Topic #1: Adoption
Question: Does adoption lead to lifelong displacement for the child or the parents or both?
Topic #2: NYC Public School Schools
Question: Does the zip code one lives in effect the quality of education received? Are life chances limited in minority neighborhoods?
Topic #3: Homelessness
Question: What is the major cause of homelessness? How do the homeless feel about their place in society? How does society feel about homeless?
Topic: Immigrant neighborhoods in NYC
How do immigrants feel displaced when they move to NYC? How do minorities fit in and cope with society?
Topic: Homelessness
How is a homeless person affected after getting back on their feet? How does a homeless person cope with their transition from the workforce to the streets?
Topic: Immigrant Labor
What difficulties do immigrants face when they work? Do each different ethnic group get treated differently?
Topic:Adoption
How is it adjusting to displacement once you find out you are adopted?Do you always feel displaced even if you did not know you were adopted yet?
Topic :Nursing Homes
How is adjusting to the change of leaving your family to living in a nursing home affect you as a whole ?Psycholgical?Physical?
Topic:Experience of being an illegal immigrant
What does the displacement of being an illegal immigrant feel like plus the stigmas on it and how do you deal with it ?
Topic Idea: Experience of field anthologists
Question: What kind displacement do Anthropologists face when conducting research?
Topic Idea: Experience of Jewish refugee camps
Question: What obstacles or difficulties did Jewish refugees face at the refugee camps?
Topic Idea: Migrant Workers
Question: What do migrant workers experience when they moving constantly?
What factors in Haiti led to Haitians choosing to come to America to peruse the American Dream?
What displacement did these refugees face in North Korea? What displacement are they they facing?
What different factors lead to homelessness and why is it so hard for people to get out of it?
Your final project for this course will have three parts: an annotated bibliography, a research summary, and a creative presentation to the class. We will discuss the timeline and specifics of each part of the project when we return from Spring Break, but it is time to begin thinking about your topic! Your topic must be, in some way, related to our theme of DISPLACEMENT.
Below I have listed some very broad ideas of subjects related to the theme. These are only intended to get your creative juices going. The topics listed are quite broad and would need to be narrowed considerably to become workable research topics. Once you have an idea of a topic, you need to formulate a research question. What are you hoping to learn or figure out about your topic?
By Sunday, April 23rd, please post THREE possible research topics to our class blog (as independent posts). Indicate the topic you are interested in and the question you are asking about your topic. All three of these ideas should be things that genuinely interest you!!!
Displacement Topic Ideas
Anything related to immigration:
Trump’s immigration policy
Immigration from a particular place at a particular time
A particular aspect of the immigrant experience – immigration during childhood, for example.
Immigrant labor
Experience of being an illegal immigrant
Immigrant neighborhoods in NYC
Anything related to topic of refugees:
Experience of Jewish refugees in WWII
Life in contemporary refugee camps
America’s role in current refugee crisis
Refugees adjusting to life in Europe
Moral/ethical dilemmas raised by issue
Adoption
Experiences of moving that aren’t related to immigration – what does it mean to start somewhere new?
Migrant workers
Gender and Displacement – Is being transgender a form of displacement?
Language and Displacement – bilingualism, language and education
Nursing Homes (the elderly and displacement)
Amish practice of Rumschpringen
Space exploration
Experience of field anthropologists
School integration
Eviction
Convents, Monasteries, and other forms of escaping the secular world
Siblings and psychological displacement
Adjustment to the armed forces
Homelessness
Gentrification
Building on the posts that you did about examples in popular culture that use the Superman/Fresh Prince/Kimmy Schmidt model and the conversation we had in class about the selections you made, write an analysis of the show/movie/video you’ve selected. Your analysis should be approx. 500 words. This assignment must be uploaded to turnitin.com by 5 pm on Thursday, April 20th. No late submissions will be accepted. Your analysis will, of course, be in paragraph form, but be sure that you address the following:
–Provide a concise summary of the premise of your show. Be sure to include its genre
–What is the relationship between the “outsider” and the “host community”? How do they differ?
–What function does the “outsider” serve in the “host community”?
–What happens as a result of the displacement?
–What underlying meaning can you derive from your text? Is it offering any kind of cultural critique or commentary?
Use these questions to help guide you in creating your own analysis. Feel free to address issues I haven’t raised here.
As I was looking for a great example to relate to displacement, I immediately thought of recent tragedy news in the country of Peru in South America. About 3 weeks ago, the northern and southern parts of Peru were highly affected by a huge climate change on intense rains that led to huge floods. This country has not experienced a flood like this since 1998 after a small incident along the coastal. There is a Peruvian term called “huayco” that refers to a flash flood caused by heavy rains occurring high in the mountains; the translated word would be mudslides in English. Days after it first occurred up to now, it is still damaging buildings and homes as we speak. In the article, I attached it states there have been 67 deaths since it was posted. The last update I can find is 72 on the death toll. This breaking news is heart-breaking to me personally because my nationality is Peruvian. Although, I was born in America both of my parents are from Peru. The side of my father’s family has been affected due to this flooding. Thankfully, they are all well and alive, but their town had their electricity and water system stopped. Since they cannot go outside, they are stuck at a damaged home with barely any food left. Every day they wait for the rescue team to assist or at least provide food. This relates to displacement because my distant relatives and the rest of the population were living in a safe environment that were taken away from them so fast by a natural disaster. Everyone must now decide on new tasks to fulfill so that they survive through this flood. Many had their homes be ripped away from the strong waves that flew through the town; they must assimilate to starting new again.
I attached the article I was referring to below for any additional information.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/17/peru-floods-ocean-climate-change
This is one the scenes from the Series “Switched at Birth”. In this scene Daphne is a deaf character, which is what sets her apart from her family, and essentially her school community. She had chosen to be in a regular school because she wanted to adapt to her surroundings. However, in this scene we see that even though she tries to fit in, her incapacity of hearing enables people to take advantage of her. She has her deaf friend help her out in selling tacos for money. Even though she can hear a little, her friend cannot. Therefore, when she was robbed her friend wasn’t able to help her. In this case, both of them are displaced because their hearing provokes others from viewing them as weak. Its very similar to Prince of Belair, because even though he tries to fit in, he still remains an outcast.
The Martian is about an astronaut who gets stranded on Mars after his crew thinks he is dead. While on a mission, Mark and his crew encounter a storm that separates them. On their way back to Earth, they find out that he is alive. Mark assimilated to the environment in Mars by using his knowledge of science to help him survive. The next mission to Mars was not for another four years, so he spends his time trying to communicate with them. While in Mars, he extends his food supply by growing potatoes in a planet where nothing grows. He experiences storms, extremely cold weather and constant failures in his attempts as a botanist. He uses satellites to write to NASA and is successful. Although his chances of survival are minimal, he puts his thinking cap on and convinces them of is plan. They return to Mars and rescue him. Mark overcomes his displacement and goes back to Earth.