糖心Vlog传媒

Signature Experience Award recipient studies life, growth, and challenges in Texas immigrant community

In the 1970s, a small group of international students from the Federated States of Micronesia at Corsicana, Texas, founded what has become聽a burgeoning community of hundreds of Micronesian immigrants.聽 Since last fall,聽Nicole Ursin, a senior anthropology major at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has been conducting original research on the immigrants. She is able to do the research聽as one of more than 100 undergraduates who received a $1,000 grant to conduct research as part of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 Signature Experience Award Program. Since beginning her research, Ursin has visited Corsicana on multiple occasions to meet with community leaders and other longtime residents to learn about daily life in the community and why it has continued to grow. 鈥淢ost choose to stay because Corsicana is a small, quiet town that doesn鈥檛 have all the rush and stress of a big city. The Federated States of Micronesia also has an agreement with the United States where its citizens are allowed to live and work in the U.S. indefinitely,鈥� she said. Ursin is also looking into the unique challenges they face in their community, as well as how issues from their home islands over 11,000 miles away continue to affect them. 鈥淢icronesia was just hit by a major tropical storm a few weeks ago, which devastated much of the islands鈥� crops by flooding them with seawater,鈥� Ursin said. “Since then, it鈥檚 been more difficult for Corsicana residents to access imported staple foods like taro and breadfruit. The Corsicana community has been working to raise funds to send rice back to their home islands.鈥� Ursin credits her faculty mentor with introducing her to the Corsicana community and providing her with access to community leaders. 鈥淭he man who currently leads the community is one of Dr. Juliana Flinn鈥檚 former students, and we鈥檝e both been welcomed into it because of that,鈥� Ursin said. Throughout this process, Ursin herself has also gained valuable practical experience in anthropology. 鈥淚n the early stages of this project, I learned from Dr. Flinn the basics of proper anthropological field work. I鈥檝e done anthropological work in museums before but actual field work was completely unknown to me, and I鈥檓 very thankful that Dr. Flinn was there with me to show me exactly what to do,鈥� Ursin said. After finishing her research, Ursin hopes the lessons she has learned from doing the research and the experiences in the field will land her a career in anthropology. 鈥淢y interest overall isn鈥檛 just in Micronesia but in transnationalism and community development overall,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his research is helping me further understanding how a community develops in one specific area, why people stay, and how a city can help these communities that grow within them thrive.鈥� Overall, Ursin is thankful for the experience she gained from the Signature Experience Award program and encourages other students to look into the program. 鈥淚f you have a solid project in mind and a good mentor, you should definitely do it,鈥� Ursin said. 鈥淥n my own I couldn鈥檛 have gone to Texas and met all these people or know what to do when I met them. It鈥檚 an experience I鈥檒l remember for a long time.鈥� Ursin will be a member of a research panel discussion where she will discuss her research at the Undergraduate Research and Creative Works Expo on Thursday, April 18.