My Life Lesson (Maria Alejandra Hernandez)

During each year of Poetry in Place, students flourish as they transform into poets, and this year was no exception. At one of our workshops, we had the privilege of welcoming local community leaders to come share their stories, and it was from these inspiring conversations that students of Marshall Math Science Academy created poetry

Let Her Light Shine (Aaysha Noor)

At one of our workshops, we had the privilege of welcoming local community leaders to come share their stories, and it was from these inspiring conversations that students of Marshall Math Science Academy created poetry as witness to the legacy of these leaders.

Tacos in Tijuana

Tijuana is tense these days. Between standardized narco-crime and border disputes, there is always something of note happening in the city. When I traveled there a year ago, I went with the intention of learning about where the border wall ends on the beach. I went with the goal of gleaning a takeaway, some sort

Where the Border Wall Meets the Sea

During the last presidential election, one of President Trump’s favorite mantras was: “Build the wall,” a promise to construct a physical barrier between the U.S./Mexico border. But as I learned in my first year seminar on human migration, a border wall already exists along the most populated sections of the border. Inspired by my class,

Envisioning Good for All

What is the common good? Of course, asking that question leads to a slew of others: what group of people does the common good encompass; how do we pursue the common good; and that timeless inquiry: what is goodness itself? We ponder these questions and more as we embark on a year of discovering what

Class and Immigration

The Center for Public Humanities has the privilege of welcoming various speakers onto campus. The keynote lecturer at this year’s symposium was Edwidge Danticat, the highly respected poet, author, and speaker. Talking about immigration and refugees, she quoted Home, a beautiful poem by Warsan Shire, who wrote: “No one leaves home unless home is the

Welcoming Difference

On April 4th, I joined a small group of Messiah students, and alumni in attending the Sixth Annual Freedom Seder at Beth El Temple in Harrisburg. The topic of this year’s event was immigration, and the refugee crisis, focusing on how the three major monotheistic world religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, are called to