For Nielan Barnes, the view from the shores of Long Beach and beyond is a rewarding experience in more ways than one.
As an assistant professor of sociology at Cal State Long Beach, Barnes is the recipient of a U.S. Fulbright Scholars Program award for the 2007-2008 academic year.
“Receiving a Fulbright award is an incredible honor and privilege,” said Barnes to the CSULB Office of Public Affairs.
It “opens many doors” and “provides a scholar with instant validation as a researcher, teacher and activist in just about any academic or applied setting,” the professor said.
The prestigious grant was awarded for her research project, titled “Canada-U.S.-Mexico Integration: Do Civil Society Transnational Networks Lead to Health Policy and Health Service Convergence?”
The professor’s work compares the health service needs of non-status immigrants, migrants and border residents.
The North American Studies: Canada-Mexico Joint Award in North American Studies is unique for its kind and is relatively new. Barnes is its second recipient.
“What’s really special about this grant is that it allows one to do comparative research across two or three countries, not just one,” Barnes said in a telephone interview. “This kind of research is really essential when trying to understand immigration and migration issues in the Northern Hemisphere.
“[But] I could never have taken up this wonderful opportunity of the Fulbright without the support of the College of Liberal Arts,” Barnes said. “Their support has been stellar.”
For Barnes, the opportunity for her research to help inform others about such timely, critical social issues is rewarding in itself.
For example, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) “neglected to consider how mobility of capital, goods and labor may affect the health of transnational migrants and border populations,” Barnes said, according to the press release.
In the aftermath of such trade agreements, “the United States, Mexico and Canada face many challenges in terms of providing and coordinating health care [for these populations],” Barnes said.
But on the ground, that translates into addressing the ongoing anxieties faced by non-status immigrants and migrant workers, for whom emergency health care services are often a desperate last resort, the professor said.
Though working in a country that needs their labor, people without status in the U.S. are reluctant to seek health care for fear of detection, as well as separation from their families and children, Barnes said.
There are practical barriers they face as well, the professor said. “Think about if you don’t speak English or French in Canada, or English in the U.S. and you can’t or don’t know how to obtain health care services,” Barnes said.
Her current research focuses specifically on rural areas, where the availability of health care services is more limited than average “for natives and non-natives alike,” she said.
“One thing that’s become clear [in my research], as far as labor mobility is concerned, is that issues of occupational safety and adequate housing are of paramount concern,” Barnes said.
Because these issues form the crux of her research, the Fulbright recipient said she had been closely following the news on the Nov. 13 campus visit by Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minuteman Project, and the vocal but peaceful protest led by students and faculty against that organization’s views.
Barnes said that that groundswell of attention to the immigration issue is an example of why she thinks her research is so essential. It is her hope that it can help clarify what is a complex topic, she said.
In particular, there is a “post-9/11 rise in anti-immigrant sentiment,” the professor said.
Research has also demonstrated that there is “a gross under-utilization of health and social services in general [by immigrants],” Barnes said. “The statistics indicate that immigrants, whether with status or not, cost so much less than what many in the public perceive. It’s a fallacy that [these immigrants] are coming [into the U.S.] to use and abuse these services.
“These individuals make a huge contribution to the economy of Southern California,” Barnes said.
They contribute more in labor and personal spending toward the economy than they take out, she added.
As for Barnes’ students, the professor offers them an intriguing two-way window.
“I bring my research right into the classroom,” the professor said with enthusiasm. Barnes said the combination of research and teaching is especially rewarding.
“Seeing student excitement and engagement with real-world issues, first-hand, is really important to me as a teacher,” Barnes said.
“Dr. Barnes has been great,” said Adrienne Bouard, a graduate student in medical anthropology. “She’s committed to her students and has helped me tremendously through the thesis writing process … She’s full of ideas and [is] articulate about them. I’m thrilled she received the Fulbright award. I can’t think of anyone more deserving.”
But for the fall 2007 term, the Fulbright grant led Barnes beyond the Long Beach horizon, where she’s conducting her research at the Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
“[Barnes’] students have greatly enjoyed her U.S. perspective on health issues,” said Laura Macdonald, chairwoman of political science at Carleton University. “She has made a wonderful contribution to the intellectual life of the department this term …We look forward to future collaboration with [her].”
Barnes received her B.A. in women’s studies at San Diego State University in 1994. She earned an M.A. in Latin American studies in 1998, an M.A. in sociology in 2001, and her Ph.D. in sociology in 2005 at UC San Diego.
As a teenage migrant from the East Coast, Barnes and her teacher parents settled in San Diego.
Once there, “I fell in love with the border,” she said. She was drawn to the culture of the U.S.-Tijuana community. “It was absolutely fascinating to me,” Barnes said.
In spring 2008, the professor will circle back to where her border interests first began. Courtesy of the Fulbright award, she will continue her research at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City.
In fall 2008, the professor will resume teaching in the sociology department at CSULB, which she joined in 2005.
Barnes strongly encourages CSULB students to take advantage of the opportunities Fulbright grants offer.
“I [have been] really impressed with how down-to-earth other Fulbright scholars [are],” Barnes said.
“I have been so enriched from this experience with other Fulbrighters, even before I started doing my Fulbright research. It’s been the most enriching professional experience of my life.”
