About us
This project was created by the Miami University (Ohio) Geoffrion Family undergraduate fellows as a part of the 2020-2021 Humanities Center Altman Program on Migrations. To learn more about the Geoffrion program and the Miami Humanities Center visit http://humanitiescenter.miamioh.edu/.
Jessica Baloun
Jessica is a senior studying history and international studies with a minor in Russian. Her experience studying in Kosovo and Russia shaped her academic interest in the legacies of the former Soviet Union. Her current research project as a Geoffrion fellow focuses on the Nansen passport and its role in early Soviet migration and its legacy on international refugee law.
Jessica contributed to the Spanish-Soviet portion of this project.
Elyse Legeay
Elyse Legeay is a senior majoring in international studies with a co-major in global and intercultural studies and a minor in Middle East, Jewish, and Islamic studies. Her research interests include the geopolitics of borders and migration, colonialism in North Africa, and gender and identity in how it relates to forced migration. Her current research as a Geoffrion fellow focuses on gender dynamics in the Syrian refugee camp, Za’atari, in Jordan.
Elyse contributed to, with the support of the Myaamia Center, the Myaamia Forced Removal portion of this project.
Sean Longbrake
Sean is a junior honors student majoring in mathematics and classical languages with a minor in computer science. His research interests include language evolution, Greek and Roman poetry, ancient epigraphy, and reception of antiquity. Currently, he is working on a project comparing the writings of Ovid, Judith Kerr, and Marina Tsvetaeva.
Sean contributed to the Sicilian migration portion of this project.
Savannah Powell
Savannah is a junior majoring in political science and East Asian languages and cultures with a concentration in Japanese. Her research interests include political ideology, Soviet and modern Japanese history, and representations of history in literature. Her research project as a Geoffrion Family fellow examines the formation of Zainichi Korean identity in post-war Japan as represented in Zainichi literature.
Savannah contributed to the Korean-Japanese portion of this project.
Faith Walker
Faith is a senior anthropology and art & architecture history major, with minors in archaeology and museums & society. Her research interests include Irish archaeology and folklife, public humanities, decolonization, and the effect of history on identity. A 2019 Undergraduate Summer Scholar, she is currently developing aspects of that research into a children’s book. Her current research examines the role of the environment in early American expansion and decorative arts.
Faith contributed to the Scots-Irish portion of this project.