For refugees and many natives, the Americas represent a land of opportunity where dreams can come true.
In the face of border issues, economics, social upheavals, free trade, migration, political maneuvering and increased security concerns, is it feasible for the Americas to live up to this billing? Should it be?
AmeriQuests, a new academic e-journal based at Vanderbilt University and the official publication of the Center for the Americas at Vanderbilt, will examine issues surrounding the American dream and lived realities in the Americas twice a year.
"Part of the problem in terms of xenophobia, racism and general fear of the other is the sense that migrants who come to America are on a quest only to pluck the gold off the trees," said Robert Barsky, founder and co-editor of AmeriQuests and professor of French and comparative literature at Vanderbilt.
Barsky, an expert in language studies, migration, border and refugee issues, arrived at Vanderbilt last year from Yale University, where he was the Canadian Bicentennial Visiting Associate Professor. The idea for a journal about border issues came with him, but its focus was sharpened when he opted to partner with the Center for the Americas at Vanderbilt.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
Jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu