December 03, 2008  

A photo exhibit now on display at the Watson Institute highlights Brown students’ work with refugees in Providence – as it also provides a preview of “The Year of the International City: Providence, Urbanization, Internationalization.” For the exhibit, members of Brown Refugee Youth Tutoring and Enrichment (BRYTE) gave locally resettled refugees disposable cameras to capture images of their lives and views of the city. Looking ahead, a full program of activities analyzing the international dimensions of Providence is planned to ramp up in the spring.

The refugees’ photos and stories line the walls of the Institute’s second floor. The exhibit promotes a sense of community and accomplishment within the refugee population involved, said Rachel Levenson '10, its lead coordinator. At the same time, the show “has particularly strong resonance with the current internationalization effort at Brown because of its dual capacity to show the Brown/RISD community the degree to which Providence is a globalized city,” she said.

Under the BRYTE program, Brown students make weekly visits to the homes of resettled refugees from Burundi, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Liberia, Rwanda, Somalia, and other countries. They provide tutoring and mentoring to refugees ranging from five years of age to their late 60s. BRYTE, which is coordinated by Levenson, Kimberly Dickinson '09, and Aliza Kreisman '10, works in collaboration with the International Institute of Rhode Island and Brown’s Swearer Center for Public Service.

Providence will be the subject of a range of collaborative seminars, conferences, service projects, and research initiatives as the Year of the International City ramps up in the spring. Brown's Urban Studies Program has been working with the Office of International Affairs and Office of the Vice President of Research to create a program that will identify opportunities for research and educational collaborations; convene global academic, government, and business thought leaders; and create solutions to growing global urban issues. Already, a course on “The City and The World: The Legal Aspects of the Globalization of Cities” (INTL 1150) is planned for the coming semester, led by Watson Institute Visiting Associate Professor Yishai Blank, of Tel-Aviv University.

The outline for “The Year of the International City” cites global urban trends and the new demands they create. “In 2007, for the first time in history, more than 50 percent of the world’s population lived in urban rather than rural areas. By 2030, it is projected that five billion people will live in urban areas, 61 percent of the estimated world population. This rapid pace of the urban transformation will have enormous implications in areas such as urban poverty and inequality, energy consumption, water and sanitation systems, immigration, disease treatment and prevention, environmental sustainability, and more. These challenges raise myriad questions and problems for all involved in research, education, policy, and economic development.”

Researchers at Brown can begin to study the political, social, and economic impact of internationalization close to home, the plan says. “The urban issues present in the city of Providence mirror those presented in other international cities. The migration of new residents from Latin America, South East Asia, and Africa has transformed Providence. According to the 2000 Census, it is a ‘majority-minority’ city.”

By working across academic disciplines and in collaboration with the range of actors here and abroad, Brown is looking to create innovative and sustainable approaches to urban growth while developing the next generation of urban leadership.