My name is Margherita Odasso and I am a young Italian researcher, currently a research fellow at the Department of Sociology and Social Research at the University of Trento. In October, I will start a PhD program in demography and sociology at the Center for Demographic Studies (CED) in Barcelona. From April until the end of June, I was a visiting research associate at the Tower Center at SMU. During this time, I had the pleasure of working on projects regarding international migration in close contact with Prof. James Hollifield, also collaborating with Prof. Caroline Brettell, Ms. Jenny Apperti, and many other faculty fellows and staff. My research mainly studied the mental and physical health consequences of Mexican migrants who relocate to the United States, leaving their families, including their children, in Mexico. Thanks to the Tower Center’s great support and contacts, I was able to conduct interviews with migrant fathers at the Mexican Consulate in Dallas. These interviews will be part of my doctoral dissertation on the implications of transnational fatherhood, and I will also write an article to be published in a scientific journal.
The experience of conducting research at SMU was different from anything I had done so far. Having studied in Europe (Italy and the Netherlands), the first thing that struck me was that the university campus is located in the historic city center. I had the impression that a student can live on campus without ever leaving, as there is everything a student or researcher might possibly need or desire – a supermarket, a gym, restaurants and bars, a fantastic library, and so on. In addition, university life at SMU is active and engaging, with a variety of social and cultural events, lectures, clubs, and activities that allow everyone to cultivate their own interests, get involved in the community, and enjoy excellent learning opportunities.
Furthermore, I was pleasantly impressed by the personal and direct relationships that students have with university professors and administrative staff. I cannot count how many times a professor or faculty fellow invited me for lunch or coffee. I would like to thank James Hollifield, Caroline Brettell, Jenny Apperti, Paola Buckley, Hiroki Takeuchi, LaiYee Leong, Karisa Cloward, Ray Rafidi, Lauren Kelly, Astrid Galvan, Daniele Forlino, and others for their time and kindness. We had invaluable conversations where I had the opportunity to talk about my doctoral research – and my future career plans in general – and receive feedback and advice. Hearing the views of diverse and excellent scholars, some with interests similar to mine while others are working on different topics, allowed me to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of my project – and of me as a researcher – and to clarify which area(s) of study I really want to focus on. I now feel ready to start my PhD more aware of what I want to achieve as well as what good research means. Overall, I believe that the mentoring I received at the Tower Center is, perhaps, the most important thing this American experience has given me. In addition, these conversations have given me new perspectives on issues I did not know or knew little about, from the role of NGOs in sub-Saharan Africa to China’s rapidly aging population. I certainly returned to Italy enriched with new insights.
Having been born and raised in the Italian Alps, Dallas is probably the farthest from the context I have always been used to that I can imagine. It is a young, dynamic, and fast-growing city – very different from Italy, an “old” country in many senses: a millennial history, a very elderly population, and substantially stagnant economic growth, to name a few. In such a different cultural context, the Tower Center was a place where I found an incredibly welcoming and supportive environment with people who inspired and taught me a lot – certainly about migration, but much more. The complete autonomy I was given in developing my research, coupled with the guidance of professors with more experience than me and logistical help in carrying out my project, provided the ideal working conditions in which original ideas can arise and flourish. I sincerely hope to be able to return soon. A final – and very much unexpected – positive consequence of this visiting period is that, after experiencing the heat of the Texas summer, I no longer dare to complain about the summer temperatures in Italy!