career to working with the Syrian refugee population in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area. Sam volunteered with Duke student organization INJAZ, which strives to achieve a partnership that creates an exciting environment for cultural and Arabic/English language exchange. He was partnered with a recently resettled refugee and began weekly visits to help him improve his English language skills. For the TAM program he studied in Berlin where he investigated how mass migration has affected the German government and its political relationships. As a TAM student, Sam also interned with a TAM graduate at World Church Service in Durham and had a FLAS award for Arabic. He now works for the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants at their Raleigh office. In addition, he is a passionate surfer, painter, and board gamer.

WRESL recently hosted a zoom event! Two TransAtlantic Masters (TAM) graduates, one in the US and one in Greece, spoke about their work with immigrants and refugees on Saturday, February 6th at noon ET. WRESL member, Tracy Ridley, moderated the discussion.

Transatlantic Perspectives on Migration

On Saturday, February 2nd at noon ET, we heard from two TAM graduates working on behalf of immigrants and refugees in the US and Europe. Mario is in California, and Stylianos in Greece.

Stylianos Kelaiditis ’10 studied overseas in Amsterdam and was in the first cohort of European Governance Track students. He holds an MA in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill TransAtlantic Master’s program and an MA in War Studies from King’s College London. After TAM, he worked for the Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service at the American College of Thessaloniki as a Teaching and Research Assistant. Over the past years Stylianos has gained experience working in the Refugee and Migration Crisis field, with the then Ministry of Migration Policy and UNHCR, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Northern Greece.  He is now a Project Assistant for IOM in Thessaloniki – Greece. (He will be speaking in his personal capacity, not representing IOM, although some of the experiences that he will refer to come from his work with IOM among others.)

On October 2, 2020 one of our TransAtlantic Masters (TAM) Students joined an alumni panel and discussed her work with refugees.

WRESL Fellows 2020

Allison Carpenter

Lizzie Kunesh

Desiree Lockhart

Xander Magevney

Tracy Ridley

Lizzie Russler

Blog Posts