Seminar 2 Encyclopedia

Reading Between the skyLines

Professor: Moustafa Bayoumi
ITF: Kelly Eckenrode
Campus: Brooklyn College
URL: https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/skylines/

Students divided into 7 groups and choose a language generally based on their ease with the language. The 7 groups included: Spanish, Japanese, Hebrew, Russian, African American, Arabic and Korean. Each group went to a bookstore that specializes in that language of literature. Students quickly learned that these stores are much more than deposits for books. Typically, the serve as a culture refuge to preserve culture of immigrants groups into the city. I thought it was a successful project.

For myself and the students, it was interesting to learn how different language prompted different interviews. Our most extreme example was the Arabic bookstore. The manger did not give consent to share their interview on the internet. What seemed like a snag initially–gave the students a moment to pause and reflect on seriousness of sharing stories of people. The students decided to re-frame their work to discuss Trump era problems.

Yemen Across the Atlantic: Exploring NYC Immigration Through the Lens of Yemen Cafe

Professor: Moustafa Bayoumi
ITF: Lydia Pelot-Hobbs
Campus: Brooklyn College
URL: http://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/bayoumi2014/

The purpose of this site was to examine the case of immigration in Brooklyn through the specific example of Yemen Cafe located in Cobble Hill. This site approaches Yemen Cafe from a range of angles: the people (both owners, staff, and customers), the plot of the restaurant, the neighborhood, culture, and food.

While the story of Yemeni immigration to New York is the central immigration story of the site, through examining the site through these various lenses brings into conversation the history of other immigrant communities that have existed in the neighborhood over time, and utilized the building that Yemen Cafe is housed in.

Students drew upon a wide range of media for the various sections of the website.This makes the site not the most consistent in terms of format, but displays how different types of media help tell different types of stories.