Andrea Lowgren

“The Reasons We Are Here” is a project focusing on the stories of immigration from community college students, staff, faculty, and alumni. It consists of a series of over twenty oral histories transcribed and compiled into an e-book for use as a text in college US history survey courses. The goals are for students to see immigrants as a core part of recent US history and to disrupt the media’s oversimplification of immigrant motivations. Students will analyze the narratives to explain the impact of US foreign and immigration policy on the lives of individuals. This project also includes portraits, a gallery exhibition, and a website for a connection to the broader community.