TCK 2018 CONFERENCE
6th Annual Third Culture Kids & Global Nomads Conference
Finding Peace Within the Pieces
February 24th 2018
Parking Information:
There is ample, free parking around Clark University. TCK conference attendees may park in the Admissions lot (entrance on Maywood Street) and on the upper level of the commuter section of the parking garage (entrance on Downing Street). Street parking is also available along Main, Woodland, Florence, and Maywood Streets, but please check street signs carefully for parking restrictions as some areas limit street parking to two hours. Winter parking bans may be in place on some streets.
WiFi Information:
To access the WiFi, please join the ClarkGuestWiFi network and sign in using any social media account once it is connected.
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9:30 – 10:20am: Conference Registration
Tilton Hall, Higgins University Center, 2nd Floor
Breakfast and sign-in, and collection of conference materials.
10:30 – 11:20am: Session 1
The TCK Community: This is my home.
Presenters: Swathi Nachiappan, Babson College
Room: JC 001
Throughout my research for my book on TCKs, I have discovered that although we have a multitude of different combinations of countries and cultures, we share values across our differences. We don’t seem to fit in with any specific group across the world, but we fit in with each other due to these similar thought processes. This is our community, and this is where we are understood. For me, this is home, and I’d like to share some tidbits from my book research on how I came to that conclusion through my own personal journey as well as those I interviewed along the way.
Faculty/Staff Panel
Panelists: Patricia Doherty, Constance Whitehead Hanks, Ross Glover
Room: Grace Conference Room
This panel discussion will explore new ways of helping internationally mobile students find a sense of belonging within their educational community.
11:30am – 12:20pm: Session 2
Teaching Empathy Will Lead to Progress
Presenter: Ana De la Torre
Room: Sackler 121
I became involved in learning about responsible consumerism, focusing on using less plastic, as 90% of waste in the ocean is plastic. I researched products that do not use animals, eating less meat, not only because of the unethical practice in the meat industry, but because of health issues prominent in low-income communities, where issues that involve the deterioration of our environment are linked to areas where most low-income and minority groups reside, contributing to negative stereotypes. I learned to feel empathy and act on it, because as an immigrant child, issues seemed impossible to solve – finding issues to solve helped my find a space within a strange society.
Picking Up the Crumbs: An exploration of food politics in the lives of TCKs
Presenters: Kaiomi Inniss, Chikondi Thangata, Clark University
Room: Jonas Clark 001
In the lives of Third Culture Kids, one thing that can stay consistent is the food your parents make. Sometimes, your host country’s culture can influence your native-style cooking, giving rise to “fusion food”. Asian fusion, Tex-Mex, we’ve even seen “pho-rittos” – a fusion between Vietnamese pho and Mexican burritos. What are the implications of this? How does one draw the line between food appropriation and food appreciation? How does the international view TCKs possess impact this? In this session, we will discuss the politics of food. Don’t come hungry though! This is a discussion-based workshop and all are welcome.
“The Road Home”: A Short-film Viewing and Discussion of a Cross-Culturally Challenged School Boy
Presenter: Patricia Doherty and Constance Whitehead Hanks
Room: JEFF 218
In a few moments, life’s challenges can be thrust upon a child trying to navigate cultural differences. In this session we will view the short film “The Road Home” by Rahul Gandotra, (Palm Springs Shortfest Winner and Chicago International Children’s Film Festival Winner). Following the film Patty and Connie will facilitate a discussion about the main character, Pico, and his “problem”, his “resolution,” and the insights that Pico’s “struggles” may provide. This short but poignant film offers the opportunity for multiple reflections and perspectives, so discussion will be adapted to the participants in the session and their desired learning outcomes
12:30 – 2pm
Lunch & Keynote Speaker
Tilton Hall, University Center
Anita Häusermann Fábos, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of International Development and Social Change
Clark University
Anita Fábos is an anthropologist who has conducted research and outreach among refugees and other forced migrants in urban settings in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. Her scholarship and practice pursue a number of interconnected themes in the area of forced migration and refugee studies: how people make and transform ethnic and racial boundaries and boundary markers, people’s experiences of displacement and challenges to gender norms, historical shifts in citizenship and nationality laws, methods and ethics of research with hidden, vulnerable and mobile populations, transcultural social networks, and refugee narratives and representations. Starting with a lengthy period of action research, NGO activism and outreach in Cairo, Fábos’ research and writing has followed the movements of Muslim Arab Sudanese—her main research participants–from their place of first exile in Egypt, to asylum in Europe and North America, and towards the formation of a diaspora straddling Islamic ‘space’ (countries in which Islam is the religion of the state) and the ‘asylum space’ of countries of resettlement in Europe and North America.
2:10pm – 3:00pm: Session 3
Battling to Reclaim Heritage and Navigating Privilege
Presenter: Kaitlyn Wilson, Boston College
Room: JC 001
“What are you? But what are you really?” The central topic of this discussion is navigating a multi-ethnic background and the implications of living in the gray-space. I will discuss what it is like to never feel quite enough for either identity, and my own experience with living in this gray space. Discussions of how my appearance, upbringing, interaction with others, and my transition into college will take place to spark the discussion of thriving in the obscure areas of what multi-ethnicity means to me. I would like to enlighten and connect with others about how we respond to the unknown of others’ identities and the power this has on another person.
The TCK Spectrum
Presenters: Trung Tran Trong, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
Room: Sackler 121
What makes a TCK and what makes an immigrant? Certainly, they aren’t mutually exclusive. I’d like to explore with you how we may all identify ourselves as TCKs but have different and unique backgrounds. Our TCK-ness is our story. Some of us may only have moved once, others – maybe dozens of times. But it’s not the size of your country count that matters, it’s how you use it. We’re not gatekeepers here; let’s talk about how different people identify as TCKs.
3:10 – 4:00pm: Session 4
Alumni Panel
Panelists: Farrah Weannara ’16, Melina Toscani ’17, Michino Hisabayashi ’15
Room: Lurie Conference Room
This is a chance for any participants to ask away questions to some Clark and WPI alumni who share the TCK experience! Topics of this informal discussion may include but are not limited to: how they reflect on their undergraduate experience now, what it was like to get an internship or a job after graduation as a TCK, their life views and future goals, words of wisdom, etc.
Conference volunteers: Brendan Burgess, Veronica Dizon, Chineme Ezema, Sangita Kurian, Lisa Musumba, Jay Sundar Rajan,
TCK/GLOBAL NOMADS CONFERENCE 2018 