Migrations Program
Director Katie Fiorella Talks Migrations on "Speaking of Language"
Katie Fiorella, Migrations Director
Katie Fiorella is the director of the Cornell Migrations Program. On the LRC podcast, she discusses the policies and outcomes related to the movement of living things across borders, and how Migrations has evolved since 2020.
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Speed Talks: Building Solidarity and Resistance
May 14, 2025
4:30 pm
This event has been postponed until fall 2025.
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Join the Einaudi Center and researchers from across campus for three-minute speed talks and community conversation on ways to organize and push back against fast-moving federal actions.
Speakers will jump off from interdisciplinary and international research to provide a fresh perspective on current U.S. public policy and the potential for effective collective action. Together we'll look at challenges faced and solutions found in a variety of academic fields and places around the world—to help us think through how to unify disparate interests and find allies to resist democratic backsliding.
The event features clusters of speed talks on related topics, with time for Q&A and conversation on each topic.
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Speakers
David A. Bateman | GovernmentSidney Tarrow (IES) | GovernmentPrisca Jöst | Public Policy
More speakers to be confirmed.
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Sponsors
This conversation is hosted by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, partnering with Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy's Governance and Local Development Institute and Data and Democracy Lab.
Find out how graduate and undergraduate students can get started at Einaudi.
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Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
Comparative Muslim Societies Program
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
South Asia Program
Migrations Program
International Relations Minor Career Paths
April 29, 2025
4:00 pm
Rockefeller Hall, 105
Are you considering starting a career that utilizes regional expertise, language skills, or experience with foreign policy? Ever wondered what it's like to work in various capacities in governments, how to prepare yourself to be a successful applicant for jobs, or what work will let you utilize your knowledge of the world? Are you curious to learn more about current events, history, or the broader global implications of your major? Whether you are interested in a possible career in public service, academia, or the private sector, the international relations undergraduate minor can help you explore these opportunities.
Please join the Einaudi Center for International Studies for a discussion about career paths and opportunities at the State Department and in public service, featuring Cornell alumni who will share their insights:
Jason Oaks, Deputy National Intelligence Officer for East Asia, U.S. Department of StateAngie Yucht Swenson, Founder and Principal of AYS Tutoring and Consulting, LLC
To attend virtually, register here.
This session is presented by the Einaudi Center and the faculty advisor of the international relations minor, Oumar Ba. The minor is open to all Cornell undergraduate students interested in learning about the politics, economics, history, languages, and cultures of the world.
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Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
Comparative Muslim Societies Program
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
South Asia Program
Migrations Program
Our Foreign Students Are Terrified, and They’re Right to Be
Rachel Beatty Riedl and Stephen Yale-Loehr, Migrations
International students are vital to campuses, writes former Einaudi director Rachel Beatty Riedl and Stephen Yale-Loehr (Migrations) in this New York Times op-ed.
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Costa Rica Violated Rights of 81 Migrant Children Deported by U.S., Lawsuit Says
Ian Kysel, Migrations
Ian Kysel, associate clinical professor of law, explains that complaints against Costa Rica can be brought to the panel of experts.
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Trump Measures Make Life More Difficult for Immigrants — not just Undocumented
Marielena Hincapié, Migrations
Marielena Hincapié, distinguished immigration scholar, says Trump's latest order is “continued fearmongering and disinformation because, in fact, undocumented immigrants pay into Social Security but are never eligible to get those benefits.”
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How DOGE Led a ‘Hostile Takeover’ at the IRS to Use Taxpayer Data for Immigration Crackdowns
Shannon Gleeson, Migrations
Shannon Gleeson, professor of labor relations, law, and history at ILR, discusses the Department of Government Efficiency’s use of taxpayer data in immigration suppression.
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America's Shadow Economy Shrinks Due to Deportation Fear
Patricia Campos-Medina, Migrations
Patricia Campos-Medina, executive director for The Worker Institute, explains what may occur if the construction, agriculture, hospitality, and retail industries lose workers.
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Spotted on the Road: Migrations Scholar Shares Stories of Salamander Crossings
In Spotted on the Road Trisha Bhujle ’26 educates readers about spotted salamander migration. She began working on the children’s book as an Undergraduate Migrations Scholar last year.
Trisha studies environment and sustainability in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, with interests in wildlife conservation, climate change, and food systems. We interviewed Trisha about her work, her new book, and how we can all play a part in safer salamander migration.
How did you first get interested in salamanders and their migration?
I learned about spotted salamander migrations when I took “Wildlife Corridor Conservation and Crossing Design” in spring 2024 as my capstone class for the environment and sustainability major.
Laura Heady, the founder of the Amphibian Migrations and Road Crossings (AM&RC) Project, was one of the course’s many guest lecturers and offered critical insights on the importance of conservation planning for amphibians throughout the Hudson Valley. Instantly, I was captivated as she shared photos of spotted salamanders—so much so, that I soon decided to write a children’s book on their migration and ask Laura for her feedback!
Since that initial lecture, I’ve been fortunate to witness spotted salamanders up close. I recently joined Stephen Bredin, a graduate student studying amphibian road mortality and founder of the Tompkins County Amphibian Migration Patrol (TCAMP), to assist in monitoring amphibians on a stretch of road in Ithaca.
By disseminating information and recruiting volunteers to assist with amphibian migrations, TCAMP aims to raise awareness of local amphibians among residents of Tompkins and neighboring counties. TCAMP volunteers have already recorded over 4000 amphibians across three counties this spring.
It was eye-opening to witness firsthand the large number of amphibians killed by speeding cars, whose drivers were likely (and understandably) unaware of the hundreds of critters slowly migrating across the pavement. Two other students and I helped around 70 spring peepers, newts, and wood frogs safely cross the road, and we also learned how to monitor spotted salamander movements!
Every spring, spotted salamanders migrate from forests to vernal pools (also called woodland pools) to mate and lay their eggs. The pools also dry out during the summer, keeping out hungry fish that would otherwise eat salamander larvae.
-Spotted on the Road
What do you want people to know about salamanders and other amphibians on the move?
Amphibians are typically active when it is warm, dark, and wet outside. If you’re volunteering with TCAMP or AM&RC to help amphibians cross the road, remember to use a flashlight or headlamp and wear a neon vest that makes you more noticeable to drivers. Drivers may not see you or slow down for you. If you see a car, be sure to move off the road early!
While anyone can read and benefit from this book, I was specifically aiming to target elementary school kids through colorful illustrations and storytelling. I think it is incredibly important to teach kids about their surrounding environment starting from a young age.
How did being an undergraduate Migrations scholar shape you and your work?
The Migrations scholars program was so rewarding because of the diversity of thought that it welcomed. It is a rare privilege to be surrounded by students who share an interest in something but whose creative juices send each of them down differing paths.
My peers studied topics ranging from xenophobia to Southeast Asian refugees, and for my part, I was excited to offer an environmental lens to migration challenges. I learned so much about the world from my fellow scholars and their advice was invaluable as I furthered my own outputs.
How can others get involved?
If you’re interested in getting involved with the AM&RC Project, its website is a great place to start! It has detailed volunteer materials, forms to record data, and amphibian identification guides to enable volunteers to move amphibians across the road safely and appropriately.
To volunteer with TCAMP, join the Listserv or Facebook group. Volunteers will be provided with training videos, headlamps, high visibility vests, and other resources. Residents across other parts of the Finger Lakes region and beyond are also welcome to contact TCAMP for guidance on patrolling for amphibians!
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Program
Society for the Humanities: Spring Fellows' Conference on the theme of "Silence"
April 25, 2025
9:30 am
A. D. White House, Guerlac Room
Join this year's cohort of Fellows at the Society for the Humanities for presentations on work-in-progress on the 2024-25 focal theme of Silence. Each presentation will be followed by a Q&A. Open to the public.
Friday, April 25
Coffee and light refreshments: 9:30am
10:00am-11:30pm Panel 1
Migration to the Moon, and Other Theories of Avian Absence
Julia Laurel Mueller Society Fellow
Silent, Silenced, and Silencing: Black Deaf and Blind Education in the Jim Crow South
Jenifer Barclay Society Fellow
Transnational Historical Novels and Human Rights History
Cassie Falke Society Fellow
15-minute break
11:45am-12:45pm Panel 2
The Cold War, Capitalism, and the Color Line: Reading Silence in The Human Condition
Patchen Markell Faculty Fellow
Sounding Khmerican Life in Straight Thru Cambotown
Brian V. Sengdala Mellon Graduate Fellow
12:45pm-2:00pm Lunch
2:00-3:00pm Panel 3
C'Est Si Bon: The Queer Pas de Trois of Lorraine Hansberry’s “Chanson du Konallis”
Sara Warner Faculty Fellow
Is Yeshaya Silent-?-The Presence of the Jewish Dead
Jonathan Boyarin Faculty Fellow
15-minute break
3:15pm-4:45pm Keynote
Re-storying Silence: Mad, Deaf, and Disability Histories
Susan Burch
Professor of American Studies, Middlebury College
In this talk, Susan Burch traces some of the multivalent relationships silence has to institutionalization, institutionalized people, and to their kin on the outside. Centering on life stories and drawing on critical disability, Mad, and deaf history, she reveals wide-ranging meanings and functions of silences that cross generations and reach into the present day.
5:00pm Reception
This event will feature American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation.
Please contact adwhitehouse@cornell.edu for accommodations.
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The Elephants of Dzanga Bai - Photo and Sound Installation
Thursday, April 24 5-7pm
A.D. White House
“The Elephants of Dzanga Bai.” Photo and sound installation by Ivonne Kienast (K Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics) and Annie Lewandowski (Department of Music), in collaboration with the Society for the Humanities 2025-26 focal theme of "Silence" and the Annual Spring Fellows' Conference.
For more information visit: https://events.cornell.edu/event/the-elephants-of-dzanga-bai-photo-and-…
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Southeast Asia Program
Migrations Program