Paul N. McDaniel

Through examination of a multiyear, interdisciplinary, qualitative, community-based participatory research project that began in 2017, this paper explores the role of storytelling in the transference of knowledge, history, and sense of purpose. Storytelling is important for both the storyteller and those who receive stories, creating an emotional connection and compelling listeners and readers to action. To inform and shape the narrative regarding contemporary U.S. immigration, we embarked on a storytelling project through a university-community partnership. The storytellers were immigrant students whose stories were featured in the 2018 and 2019 editions of the book Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories From an Atlanta High School. While the project initially focused on producing a published collection of stories and creating opportunities for public engagement, its larger aim was to connect a young group of Atlantans to each other for deeper exploration around immigration. Two research questions shape this paper: (a) What do we know about young immigrant Atlantans’ perceptions of their own immigration experiences? and (b) What effect does exposure to individual immigration stories have on community members? This paper examines how community-based service-learning initiatives create new visions for civic engagement and what research methods help us ascertain community impact and opinion. We assert that inclusive storytelling from both positions (i.e., story-teller and story-hearer) is vital for improved and more inclusive immigrant integration.

Welcoming America, a nonprofit organization based in metropolitan Atlanta, has grown a membership network throughout the U.S. of nonprofit organizations and municipalities that present their communities as “welcoming cities” for immigrants. In 2018, Welcoming America launched the “One Region Initiative” to cultivate a concept of a “welcoming region” to transcend municipal boundaries. The purpose of this paper is to examine One Region member municipalities’ implementation of the plans and recommendations set forth in 2018. We specifically examined Phase I of the pilot program, which took place between 2019 and 2021 amid the broader multiscalar context of changing geographies of immigrant settlement and immigration policy. We do so through participant observation as One Region steering committee members, and applied researchers who have been engaged in immigrant integration work in the Atlanta metro area and throughout the country for over a decade. Overall, we find unevenly completed recommendations across locales (often more tied to resources than actual immigrant population share) and core areas (often tied to business friendliness and government).

The online pivot has opened many people’s eyes to new possibilities and challenges in the postpandemic world. This article describes what five geographers in three different countries learned from the experiment and assesses how the lessons can be carried forward. One of the big surprises for some of us was the extent to which students were open to different ways of learning during the 2020–2021 academic year. It is clear that some students wish to continue their programs either partially or completely online, although it is also clear that students continue to enjoy field work. The online pivot also showed us that assessment needs to be reexamined, student stress levels need to be lowered, and inequities among students need to be addressed. There are challenges associated with online education across international borders. From a faculty perspective, we have found that nobody needs to be isolated from research opportunities and collaboration, but there are also limits on what we can do. There are growing threats to academic freedom, and we need to move faculty away from precarious employment. Finally, some of us learned the importance of work–life balance.

Amid the shift to virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, educators across disciplines were faced with developing new strategies for active learning. This article discusses findings from a case study of using Google Earth for virtual field trips and projects in an undergraduate Geography of North America course, assessing the process of incorporating Google Earth and student perspectives on their engagement with this technology. With broader applications to secondary and post-secondary education contexts, findings suggest increased student engagement and an appreciation for the opportunity to work with a geospatial technology mapping platform without needing prior coding, software, or mapping experience.