Oshkosh is one of the refugee resettlement cities in the Fox Valley Region, and many immigrants and newcomers come through our door. Still, many misconceptions and myths about immigrants and the complex US immigration system remain.
To offer guidance and foster community conversations on this topic, WALC will be hosting monthly learning circles focused on all things immigration-related starting February 2025. The activities we will engage in these learning circles will range from teach-ins by invited speakers to facilitated group discussions moderated by our Executive Director Dr. Chu May Paing.
Targeted audience: WALC staff, teachers, and volunteers, Community members with interest in learning more about immigration and immigrants, Community advocates who want to expand their knowledge about different immigrant cultures and to better develop cultural sensitivity when interacting with people from diverse backgrounds
The February Immigration Learning Circle will take place on February 19th and focus on Immigration 101. Building on the American Immigration Council’s report on “How the Immigration System in the US works”, Dr. Chu will present on different immigration programs and statues in the US. Participants will have time to ask questions, share experience, and engage in discussion.
The March Immigration Learning Circle is Social Work 101 with Meri Kelm Lubinsky from Aurora Health. Although WALC is primarily an educational organization, many of our volunteers, staff, and teachers have inevitably have to take on the role of a social worker when helping our learners with a variety of needs, including, understand their mail, taking them to doctor’s appointments, and more. Meri Kelm Lubinsky will present on what social work involves and what those of us who might have to stepped into that role without proper training should know. Meri is the medical social worker at Aurora Health in Oshkosh and works with many refugee community members in a healthcare setting.
In April, the Immigration Learning Circle will focus on The History of the Border with Dr. Juan Garcia Oyervides and students from the UWO Latino Studies Program. This workshop introduces historical changes in the political and cultural landscape of the territories that make up the border of Mexico and the United States and invites further reflection about the ways in which these changes have affected the ways in which we think about immigration today.
More information on future Immigration Learning Circles coming soon!