TEL AVIV (Press Release)— A recent Wellesley College graduate, Courtney White found a job in Malta at a forum that promotes cooperation between parliaments in the Mediterranean region. Her job involved producing communications materials and helping to organize meetings and events. But the Millerton, New York, native was more interested in a human crisis happening just outside her office.
Every year, thousands of African migrants wash up on Malta’s shores in rickety boats. Many of them are arrested, then moved to overcrowded detention centers. Moved by the migrants’ stories, White shifted her career plans toward helping stateless people often left adrift in geopolitics — and to do so, she turned to Tel Aviv University’s new International M.A. in Migration Studies last summer.
“TAU’s migration studies program has given me a better lens to view the issue of migration,” White says, discussing her time and studies in Israel — a nation both founded on and challenged by migration. “I’ve learned a lot about the theory and history of migration, and I’ve developed research and analysis skills that will definitely help me in my career.”
After her 2008 graduation with a bachelor’s in political science, White moved to Malta to start a career in the field. At the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, a forum for regional cooperation on political, economic, and social issues, she did everything from managing the database to writing speeches for United Nations summits.
There, she saw many parallels to Israel’s tide of migration from Africa. In search of a better life, the migrants depart their home countries in rickety boats and hope the currents of the Mediterranean Sea will take them to Europe. Thousands end up in Malta ever year, straining the resources of the tiny island nation.
“Hearing migrants’ stories and knowing they still have so much more to go through just makes you want to help,” White says. “They are so grateful for the smallest things, like being accompanied to an appointment. To you it feels like nothing, but to them it’s everything.”
In the summer of 2013, White came to TAU’s migration studies program to learn from some of the world’s leading experts on the issue, and after completing the summer program, she enrolled in the year-long master’s program. Her courses cover a variety of subjects, from research methods to theories of migration to the history of Jewish Diasporas and migration. Impressed by her teachers and classmates, she says she has already gained a deeper understanding of the motivations and challenges of migration and learned to use tools like statistics to do analysis.
In addition to her studies, White volunteers for the African Refugee Development Center in south Tel Aviv. The ARDC assists thousands of African migrants who have made their way to Israel in recent years — and generated public debate as to how to handle them. She helps migrants navigate the US Diversity Visa Program, preparing them for interviews, filling out applications, and following up with them throughout the process. She also advises them on family reunification options in the US.
Once she completes the TAU program, Courtney plans to return to working with migrants in Boston — this time with a broader, more international perspective, nurtured at Tel Aviv University.
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Preceding provided by Tel Aviv University