Writing, Film, and Language

Among the flurry of executive orders President Trump signed in his first week in office cancelled the arrival of all those with refugee status already cleared to come to the United States. Since 1975, Idaho has welcomed tens of thousands of refugees, many of whom have come to call Boise home. In 2024 alone, Boise welcomed 700 refugees from over 20 countries. Given the fact that refugees go through a rigorous vetting process before they arrive, a process that takes years, it’s worth pausing to think about the hundreds of people that would have come to Boise this year, who are now stuck and vulnerable to the conditions from which Boise would have been a refuge. During a moment like this, it’s important to pause and listen to the stories of folks who once arrived here as refugees who are now our friends and neighbors, and enrich our communities in countless ways.

During the spring semester of 2024, three professors across campus at Boise State University joined forces to create a unique experience for students. “Traversing Landscapes: Francophone Stories from Boise” combined student writers from Kyle Boggs’s course, “Writing, Advocacy, and Leadership,” student filmmakers in Rulon Wood’s “Intermediate Film Production” course, and student French translators in Brittney Gehrig’s course on “Careers and Community.” Students worked in teams to interview a range of French speaking community members. For reasons that are situated and nuanced, most–but not all–of these interviewees identify as refugees. Having gone through the lengthy legal process of arriving to our community from countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and elsewhere, and have overcome insurmountable challenges to be here. Our work delves into those challenges, as well as those that persist long after the legal process of resettlement concludes. This collection is made up of the advocacy essays produced in Kyle Boggs’s class, essays created collaboratively that combine research, translated interview material, and storytelling designed to deepen our understanding of this population.