Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, Sofia Guarisma ’27 ventures to Progreso Latino in Central Falls, a community-based organization that serves immigrant communities. Each day, her tasks vary. On some days, she helps with website development. On other days, she may help immigrants translate government documents.
Guarisma’s internship is part of ETHN 1750A: “Immigrant Social Movements: Bridging Theory and Practice.”
Guarisma decided to take ETHN 1750A because she thought the class would give her “more insight into immigrant movements.” As a sociology concentrator focusing on immigration, she told The Herald she wanted to contribute to the Providence community in a tangible way.
Guarisma said that federal actions taken under the Trump Administration, which has put the status of many immigrants in question, have “impacted the climate” of the organization. Over the semester, she has seen an influx of people to the clinic.
“I’ve learned a lot about the immigration process, detainment processes and the community in Rhode Island, which I’ve engaged with in the past, but not in such a personal manner,” Guarisma said. “I want to go into nonprofit work in the future and I feel like this experience has been pretty good for that.”
But Guarisma is only one of many students bridging the gap between the classroom and the local community.
When registering for courses, Abraham Carrillo-Galindo ’28 was intrigued by the volunteering aspect of HISP 0750B: “The Latin American Diaspora in the U.S.” On a typical day as a volunteer, Carrillo-Galindo heads to the George Wiley Center in Pawtucket where his work ranges from phone banking to creating subtitles and interpreting events.
While in class, students are given the opportunity to share their volunteering experiences whether it be “fun memories” or asking peers for advice, Carrillo-Galindo said. In addition to these discussions, students learn about the Latin American diaspora starting in the beginning of the 20th century by engaging with readings, films and music.
“Most classes that deal with history or politics or culture of a given community — even if that is the U.S. community — tend to stay within the realms of theory,” said Sebastián Antezana Quiroga, who teaches HISP 0750B and is an international humanities postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Hispanic Studies and the Cogut Institute for the Humanities. “The idea is to try to break (away from) that a little bit and show how whatever material we’re covering in class has real implications.”
He hopes the volunteering allows students to engage in class materials with a more “intimate” and “real” perspective.
In ANTH 1311: “Language and Medicine in Practice,” co-taught by Associate Professor of Anthropology Katherine Mason and Associate Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics Paja Faudree, students commit to participating in a Providence-based practicum during which they conduct participant observations, a core methodology in anthropology.
“It’s just what it sounds like,” Mason said. “You observe, but you’re also participating.” She explained that most students in the class are pre-med and are shadowing medical professionals. But in the class, they are tasked with looking at the work through the lens of anthropology where they have to pay careful attention to the language in those settings.
At the end of the semester, the students use their field notes to create a presentation that is shown to the community partners they worked with.
“We’re really hoping students gain an appreciation for how important language is in medical interactions,” Mason said. “It’s a different way of experiencing a common experience.”
