A Take on Education, Migration, and Immigration...What Connects America to the World and Why

Issue 6: July 9, 2021

All about books and summer reading!

Part of doing research for my book, America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibility, was finding out which mainstream and literary writers had chosen to write about international students in their books. To my surprise, I found that the international student as a character appears more often in literature than we realize.  

•  Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Adichie is one of my favorite contemporary immigrant writers who herself came to the U.S. as an international student and the female character in this novel, Ifemelu, arrives as an international student in the U.S. Shifting between Nigeria and the U.S., the book tackles issues of displacement, race, and diaspora.
• The Foreign Student by Susan Choi. As the name implies, the protagonist in this novel is a battle-scarred young foreign student from Korea who arrives in Tennessee in the 1950s. Straddling the U.S. and Korea, the book tackles the long-lasting ravages of war and focuses on an unlikely relationship. 

• Immigrant, Montana by Amitava Kumar: unusual in its writing style, this book is part-fiction, part-memoir and traces the evolution of an Indian graduate student in the U.S. The protagonist, Kailash, arrives at Columbia University, while Kumar studied at Syracuse and the University of Minnesota--Twin Cities and now teaches at Vassar. When it was released President Obama named Immigrant, Montana one of his favorite books of the year.
• Educated by Tara Westover: Who doesn't know about this book, even if you haven't yet read it? What is perhaps less well-known is that Westover studied abroad at the University of Cambridge, which was a life-altering experience for her and that I heard her talk about at the 2019 annual American Council on Education conference where she was interviewed by Washington Post journalist, Nick Anderson.

• Conditional Citizens by Laila Lalami: I featured Lalami's powerful book in one of my earlier newsletters. In this nonfiction book that is both a memoir and a polemic, Lalami also weaves in some of her experiences as an international student from Morocco. She first studied in the UK as an international student, and then at the University of Southern California.
• And the 6th book on this list? America Calling, of course! My thanks to all of you who have already pre-ordered it and to those who plan to.

Happy summer reading. And as always, please share this newsletter if you wish!

Rajika

Stunning Statistic:

New American Economy just released its new and updated report on U.S. Fortune 500 companies and their immigrant founders. This latest report shows that 44% of such companies are founded either by immigrants or the children of immigrants.

Five Highlights & Top Picks

• June was National Immigrant Heritage Month and I was thrilled to be featured in this Vox article about American immigrants by the incredible Anne Helen Petersen, the journalist and author who writes the thought-provoking Culture Study newsletter. Check it out.
• The Virtual Book Tour for my book is in full swing with lots of events coming up. My favorite conversation last week was hosted by ISEP and the Global Leadership League where I joined three other women leaders in international education in a candid talk about our personal journeys, barriers, and opportunities.
• I am delighted and honored to be the opening keynote speaker for the International Association of College Admission Counseling 2021 conference on June 12, 2021. 
• This essay in Slate is a bracing and candid look at the paid industry around the college essay required for admission to U.S. colleges and universities.The anonymous writer also describes how difficult it is for international students--especially those not fluent in English--and how much they continue to struggle.
• How writers map their worlds: I came across this lovely article in Atlas Obscura from some years ago. It shows us how maps have played an integral role in the writing process of many authors and even ended up in some of our favorite books. I especially love this because even though my book doesn't include a map, the cover includes topographical map and contour lines to convey movement and journeys. A shout-out to the talented designer, Mimi Bark.