Since 2012, upper-level Spanish service learning classes at the University of Florida have partnered with SPOHP to connect students with recent immigrants and document their experiences.
“La voz de experiencia: Consejos para inmigrantes / The Voice of Experience: Advice for Immigrants” (2015)
- Los inmigrantes vienen a los Estados Unidos por varias razones, con actitudes y expectativas diferentes, por motivos económicos, políticos o familiares. Por lo tanto, no deben ser vistos como una sola entidad, ya que cada uno tiene circunstancias diferentes y metas distintas. Algunos tienen papeles y recursos económicos, otros no. Unos tienen títulos universitarios, otros son analfabetos. Hay quienes tienen familia esperándolos; hay los que buscan su camino solitos.
Pero al llegar todos enfrentan desafíos semejantes: aprender inglés, buscar casa, trabajo, comunidad, y adaptarse a una cultura muy diferente. Todos luchan, todos tropiezan. Cada uno de estos inmigrantes ha ido superando obstáculos. Ellos son la voz de la experiencia, y en este video ofrecen sus consejos a los recién llegados, a los que vienen en camino y a los que piensan en irse de su país. Escuchémoslos. - Immigrants come to the United States for many reasons, for economic, political, and family reasons. Hence, they should not be viewed and a single entity, since each one has different circumstances and distinct goals. Some come legally and with economic resources, others do not. Some have university degrees, some are illiterate. There are those who have family waiting to welcome them here; and there are those who come to make their way alone.
But when they arrive, they face similar challenges: learning English, finding housing, work, and community, adapting to a very different culture. All of them struggle, all of them stumble. Each one of these immigrants has overcome obstacles, and in this video they offer advice to the recently arrived, to those who are en route, and to those who are thinking about leaving their country. Let’s listen to them. - Available on YouTube and the SPOHP archives by Project ID Cat. No. VIDS 207.
“First Generation American: The Children of Spanish American Immigrants” (2015)
- In this video we interview four young people who have lived the experience of being a First Generation American. We aim to understand what their life is like at home, what their vision of the world is, and how they construct their identity from two or more cultures. A video documentary by the students of SPN 3948 Service Learning, Spring of 2015. Instructor, Antonio-Sajid López, produced by the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, edited by Deborah Hendrix, April 2015. 27:54 minutes.
- Available on YouTube and the SPOHP archives by Project ID Cat. No. VIDS 165.
“Recordando Mi Pais : Remembering My Country” (2014)
- Immigration is a bridge that connects people and places. Immigrants bring with them traditions from their countries of origin, as well as experiences and new ideas that affect their new home.
But the experiences, the journey, and the moments lived along the way become part of a larger story. A video documentary by the students of SPN 3948 Service Learning, Fall of 2014. Instructor, Kathy Navajas, produced by the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, edited by Deborah Hendrix, December 2014. 32:52 minutes. - Available on YouTube and the SPOHP archives by Project ID Cat. No. VIDS 140.
“In Search of the American Dream” (2014)
- Originally, the American dream was a beacon for early pioneers and immigrants, who turned toward it in the hope of escaping poverty and socioeconomic stagnation. Those migrants brought with them the knowledge that America was a great opportunity offered generously by God. The United States has exported beyond its borders the guiding principles of the American dream: equality, freedom, prosperity, justice, social progress and enterprise for all. However, the abysmal imbalance between the rich countries and the Third World, plus the systematic support of dictatorships in exchange for benefits and economic interests, has turned the American dream into a flickering light on an uncertain future in an unknown country. In this short documentary, we present four stories of those who made the journey in search of a dream … the American dream. Created by students in SPN 3948 with Antonio Sajid López as a project of UF’s Portuguese and Spanish Studies Department. Produced by the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, edited by Deborah Hendrix, April 2014. 27:05 minutes.
- Available on YouTube and the SPOHP archives by Project ID Cat. No. VIDS 118.
“The Family in Transition” (2014)
- In almost every culture the family is the most important social entity, although the members and their roles vary from one culture to another. Migration to a different country changes the family dynamic, sometime leaving parents far from their children, or grandchildren far from their grandparents, or couples separated by borders and laws. How do those who change cultures, languages and customs as children or young people experience the family in transition? How to keep loved ones close, despite the distances? What to do when faced with other models of family, other expectations? We invite you to watch the stories of some young people who are living the family in transition. Created by students of SPN 3948 with Professor Kathy Navajas as a project of UF’s Portugese and Spanish Studies Department. Produced by the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, edited by Deborah Hendrix, April 2014. 29:09 minutes.
- Available on YouTube and the SPOHP archives by Project ID Cat. No. VIDS 119.
“What Did They Hope For and What Did They Find: 7 Stories of Transition From One America To Another” (2013)
- Dr. Kathy Navajas led the SPN 3948 Service Learning Class to create this video entitled, What Did They Hope For and What Did They Find: 7 Stories of Transition From One America To Another with the support of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Florida in the Spring semester of 2013. The class divided into teams that videorecorded the experiences of seven people as they adjusted to life in the United States. Each interview was edited to create seven individual stories, and the result was combined to create this single 35-minute documentary. Edited by Deborah Hendrix, April 2013. 35:17 minutes.
- Available on YouTube and the SPOHP archives by Project ID Cat. No. VIDS 100.
“Dos lenguas, dos culturas, Conjugando las diferencias” (2013)
- Dos lenguas, dos culturas: Conjugando las diferencias (Two Languages, Two Cultures: Conjugating the Differences) was created in the Fall of 2013 when students in the Spanish Service Learning class at the University of Florida, under the instruction of Professor Kathy Navajas, did a class project with Spanish-speaking immigrants in Gainesville, Florida. The topic was biculturality, how one lives two cultures and two languages. Produced by the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program and the Spanish and Portuguese Studies Program. Edited by Deborah Hendrix, November 2013. 43:52 minutes.
- Available on YouTube and the SPOHP archives by Project ID Cat. No. VIDS 107.
“11 Stories of Work and Life, Florida Immigrants 2012” (2012)
- Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Florida is pleased to feature the results of a special project launched by Professor Kathy Dwyer Navajas in the fall of 2012 with SPN 3948. Professor Navajas’s students interviewed Hispanic immigrants on the topic of work, a theme chosen by the class. Using work as a focus of their research, the class divided into two person teams. Each team was required to develop, create, and edit a 5-minute “mini-doc” featuring a person selected and willing to tell his or her experiences and thoughts relating to work. The results were 11 compelling stories not only about work, but about the hard choices people face. These stories are compiled here in one final 59-minute piece. With much assistance from: Judy Shoaf, the director of the Language Learning Center, the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, Gillian Lord, the chair of Spanish and Portuguese Studies, and Víctor Jordán. Edited by Deborah Hendrix, November 2012. 59:39 minutes.
- Available on YouTube and the SPOHP archives by Project ID Cat. No. VIDS 090.
For additional information, contact SPOHP, call the offices at (352) 392-7168, and connect with us online today.