Date of Award

Spring 2017

Document Type

Restricted Thesis

Terms of Use

© 2017 Sarah Branch. All rights reserved. Access to this work is restricted to users within the Swarthmore College network and may only be used for non-commercial, educational, and research purposes. Sharing with users outside of the Swarthmore College network is expressly prohibited. For all other uses, including reproduction and distribution, please contact the copyright holder.

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Educational Studies Department, Sociology & Anthropology Department

First Advisor

Farha Ghannam

Second Advisor

Roseann Liu

Abstract

This thesis examines two existing case study summer programs for refugee children in the United States. Both programs recognize art intervention as a means though which to “curate” support for students’ multinational identities and offer “safe spaces” that encourage vulnerability. These programs have identified the necessity of encouragement of vulnerability as a way in which to meet the specific needs of refugee youth. Individuals posed with the responsibility of curating these “safe spaces” are the art educators themselves. Through interviews with teaching artists, program directors and volunteers employed by the two case study programs, this thesis offers insight into the emotional labor intrinsic in working with students who have experienced trauma. Understanding the ways in which American culture dismisses professions that involve emotional labor as well as the current Presidential Administration’s negative and false portrayal of the experiences of refugees further add to the stress of these educators’ already complex roles.

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