The Sandspur

Issue date: 4/29/05 Section: Holt News

Media Credit: COURTESY OF MONICA SAWDAYE

Ever walked into the first day of class and realized you are about to learn things you never knew existed? I experienced this the day I walked into a class entitled, "Immigrants, Refugees, and the Undocumented."

Professor Linda Allegro is a petite fireball of knowledge that makes the room buzz with a rapid flow of information. After the flow of information calms down to a gentle stream, she asks students to share their own thoughts. The buzz in the room begins again, sometimes leading into intense student debate. Critical thinking can be a challenge in today's world. Critical thinking involves serious investigation into personal beliefs, past experience, and a thorough understanding of the possible effects and outcomes of any given situation.

Professor Allegro's forum is an example of how these question and answer sessions encourage critically thinking minds. To share a few answers of her own, I introduce Professor Allegro.

What is your academic background?

I have a Ph.D. in Political Science from New School University in New York City. My dissertation is a study of Puerto Rican and Dominican labor migrations. Specifically, I explore the processes by which low wage workers turn to the welfare system to make ends meet. Through in-depth interviews with 80 welfare recipients I was able to construct generational typologies to understand first and second generation perceptions of welfare entitlement in an era of welfare restructuring.

I earned my Master's degree from the University of South Florida where I also did my undergraduate work in International Studies.

Where did you teach previously? What brought you to Central Florida?

I was a visiting professor of Urban Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst Massachusetts for two years prior to our move to Winter Park where my husband, Scott Carter, accepted a visiting position in the Economics department at Rollins. I have also taught at various colleges of the City University of New York. As a graduate student I worked at Boricua College, a small Puerto Rican liberal arts college in upper Manhattan. Through my interaction with some of my students who were welfare mothers struggling to get an education, I was inspired to write on the politics of welfare in New York City, which became my dissertation topic.

The theme of your current class at Hamilton Holt is called Immigrants, Refugees, and the Undocumented. What do you feel is the most important aspect of this class?

In an age of globalization when the whole world is influenced by the expansion of the global economy, I think it is imperative that we understand the restrictions in labor movement while capital moves across borders in an unrestricted fashion. In other words it is important to study international migrations with an eye on macro processes that shape the movement of people across international boundaries. A central theme we are exploring in this class is why undocumented migrations have risen at a time when tighter border security measures have been designed to prevent unauthorized entry.

Have any of your own personal actions or studies impacted the policies of immigration, refugees, and/or the undocumented?

I worked for the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network in Newark on a project to educate service providers on the recent changes in refugee policy. My work entailed working directly with service providers and their refugee clients in facilitating their resettlement experience.

You recently went to some discussion forums in NY. What was the forum? What did you learn/experience? Did you hear any amazing stories that you could share with us?

I was invited to speak at an Immigration Teach In on Long Island at St. Joseph's College recently. Several undocumented workers shared their experiences coming to the US and the obstacles they face living as "illegal aliens." One undocumented individual from El Salvador made a rather profound statement. He said, when he came to this country the first thing he had to do was to get an ID. He needed an identity. He needed to be known. I thought that was a very profound statement because for many people who live and work in the underground economy their persona is largely invisible and yet they make valuable contributions to our economy and society. Everyone has a right to live and work. Without an ID we are "nobody" and that is very tragic to think that in a liberal democracy like ours there is no discussion of the larger meaning of human rights that we should all be entitled to.

If you would like to see the US change a position on immigration, refugee, or undocumented policy or policies, what would the change/s be?

We need to design sensible immigration policies that encourage rather than discourage flows of capital and people across the border. Equally important, our goal should be to promote economic growth within migrant sending communities and address more equitable approaches to capital distribution.

Tell us, without giving anything away, about your upcoming class this summer called Urban Culture: Graffiti to Hip Hop.

I am interested in the potential the hip hop movement has for producing social change. It is exciting to hear about the side of hip hop that embraces community, solidarity, respect and social justice. I am always interested in hearing youth voices on these values and strategies for achieving them. Organized and intelligent youth ideals have the potential to bring about many important changes. I think many of these values can be found in the global hip hop movement.

So here was a little snippet of the buzz you will feel when walking into Professor Allegro's classroom. I hope each and every one of you takes advantage of the plethora of knowledge on a wide spectrum of topics in the Rollins College Hamilton Holt program.

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