CAREER: Transnational Lives in the U.S.

The project uses the experiences of a group in movement to examine that movement along three main lines of inquiry. First, the project investigates the motivations for movement: what factors motivate a larger grouping and this group in particular, to leave their home region to come to a new home? Second, it examines the process: How do home region ideals and destination region policies affect the movement process?

Third, it investigates the consequences of movement: How does movement shape the life of those who have moved and the life of family and close relatives left behind? This project situates these experiences in the transnationalism theoretical framework to explore the global processes and conditions that are significantly shaping the lines of citizenship, culture, economic development, and the structure of society.

The three lines of inquiry will be addressed with three different methods: using an archive of 2000 letters, oral histories of 100 families with two interviews per family, and ethnographic data collected over 14 months from three relevant communities. Coding of these data will be organized according to eight domains: education, economics, identity, housing, intimate life, health, and other important social domains. Students will assist in this research after being trained to conduct research across cultures.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.