Jasmine Stoltzfus

Queen’s University Belfast Postgraduate Award, Queen's University Belfast - Global Security and Borders

During my time at the University of California, Davis and afterwards, my work and research has focused on issues of human movement. I initially became involved with the undocumented student centre on my campus and later with refugee resettlement and advocacy efforts in my community and the middle east. My honours thesis centred on the history of the US Green Card Lottery programme and opened with the story of an immigrant couple who arrived from Belfast during the 1980s. I’m looking forward to living in a city I have written about, but have never had the chance to visit, as I study how the north-south Irish border issue unfolds during Brexit. The island’s complex relationship with conflict and religion also draws me to Belfast. While in the US, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a variety of groups that promote dialogue among those of different backgrounds and faiths. This led me to study in Jerusalem as part of an honours programme in 2017. I hope to engage with similar interfaith organizations in Northern Ireland—but first, I’m going to attempt to travel the full length of the Irish border!