Anthropologists & Sudanese Refugees: Cultural Exchange in the Heartland

Abstract

For nearly two decades, Lincoln, Nebraska has served as a refugee resettlement site for programs administered by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a division of the Administration for Children and Families, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Recently, anthropologists from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) have begun collaborations with (1) Nebraska HHS, (2) social service agencies, (3) resettlement programs, (4) health departments and service providers, (5) churches, (6) policy makers, and (7) Sudanese refugee community members to increase mutual understanding of US and African cultures and to highlight the relevant skills, ideologies and needs each brings to the domestic resettlement process. This paper describes some of the ongoing applied research among Sudanese refugees and emphasizes the need for, and appropriateness of, development anthropologists working within domestic resettlement programs and systems.