A joint initiative of Utah State University and the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress will conduct a field-school project, beginning next week, for a field project called Voices: Refugees in Cache Valley. Designed to collect the stories and life experiences of refugees, the project will seek voices from Karen, Burmese, Eritrean, and other refugee communities in Cache Valley, Utah. We'll talk about the project and hear stories of refugees who've settled in Utah on Tuesday's Access Utah.
During the program, Chit Moe, a USU student and Karen Refugee, describes a traditional dance of the Karen people. You can watch a performance of this dance here.
The project is spearheaded by USU's Randy Williams, Fife Folklore Archives Curator and Oral History Specialist, and Lisa Gabbert, Associate Professor of English and Director of the Folklore Program at USU Lisa Gabbert. They join Access Utah with Guha Shankar, Folklife Specialist of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, and Chit Moe, a member of Utah's Karen community of refugees who studies computer science at USU.
The stories of refugees who participate in the project will be presented in the Logan Library, on May 28th, at 7 p.m. You can follow the project on twitter for updates and more information as the projects unfolds, with the account @USUFolklore and at USU's Merrill-Cazier Library.
