ABOUT
The controversial Muslim Travel Ban was originally signed as an executive order by President Donald Trump on Friday, January 27, 2017. This ban cut off “foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries from visiting the country for 90 days, suspended entry to the country of all Syrian refugees indefinitely, and prohibited any other refugees from coming into the country for 120 days” (Timeline of the Muslim Ban). The initial reactions, sustained conversations, and final decision to uphold the ban as constitutional resulted in an accumulation of texts, that together, tell vivid stories of the US Immigration Policy and overall legacy.
In this project, I aim to build an object domain of various mediums (articles, scholarly articles, videos, etc.) that not only give context to what the ban called for, but also to show the various, and most times conflicting, values, beliefs, and power structures behind the narratives. I’ll look at articles of newspapers with various political leanings, one from each of the three iterations of the Travel Ban. I plan to put all three articles (per travel ban) into conversation with one another to pull out the trends and patterns of how each newspaper talks about and frames the conversation.
The rationale for and against this executive order will not be extensively talked about, but instead, this project will take a descriptive stance by looking at the various discourses that come up through the texts as a way to understand how reality is constructed. Inherently wrapped within each piece are subtle and not-so-subtle declarations of who should be “allowed” into this country, but more explicitly what groups of people are seen as a threat, and not worthy of entry. Are you still interested? Read on.
With a deep intention that authors must reflect upon important choices, William Nothstine asks, “whether to speak, what to speak about, how to speak, and to whom to speak.” With that, here’s a quick blurb from my Personal Statement that I wrote when applying to my Masters in Communication Studies program at the University of Denver:
MYSELF AS CRITIC
I grew up with a stash of white poster boards, paint stir sticks, and a megaphone within reach for immediate assembly. My dad fled to the United States as a political asylee at the age of 19 and was forced to watch his country from afar dive deeper and deeper into a brutal dictatorship. He was an organizer at heart, someone who spent his whole life trying to show the world the corruption and dread of the Gaddafi regime. In true baba fashion, he spent every waking hour, while not at work, attending protests, researching, or hanging up posters to try and shine light on what was actually happening in Libya.
I’m committed to this program. My undergraduate experience in Communication Studies is a testament to my belief in the power of this degree. I want to continue to learn and understand the inner workings of communication in social movements in an academic context. From the professors, to the nature of the classes, I want to again be in a space of deep contemplation and analysis of the ways we as humans communicate and organize. I am passionate about understanding what makes social movements tick, through a human lens. I wholeheartedly believe that resilient communities are those that can utilize the strength of its people to implement social change.
I know the work in the program aligns with my academic goal to further understand how communication amplifies the impact of social action. This is the work I have been doing and want to continue to do post the MA program at DU. I want to continue my development as an effective communicator when it comes to the relevance and importance of why people should be engaged citizens who react to pulses of change. It is critical to understand where current movements have borrowed successful tools from fields in Communication Studies, so that people understand action is not isolated to self-identified activists, but is accessible to all. Our technology, social media, and overall interconnectivity is being used to mobilize, identify movement, and take down injustice through exposing it. I want to listen, question, analyze, and learn about the ways people communicate to implement change because communication is the catalyst and key to successful social movements.