Klara Grygo
Title 1: Immigration Policy and Law: Investigating Law Enforcement Approaches in New Jersey
Abstract 1:
This summer I interned at an immigration law firm in New Jersey, AG Law. In my internship, I worked on a project evaluating the implementation of the Immigrant Trust Directive by law enforcement agencies throughout New Jersey. This directive was released by the New Jersey Attorney General regarding immigration policy in the state. On the day-to-day level I conducted outreach to law enforcement agencies, compiled and organized records kept by these law enforcement agencies, and assessed processing protocols per the Attorney General’s directive. I also assisted on projects within the law firm, such as researching and creating informational content for law firm clients. I gained invaluable experience working in a law firm and within policy. In my presentation, I will focus on what working in a law firm is like, and what it is like to work on a large-scale long-term project that deals with immigration and policy.

Shannon Feng
Title 2: Summer at the Amherst Historical Society
Abstract 2:
For the summer of 2022, I interned at the Amherst Historical Society, a museum dedicated to preserving local Amherst history. My job mainly entailed two parts: daily upkeep in the museum, and researching and developing an exhibition. For the upkeep, I cataloged new object accessions, updated the museum system, and physically cared for the objects that needed maintenance. For my exhibition, I was interested in looking at intersections between local Polish immigrants and the police, and I engaged with a variety of different sources including archival research, oral histories, and police reports. I discovered two parallel stories featuring the town of Ludlow in 1921, where the police either upheld the immigrants’ rights or prosecuted them for violating discriminatory labor laws. My experience equipped me with a deeper understanding of immigrant rights, interdisciplinary work between material culture and legal history, as well as a basic understanding of museum work.

Karina Wu Fung
Title 3: Movement, Love, and Liberation: An Exploration of Queerness and Immigration within the East Asian Diaspora in the United States
Abstract 3:
Over the past summer, I conducted independent history research at Columbia University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. My research explores the intersections of queerness and immigration within the East Asian diaspora in the U.S. to understand how historical migration patterns, cultural tradition, exposure to media, and immigration policy impact the community’s perception of queerness. On a day-to-day basis, I analyzed poetry, essays, and oral histories revolving around the queer Asian experience to contextualize historical trends of the diaspora. A challenge I faced was not being able to conduct formal interviews due to protocol requirements and time constraints. In place of this, I supplemented my research with auto-ethnographic methodologies to expand on the impacts of events such as COVID-19 and anti-Asian hate, on this community. This exploration intends to reveal the generational disconnect that queer Asians feel within their communities and bring a new understanding of a collective reality.