Politics and Religion in Refugee Resettlement in the U.S.
Sadhna Gupta is a to-be senior at Duke University studying Public Policy, Economics, and Global Health. She was born in India, but has lived in the Boston area for 15+ years. She loves travelling and just finished studying abroad in Madrid, Spain after spending two summers doing sustainable community development work in Kenya. This summer, Sadhna will be working on her Kenan research project in Washington DC, Boston, and Durham while also interning for her Congressman on Capitol Hill. She has loved every minute of her Duke experience so far and is eagerly awaiting the next basketball season.
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Project summary: Sadhna will examine how religion and politics affect the refugee resettlement process. Beginning with an analysis of the historical and political development of current US refugee resettlement policies that rely heavily on the work of faith-based organizations, she will also examine what alternative models exist. She will then turn her focus to the particular practices and viewpoints of resettlement organizations and refugees in the Boston area, and especially the relationship between Hindus and Christians at various points in the process. Her project addresses issues of responsibility, religious pluralism and tolerance, and the challenges of multi-culturalism. Faculty mentor: Katie Hyde