The University of Nebraska–Lincoln community and general public are invited to attend a special photo exhibition and gallery walk from 5-6:30 p.m. March 27 in Carolyn Pope Edwards Hall, Room 227. The gallery walk is free, and no RSVP is required.
The event is part of a dissertation study titled "Supporting Immigrant-Origin Students Wellbeing: A Photovoice Study," conducted by UNL researcher Brittany Bearss. The exhibition showcases the work of seven UNL co-researchers — five undergraduates and two graduate students — whose families have roots in Mexico, Iraq and Guatemala. Using the Photovoice methodology, these students documented their own lived experiences, giving the broader campus community an unfiltered window into what daily life looks and feels like and means to them.
Nebraska is home to approximately 180,000 immigrants who contribute $1.6 billion in taxes and hold $4.6 billion in spending power. Immigrant-origin students are a vital and growing part of UNL's campus, yet their voices have historically been underrepresented in research and institutional decision-making.
Rather than examining barriers and challenges alone, the exhibition captures the everyday ways immigrant-origin students cultivate relationships, navigate campus life and pursue personal fulfillment across three dimensions of wellbeing: material (basic needs and physical security), relational (connections with peers, mentors and family), and subjective (one's own sense of meaning, fairness, and life satisfaction).
The evening will unfold as a guided, interactive experience, with a welcome, land acknowledgement and framing at 5 p.m. An independent gallery walk will start shortly after. Co-researcher voices will be highlighted at 5:45 p.m. A second gallery walk or focused revisit will start at 6:05 p.m. and a closing/guided reflection will be at 6:20 p.m.
Attendees are encouraged to move through the gallery at their own pace, engage with the photographs and narratives on display and hear directly from the student co-researchers who created them.
Interested individuals can also explore the full gallery online. For more information, contact bbearss2@huskers.unl.edu.
