Today’s monthly Bellman Brown Bag Series topic was about immigration experiences. This event coincides with The Big Read book, “The Namesake.”
Our panel was comprised of Scott Gillis (Canada), Roni Coates (Germany/Poland), Sian Young (England), Micheline Nelson (Belgium), Edda Winkelman (Honduras), and Petra Hansen(Germany).
Each person recounted their experiences in moving to the United States and their first impressions of this country, and of course, of South Dakota. Micheline said that she arrived in South Dakota on Easter and her first thought was how “brown” it was here.
Those who came to this country not knowing any English definitely had different life experiences adjusting to the United States. As in “The Namesake,” growing up in America with parents from the Old Country had its challenges.
A video of this talk was taken and will be uploaded as soon as possible.
MARCH BELLMAN
Next month’s Bellman will take place on March 12, at noon. Women’s History Month is celebrated with a presentation about resources for conducting women’s history research in the special collections at BHSU Leland Case Library.
The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.