Migrations Program
Professor’s Feature-Length Documentary Film Debuts at Cornell Cinema

“Possible Landscapes,” a new feature-length documentary film exploring the lived experience of landscapes and environments in the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago, will have its debut screening on Sept. 25 at Cornell Cinema.
“Possible Landscapes,” a new feature-length documentary film exploring the lived experience of landscapes and environments in the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago, will have its debut screening on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 7 p.m. at Cornell Cinema. A reception will follow. The event is free and the public is invited.
The film is a cross-disciplinary collaboration between Natalie Melas, professor of comparative literature in the College of Arts and Sciences, who works on Caribbean literature and thought, and Tao DuFour, former assistant professor in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, and currently Fellow in Architecture at Trinity College Cambridge. The film was directed by professional documentary filmmaker Kannan Arunasalam.
The film seeks to “query the formation of environmental and climate imaginaries, with a view to getting at larger historical questions—of migration, plantation societies, extractivism, race, and the legacies of colonialism—that inform everyday practices in ways that are difficult to identify and to articulate, because they are concretely lived,” write the researchers.
“Possible Landscapes” joins seven people in seven different regions of the islands in the course of their daily lives: Kevin, a fisherman on the east coast suffering the recent loss of one of his crew members at sea; four generations of the Joseph family in the steep hillsides of the northern range; Captain “Spaceman” Philips and his glass-bottomed boat in Tobago, from which he has witnessed the decline of the coral reefs; Crystal, a trade unionist active in supporting workers who lost their jobs when a major oil refinery was closed; Romulas, known as the “last sugar cane farmer” in the central plains and his Venezuelan workers; Stephanie, a nurse who worked in the oil fields in the south starting just after World War II; and Tony, originally from Jamaica, a climate change analyst, agriculturalist and rabbit farmer in St Joseph.
The two-year research project that resulted in the film, “Possible Landscapes: Documenting Environmental Experience in Trinidad and Tobago,” was funded by a two-year team research grant from Cornell’s Migrations: A Global Grand Challenge and the Mellon Foundation’s Just Futures Initiative.
“The project grows from a Mellon Expanded Practice Seminar DuFour and I taught in fall of 2019, which led to the making of an award-winning documentary short, ‘We Love We Self Up Here,’ which debuted at Cornell in November 2021,” said Melas. “That short was a kind of draft and inspiration for ‘Possible Landscape,’ which is significantly more expansive and ambitious, entailing field work and archival research over a two-year span and the dedicated work of two talented research assistants, both students in the architecture department, Carla de Haro and Keiron Curn de Nobriga.”
In addition to the screening, two of the team’s Trinidadian collaborators will be on campus to present on their work:
- Deborah Villarroel-Lamb, an engineering professor at University of the West Indies, St Augustine, and an expert in flooding and coastal erosion, will present on “Towards Caribbean Coastal Resilience: Challenges & Opportunities” on Tues., Sept. 24 for the Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology Seminar in Hollister Hall, room B52, at 4:15 p.m.
- Mario Lewis, Trinidadian artist and agroforester, will give an artist’s talk titled "Forest Notebooks: The Interaction Between Art, Community, and Ecology" on Sept. 25 at 4:45 p.m. at the Toboggan Lodge, 38 Forest Home Drive.
The screening of “Possible Landscapes” is co-sponsored by The Society for the Humanities, the Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office, the Africana Studies and Research Center, the Institute for Comparative Modernities, the Departments of Comparative Literature, Literatures in English and Romance Studies (all A&S); Architecture (AAP), Environment and Sustainability (CALS/A&S); and Latin American and Caribbean Studies (Einaudi).
Linda B. Glaser is news and media relations manager for the College of Arts and Sciences.
Additional Information
MexicanEast Conference: Transit

September 21, 2024
9:00 am
A. D. White House
The 2024 MexicanEast conference, held at Cornell University from September 20-21, 2024, brings scholars together to discuss transit through the lens of Mexican cultural studies. We welcome discussion about migration, movement, transition, trade, and trans and queer issues, as well as any other meaningful engagement with the topic of transit.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Migrations Program
Immigration Reform in 2025: What is Possible?

November 20, 2024
1:00 pm
Event Overview
Immigration will be a key issue in 2025. Everyone agrees that we have a broken immigration system, but people disagree on the solutions. Congress is paralyzed. Presidents try executive actions but are sued. Federal courts seem to be the final arbiters of immigration policy these days.
In the meantime, employers face labor shortages. The demographics of an aging population and declining birth rates are indisputable. More people worldwide are fleeing the breakdown of civil society, climate change, and even persecution than ever before. Over 10 million people lack immigration status in the United States. More than half of them have been residing and working in our communities for over 15 years. And our immigration courts face a backlog of over 3 million deportation cases.
Join Cornell Law professor Stephen Yale-Loehr and a panel of experts from the Cornell Law School immigration law and policy research program to learn what immigration laws and policies might change, both in the lame duck session after the election and in 2025.
What You'll Learn
How the current cohort of immigrants differs from those of the pastWhat might be in store for DACA and other immigration issuesThree targeted immigration reforms that most Americans can agree on: border management and asylum policy, worker programs, and DREAMer protectionsWhat you can do to influence immigration policySpeakers
view detailsof Amy Nice
Amy Nice
Distinguished Visiting Immigration Scholar
Cornell Law School
view detailsof Charles Kamasaki
Charles Kamasaki
Distinguished Visiting Immigration Scholar
Cornell Law School
view detailsof Marielena Hincapié
Marielena Hincapié
Distinguished Visiting Immigration Scholar
Cornell Law School
view detailsof Randel Johnson
Randel Johnson
Distinguished Visiting Immigration Scholar
Cornell Law School
view detailsof Stephen W. Yale-Loehr
Stephen W. Yale-Loehr
Professor
Cornell Law School
view detailsof Theresa Cardinal Brown
Theresa Cardinal Brown
Distinguished Visiting Immigration Scholar
Cornell Law School
Register Now
Additional Information
Program
Migrations Program
Information Session: Global Internships with Universidad San Francisco de Quito

October 28, 2024
1:00 pm
Go global in summer 2025! Global Internships give you valuable international work experience in fields spanning global development, climate and sustainability, international relations, communication, business, governance, and more.
This session will discuss opportunities with the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, a Cornell Global Hubs partner in Ecuador.
Register for this virtual session.
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The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies hosts info sessions for graduate and for undergraduate students to learn more about funding opportunities, international travel, research, and internships. View the full calendar of fall semester sessions.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
Migrations Program
Naomi Klein: Doppelganger Politics

October 23, 2024
5:00 pm
Biotechnology Building, G10
Bartels World Affairs Lecture
The bestselling author of Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World joins us for a personal journey down the conspiracy rabbit hole to explore why our political sphere has become dangerously warped.
When author and social activist Naomi Klein discovered a writer with the same first name but radically different political views was chronically mistaken for her, it seemed too ridiculous to take seriously—until suddenly it wasn’t. As the pandemic took hold, she absorbed a barrage of insults from her doppelganger’s followers.
Klein’s 2023 book Doppelganger follows Other Naomi into a digital underworld of conspiracies, anti-vaxxers, and right-wing paranoia. Klein’s journey reveals mirrored concerns and unlikely connections between well-meaning liberals and the right-wing voices that relish “owning” them.
After a talk sharing her insights, Klein joins distinguished global democracy experts from Cornell to lift the lid on this surreal election moment and examine how our politics have become so twisted and polarized. What can we do to escape our collective vertigo and get back to fighting for what really matters?
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Panelists
Read election remarks from the panelists in Chronicle coverage of global democracy activities on campus.
Thomas Garrett, Einaudi Center Lund Practitioner in Residence, Distinguished Global Democracy Lecturer (Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy)Suzanne Mettler, John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions, Department of Government (College of Arts and Sciences)Kenneth Roberts (moderator), Einaudi Center Democratic Threats and Resilience faculty fellow, Richard J. Schwartz Professor, Department of Government (A&S)
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This event is sold out.
All free tickets are reserved. If you don’t have a ticket but would like to attend, please arrive 15 minutes early to be put on our wait list.
A reception with refreshments will follow the lecture and panel.
Lecture and Panel: 5:00 | G10 Biotechology BuildingReception: 6:30-7:30 | Biotechnology Building Atrium
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About Naomi Klein
Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist and international bestselling author of nine books published in over 35 languages, including No Logo, The Shock Doctrine, and her most recent book Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World (2023). A columnist for The Guardian, her writing has appeared in leading media around the world. She is a tenured professor of climate justice at the University of British Columbia, founding codirector of UBC’s Centre for Climate Justice, and honorary professor of media and climate at Rutgers University.
About the Bartels World Affairs Lecture
The Bartels World Affairs Lecture is a signature event of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. This flagship event brings distinguished international figures to campus each academic year to speak on global topics and meet with Cornell faculty and students, particularly undergraduates. The lecture and related events are made possible by the generosity of Henry E. Bartels ’48 and Nancy Horton Bartels ’48.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
South Asia Program
Migrations Program
ILR Professor Wins APSA Latin@/x Book Award

Shannon Gleeson, Migrations
ILR/Brooks faculty Shannon Gleeson (Migrations) has won the 2024 Best Book Award from the Latin@/x Caucus of the American Political Science Association for her coauthored book Scaling Migrant Worker Rights.
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Writing in a Time of War: Conversation with Shahla Ujayli, Award-Winning Syrian Novelist

October 7, 2024
5:00 pm
A. D. White House, Guerlac Room
Book talk and conversation with award-winning Syrian novelist Shahla Ujayli, author of "A Sky So Close to Us" and "Summer with the Enemy," both shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Joining the discussion to talk about her work and challenges of translating Arabic literature will be translator Michelle Hartman, Professor of Arabic Literature at McGill University.
In the words of Shahla Ujayli: “Writing about war means writing about oneself—the harsh fate of the family, the home, the special places, and memories. But writing about your place at war is a great challenge, since you find the whole world talking about your house, slums, and city, yet no one who debated its fate had ever visited it or known it before the war. They talk about strange, complicated, fantastic things, and you find yourself writing novels to tell them that only you know the truth.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
SHAHLA UJAYLI is a Syrian writer, born in 1976. She holds a doctorate in Modern Arabic Literature and Cultural Studies from Aleppo University in Syria and is currently a professor of Modern Arabic Literature at the University of Aleppo and the American University in Madaba, Jordan. She is the author of two short-story collections The Mashrabiyya (2005) and The Bed of the King’s Daughter (2017), winner of Al Multaqa Prize, and four novels: The Cat’s Eye (2006), winner of the Jordan State Award for Literature; Persian Carpet (2013); A Sky So Close to Us, shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (Interlink, 2016); and Summer with the Enemy, shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (Interlink, 2018). She has also published a number of critical studies, including The Syrian Novel: Experimentalism and Theoretical Categories (2009), Cultural Particularity in the Arabic Novel (2011) and Mirror of Strangeness: Articles on Cultural Criticism (2006).
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR:
MICHELLE HARTMAN is a professor of Arabic Literature at McGill University and literary translator of fiction, based in Montreal. She has written extensively on women’s writing and the politics of language use and translation and literary solidarities. She is the translator of several works from Arabic, including Asmaa Alatawna’s A Long Walk from Gaza, Radwa Ashour’s memoir The Journey, Iman Humaydan’s novels Wild Mulberries and Other Lives, Jana Elhassan’s IPAF shortlisted novels The Ninety-Ninth Floor and All the Women inside Me, Alexandra Chreiteh’s novels Always Coca Cola and Ali and His Russian Mother as well as Shahla Ujayli’s IPAF shortlisted novels A Sky So Close to Us and Summer with the Enemy.
Lecture Sponsored by:
Department of Near Eastern Studies
Cosponsors:
Department of Literatures in English
Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and its Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) initiative and Migrations Program
Society for the Humanities
Institute for Comparative Modernities
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Migrations Program
Einaudi Welcomes Migrations Program

New Migrations, EAP, SEAP Program Directors
Cornell’s first Global Grand Challenge continues this year as Einaudi's Migrations Program. We also welcome three program directors.
We're excited to announce that Cornell's Migrations initiative is stepping into a new phase as the Migrations Program, part of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. Einaudi's newest regional and thematic program will build on the work of Migrations: A Global Grand Challenge to inform real-world policies and outcomes for populations that migrate.
Migrations researchers and students will continue the important work of studying movement across borders, racism and dispossession, and migration of all living things under the leadership of the program's new director, Kathryn Fiorella. Fiorella is an associate professor of public and ecosystem health in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
“We look forward to building the new Migrations Program at Einaudi to advance our understanding of migration and contribute to solutions for one of the most pressing challenges of our time.”
“I am excited to join Migrations and support scholarship and learning on this critical topic,” said Fiorella.
Fiorella plans to continue expanding Migrations' campuswide footprint established since Global Cornell launched the initiative in 2019.
“Migration has a profound impact on human and wildlife health,” she said. “I'm looking forward to furthering those connections and extending our engagement with faculty in the Master of Public Health program, Department of Public and Ecosystem Health, and College of Veterinary Medicine.”
New Program Directors
Joining the Migrations Program's Kathryn Fiorella are new fall 2024 program directors in the East Asia Program and Southeast Asia Program.
East Asia Program: John Whitman
John Whitman is a professor of linguistics in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). His main research focus is the problem of language variation in Japanese, Korean, and other languages.
Southeast Asia Program: Marina Welker
Marina Welker is a professor of anthropology in A&S. Her research centers on the ethical relationship between business and society. She is currently studying a clove cigarette company in Indonesia founded by a Chinese immigrant and controlled by his descendants until 2005, when it was taken over by Philip Morris International.
Additional Information
Outdoor Photo Exhibit Illustrates Migrant Workers’ Stories

Funded by Migrations
A new outdoor exhibit of 6-foot-high interactive portraits will explore the history of migrant workers’ struggles to attain American citizenship. The project, “Stories of Belonging: Central American TPS Workers & the Defiant Struggle to Stay Home in the U.S.," was funded by the Migrations Global Grand Challenge and will be available to view on the Cornell campus Sept. 16-20.
Additional Information
Mangrove Trees are on the Move, Taking the Tropics with Them

Andrew Farnsworth, Migrations
As the climate warms, mangroves are migrating farther poleward, transforming the coast as they go.