Refugee Oral History Convention

Workshop and Lunch

Launched in October 2018 by the Office of Religious Life at Princeton University, the Religion and Resettlement Project (RRP) is a three-year, national-level, action-oriented project exploring the role of religion in domestic refugee resettlement alongside refugees, faith leaders, and resettlement service providers. Within RRP, one major initiative collects oral histories from resettled refugees in the United States. The resulting open access archive will serve professionals, practitioners, journalists, artists, and scholars; preserve histories amid uncertainty about the future of the resettlement program; and enhance spaces of dialogue, listening, and chaplaincy across the country.

To incorporate more diverse voices as interviewers and narrators, the Office of Religious Life will invite around 20 resettled refugees to a day-long oral history convention funded by Being Human. The refugees will become RRP oral history fellows by receiving a three-hour training in oral history methods, having lunch with around 20 Princeton University students who have undergone similar training, and spending an afternoon interviewing their fellow refugees. In the process, the refugees will gain professional development, engage in civic life, and educate locals about the lives of refugees. Altogether, the refugees and students, representing different religions and regions, will together sustain an interfaith, intercultural dialogue to explore how newcomers contribute to their communities.

This event is part of the Being Human Festival 2019 of the Humanities Council.