According to a news report from Harrisonburg, VA, a college in the Shenandoah Valley is conducting a class for students that will open their minds (suggesting they are closed now) about the value of immigration. You know, gotta get those young minds early.
Bridgewater College students are learning about immigration in the Shenandoah Valley through a “field-based” course, studying immigration history and policy in class and visiting museums, Ethiopian and Indian restaurants, a mosque and a Russian Baptist Church.
_______
“I want to show them how immigrants have shaped the character of the Shenandoah Valley over the years,” said Lisa Porter, the Bridgewater professor leading the class. “It’s problematic when people are exposed to immigration solely through the media.”
______
“We want to begin a conversation in the community,” she said. “That’s how phobias and stereotypes are dismantled.”
Students said they didn’t know until they took this class how much other cultures were bringing to our culture. The reporter then launches into a discussion about a visit to an Indian restaurant. Now who doesn’t like a good curry once in awhile.
But, it makes me wonder if the class also tells about some of the bad things other cultures bring, like female genital mutilation, polygamy, and honor killings.
Harrisonburg, VA must be “welcoming” because it’s been an important refugee resettlement site for groups like Virginia Council of Churches.