Video series tells story of 'Resettled People'
Former Congolese refugee and third-year accounting and business student Penina Fez Mto speaks along with a group of SPARKS ambassadors from Educational Outreach and Student Services at the STEM and Social Capital workshop on Oct. 29 in the Sands Classroom and Lecture Hall on ASU's West campus. Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU News
What better way for the story of former refugees to be told than having the refugees tell those stories themselves.
That’s the idea behind "STEM Dreams in Motion: Stories of Resettled People."
Using part of a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation, Eugene Judson, a professor in Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, and Philip Klucsarits, an associate professor in the Sidney Poitier Film School, have produced five videos in which young STEMscience, technology, engineering, mathematics professionals and STEM college students who are former refugees recount their resettlement in the United States, the challenges they’ve faced, the successes they had and why education is so important.
The video series is an offshoot of Judson’s leadership role in an ASU program titled STEM and Social Capital: Advancing Families through Learning and Doing.
The program helps refugee families make informed decisions about their children’s education, understand the courses and credits needed to go to college and discover what STEM careers might be available to them.
Judson and Klucsarits worked with refugees from the Bhutansese Community of Arizona, Burundi-America Association for Humanity and Opportunities, Mwangaza Wa Upendo (Congolese) and the Syrian Community Service Center to create the videos.
“I think it’s very important that these messages are not just coming from ASU faculty who are leading the program, but coming directly from their communities,” Klucsarits said.
ASU News talked to Judson and Klucsarits about the video series.
Editor's note: The following interview has been edited for length and/or clarity.
Question: How did this project come about?
Judson: One of the things we’ve talked about for a while is this idea of digital storytelling. I found Philip, and he was talking the same language, such as the value of the STEM piece, but also recognizing what individuals would bring to the project. The idea was, how can you tell stories about people who are more real to (other refugees), who are local here and have a STEM background? We also wanted some sort of legacy to this project (STEM and Social Capital), because I’ve been on plenty of projects where the records of it are like, “Well, we did a conference presentation, or there’s two articles in journals that only academics are ever going to read.” So that was definitely a motivation.
Q: Why is it important that these video messages are being delivered by the youth in refugee families?
Klucsarits: Obviously, our target audience is youth. When we start seeing younger professionals from these refugee backgrounds, it speaks volumes to the direct audience. And when parents see the families in these videos, I think they see the potential for their own children.
Q: Philip, when you were approached by Eugene, what intrigued you about the video component?
Klucsarits: Eugene has done so much more with this program, but for me, it was the ability to make an impact and help share stories that need to be told. And I think in that making the videos, it’s kind of confirmed that these stories need to be told because they’re unique even to the members of the communities that they’re serving.
Q: Eugene, you’ve worked with these communities for years. How important is this messaging to families?
Judson: My honest answer is, I can never really be sure. I don’t have rose-colored glasses on. I don’t look at it as like, “OK, they saw that seven-minute video. Life is going to turn for them now.” But I’ve been in education for a long time, and one of the things that certainly contributes to success among kids in affluent families is that they have a lot more experiences, of whether it’s going to a science center or a zoo or things like that. That’s a drop or two in the bucket. So adding these videos and having discussions about what these families see is adding to the bucket.
Q: What kind of discussions are taking place?
Judson: One of the things they will talk about is the value of education that comes through clearly. And this idea that they need to have a plan. I see the parents kind of directing this toward their children. It’s like, “You know, this didn’t just happen. They didn’t just say they want to be a doctor. They started this early.” Another thing that comes up in three of the videos is this idea about language, the importance of learning English to help unlock the door. As the white guy standing up there who only knows English, I’m a little hesitant to say, “You need to learn English.” But these other community members can say, “Look, this is where we live now. This is what you need to do.”
Q: Are all the videos in English or have they been translated into the native languages of these communities?
Klucsarits: That was really a fun and challenging piece that we solved last year. We were able to translate, through subtitles and captioning on YouTube, all of the videos into the languages of the communities being served. Our most recent video is of brothers speaking Swahilia Bantu language found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique. They draw the audience in, because the people watching say, “OK, they are speaking my language. They’re like us.”
Q: As you made the videos, did the messaging change?
Klucsarits: I thought the main focus of the videos was going to be STEM. It really shifted more into general (advice), like really encouraging the viewer and the audience to pursue education. And then, also, the importance of support — both in terms of accepting support from your elders as a student and then being able to give support as an adult. So I think the family support and the general idea of just pursuing education kind of surpassed the overall STEM message. But that still comes through.
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