Dr. Shyam Sriram

Dr. Shyam K. Sriram is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and the faculty advisor to Every Campus a Refuge (ECAR) and the Muslim Student Association (MSA). He can be reached at srirams@canisius.edu

Introduction to Course/Motivation behind it

In the spring of 2023, I started teaching a new course at Canisius titled PSC 338, “Refugee Resettlement in the United States.” The course is now part of the university’s catalog and will be offered every spring for the foreseeable future. Refugee resettlement is my primary area of expertise and has been since 2017 when it was the focus of my dissertation research. Although I am broadly interested in everything that falls under the aegis of American Politics as a subfield of Political Science, refugee resettlement continues to be the specialization that I hope to broaden through research, scholarship, and teaching.

Refugee resettlement is one of the most fascinating and understudied areas within political science. It meets at the intersection of domestic and foreign policy, but is also a study of presidential power, federalism, public opinion, media, bureaucracy, campaigns, and Congress. As I have developed my own national expertise on this topic, I have also eyed the creation of a course that would provide students with a rich and thorough understanding of refugee resettlement centered around the lived experiences of refugees. That is primarily accomplished through guest speakers who join the class in person and over Zoom, and refugee-focused or created readings. But the thinking has always been designing a course that emphasized hands-on work, an aspect of my broader teaching philosophy of praxis over theory.

Ignatian Learning Objectives

One of the most profound statements one can make about the method of instruction at Canisius University is that the work we do in the tradition of the Society of Jesus is to teach with intention, a Jesuit tradition since 1599.[1] Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States hire a diverse family of faculty from many faith traditions who are often committed to the principle of doing work for the glory of god. Serving refugees and meeting their needs through partnerships between governments and private organizations is the highest form of service, in my opinion.

Other aspects of Jesuit education that work well in the area of critical refugee studies are magis (doing more and challenging ourselves to think how our efforts can be expanded); cura personalis or care for the whole person when thinking about all the ways we can serve refugees’ needs; and to work for others, always, putting others’ needs over our own.[2]

Perhaps the purest way of understanding how serving refugees mirrors the values of the Society of Jesus is to delve into the mission of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS):

“JRS believes that to journey with refugees is the most important way for us to express solidarity with them and our concern for their well-being. In a world where refugees are more than ever in need of welcome, protection, and justice, and yet are increasingly rejected, demonized, and denied their fundamental human rights, JRS offers accompaniment to refugees as a sign of hope and a way towards healing.  In even the most desperate of situations, we remain with refugees to assure them that the world has not forgotten them, and that they are not alone.”[3]

Methodology and Challenges

One of the major components of the course is a group project to immerse students in the steps it takes to house just one refugee family in Buffalo. Through a partnership with Jewish Family Services (JFS) of Western New York, one of several refugee resettlement organizations (RROs) in the area, my students and I collected all the required and suggested items, a process which took about three months. JFS provided me with a large list of required and recommended items needed for each new home/apartment for a refugee family, which I turned into a Google Sheet accessible by all students. Students expressed enthusiasm from day one, remarking in class they had the required furniture and home accessories sitting in their own houses and garages or knew whom to ask. But borrowing the work of Mancur Olson[4], organizing this home setup was still a giant collective action problem for me.

Olson noted in his iconic 1965 work The Logic of Collective Action that people will often work towards a common good, but the larger the group, the more difficult it can be for everyone to work together without incentives. Olson also commented on the ability of some to gain benefits from the work of others: he dubbed the former free riders. I do not want to say that free riders were eliminated from this assignment, but since each student was graded individually based on their own reflection, everyone had to pull their own weight. I was also pleasantly surprised when all twenty students in the seminar showed up on the home clean up day (though one was a bit delayed).

I should note that one of the most intense moments of the semester occurred in May around the date chosen for the home setup, right before finals week. At the very last minute – the day before – the landlord who had signed a contract with JFS abruptly decided not to rent to the refugee family. JFS staff were forced to scramble to find housing, difficult in the best of circumstances, and made harrowingly difficult because it was for a family of nine. They found another home, but it also made my students face the perils of a national housing crisis in a disturbing and real way after talking about it all semester during class discussions and lectures.

Student Reflections and Themes

Providing the furnishings for a home for a displaced family new to Buffalo might seem to be noble and achieve many of the Jesuit values mentioned above, but the reality is that it may not enough to get undergraduates motivated. Olson noted this too i.e. rational self-interest is often not enough to accomplish a task, but I learned a lot more about how the students felt after they each submitted a mandatory graded reflection (worth 50 points out of a course total 250 points). While each student participated differently in the home setup – some helped me pick up furniture; some were really interested in cleaning; others were very handy at collecting donations using their personal and professional networks – everyone had to submit a reflection. I asked students to reflect on the experience and gave them space to just think critically about the project, what they liked, and what could be improved upon for the future. I have divided the students’ comments into three sections: overall expectations (and how those were often exceeded); student concerns about the somewhat lack of common vision among their peers; and where the assignment could be improved the next time around.

Click on each title below to see students’ thoughts on the course.

Overall Expectations

“It was interesting because there were fellow students I was speaking to for the first time that I had never spoken to all semester, so it was almost like a late bonding experience. We were able to work together on a project that is fulfilling, and giving back to the community.”

“Prior to the week of the project itself, I was among the members of our class that did not really think that the project was going to happen. I thought that everyone seemed too unmotivated, and as a result, everyone was going to wait too long to gather supplies. For this reason, I thought that JFS was not going to let us work on a house. Looking back, I feel pretty bad about the way I was thinking. I should have had more faith in my classmates.”

“My honest expectations before today’s event were that it was not going to work. I foolishly did not think the rest of my classmates were going to have the initiative to acquire donations and participate in the setup. I also did not think Dr. Sriram would be able to find a time for the housing setup that worked for everyone. When this project was introduced, I thought it would be too much for our class to handle and it would end up being a bust, but luckily, I was wrong. In fact, I ended up being completely wrong and the setup resulted in a smashing success.”

“When just a few days prior to the move-in, we received news that the original house had been canceled, I was heartbroken for the family. However, this experience alone opened our eyes to the realities of the housing problems that refugee resettlement organizations and refugees alike encounter, and the efforts put forward to ensure the best possible outcomes for our new community members. Once we were able to get into the apartment for this new family, I was overwhelmed by all of the donations, and every students willingness to help clean, do yard work, decorate, and really make this house a home.”

Not Everyone on the Same Page

“What I feel got a bit lost in translation with some students was the whole white savior complex. I think people could have just done the job but I was hearing a lot of comments about how amazing the family is going to feel because of us and how they are going to feel so grateful, but when you ask immigrants who haven’t been fortunate enough to gain citizenship or even residency is that it almost makes them feel worse when people start doing things for them.”

“I was disturbed by the attitude of several of my classmates towards poverty. While away from the majority of the class, several of my classmates (although the majority came from a singular student) made comments and jokes that I feel could be considered classist. These ranged from commentary on the run-down look of the neighborhood, the quality of the cars parked on the street from residents, and statements that they could never live in an area such as this. There was also a comment made about the stupidity of building Canisius University in a dangerous ghetto … I do not think this is a failure of the course’s ability to teach these values, but instead a severe lack of compassion in these classmates likely due to a privileged and sheltered childhood.”

“When it came to the ‘hard’ parts such as moving the furniture, putting in time outside of class, or even communicating with others in the class, many students just did not seem to care or felt that the other things they had to do were more important. This frustrated me a bit at the end when we really needed all hands on deck and people would have excuses such as schoolwork, work, etc. Everyone has obligations, but it is at times like these that we need to put in the extra effort and set aside another time to complete these projects.”

Places of Improvement in the Future

“Since coming to Canisius, I have not taken a class that included a service-learning aspect and despite having doubts about its ability to work out, I was excited for my first one. After completing this project, I feel like service learning could be easily implemented into other courses at Canisius University.”

“I think in the future, it would be a good idea to change the timing of the project to a midterm and maybe see the house as a project itself. It would be nice to work on the house for a few weeks, maybe have a class on-site to really work on the house. I know we did a good job now but I feel like we could have done more. This could also be a solution to the freeriding, if you only let an X amount of students work every day, so you can see the progress per group.”

“Before this experience, I always thought that service learning was in the shape of long mission trips or extensive commitments. However, moving in this family with JFS allowed me to recognize that service can be done at a smaller level and still make an impact.”

“I wish we had done this activity earlier in the semester. It would have been a great opportunity for us to get to know each other and maybe help people form relationships early on. I also think it is hard adding this to our schedule the last few weeks of class because many of us are studying for finals.”

“As a suggestion, the class could be split up into three different groups. The first group collects the supplies needed for the house, the second group helps with setting up the house, and a final group for those who would like to do both. I feel that this is an important project everyone in class should equally have part in.”

Conclusion

Serving refugees and inspiring students to do the same is the dual motivation that inspires me every day at Canisius University. But doing so requires a certain amount of courage to do a less-than-perfect job. As a close friend told me, not every student walks away with exactly the same experience, but all walk away with something. Helping refugees get resettled into their new lives in the United States is a project that extends beyond Buffalo and can involve faculty around the country; but what it requires primarily is first building a solid relationship with a refugee resettlement organization (RRO) near your campus and lots of planning. I am happy to help faculty anywhere set up a similar project or make some introductions.

The primary lesson from the first iteration of the house setup is that it must happen earlier in the semester. To that end, students in the spring 2024 seminar will start immediately collecting the required supplies in January 2024 with a goal of setting the house up by the last week of February or first week of March. Secondly, students’ concerns about their classmates’ slightly dubious motives for doing the project is unfortunately something that cannot be fixed. But it is possible in the second iteration of this project to do a pre-service reflection to really challenge students about assumptions regarding service and refugees and confront saviorism and privilege. This may provide an even greater result when compared later to the post-service reflection.

Readings

Citations