Elly Field '13 presented a paper with Professor George Hobor of Colgate University at the annual conference of the Southern Sociological Society in New Orleans on March 22. The paper was co-authored with sociology students Amy Dow '12 and David Schwartz '13 and details the results of the group's summer research on the social and economic integration of Utica's Karen and Bantu refugee population.
The research team reconstructed the migration histories of the two groups through archival research and personal interviews with refugees, members of service providing organizations and local employers. They show that differences in the rules and regulations of refugee processing organizations shape different trajectories for the two groups in Utica. The research was made possible by a research grant obtained from the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties by Hobor and Chris Willemsen of the Levitt Center.
