Is home the place we are born, or the refuge we find? Can it be both? What are some common misconceptions about refugees, and how can we maintain hope during one of the most challenging times to be an immigrant in America? In this episode, Mehran Sorourian sits with Dr. Diya Abdo and talk about the following topics:
- Dr. Abdo’s migration journey as a second-generation Palestinian refugee born in Jordan.
- Her parents' displacement from Palestine, their struggles as refugees in Jordan, and her own experience moving to the United States as a graduate student.
- Evolving concept of home
- The challenges faced by refugees and their advocates at the moment
- Every Campus A Refuge, her non-profit organization.

Bio: Dr. Diya Abdo is the Lincoln Financial Professor of English at Guilford College and the founding Director of Every Campus A Refuge. A second-generation Palestinian refugee born and raised in Jordan, Dr. Abdo’s teaching, research, and scholarship focus on Arab women writers and Arab and Islamic feminisms as well as refugee and immigrant issues. Her book AMERICAN REFUGE: True Stories of the Refugee Experience, was selected by the North Carolina Humanities as a North Carolina 2024 Reads Book and by Alamance Public Libraries as the Alamance Reads Book 2024. In 2015, inspired by Pope Francis' call on every European parish to host one refugee family, Dr. Abdo founded Every Campus A Refuge (ECAR), which advocates for housing refugee families on college and university campus grounds and supporting them in their resettlement. The flagship chapter at Guilford College is now one of many ECAR campuses across the nation which have collectively hosted over 600 refugees and supported their inclusion in local communities. Dr. Abdo designed the minor Forced Migration and Resettlement Studies at Guilford College where students learn about refugee issues and receive credit for hosting refugees on campus and supporting them in their resettlement. Dr. Abdo is the recipient of the Emerson Collective Fellowship (2024), the J.M. Kaplan Fund’s Innovation Prize (2021), Campus Compact’s Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award (2019), Gulf South Summit’s Outstanding Service-Learning Collaboration in Higher Education Award (2017), and The Washington Center’s Civic Engagement in Higher Education Award (2017). Dr. Abdo sits on the Boards of Refugee Council USA and The Community Sponsorship Hub.
Email Dr.Abdo: Abdod@guilford.edu
Learn more about Every Campus is a Refuge: www.everycampusarefuge.net

Keywords: Migration Journey, Palestinian Identity, Refugee Experience, Arab Women Writers, American Literature, Arab And Islamic Feminisms, Family Stories, Education And Resilience, Every Campus A Refuge, Community Support, Cultural Integration, Displacement Narratives, Personal Identity, Storytelling Importance, Advocacy And Hope, Refugee Admissions, Community Building, Greensboro, Immigrant Experiences, Cross-Cultural Understanding