Event Title

Immigrants, Refugees, Intercultural Conflict and Communication with Property Owners and Managers in Mankato.

Presenter Information

Jessica Carlson, Minnesota State University, MankatoFollow

Location

CSU 253

Start Date

25-4-2006 8:45 AM

End Date

25-4-2006 10:15 AM

Student's Major

Anthropology

Student's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mentor's Name

Susan Schalge

Mentor's Department

Anthropology

Mentor's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Description

With the growing numbers of immigrants and refugees in the Mankato area, there is bound to be intercultural communication and conflict. I did qualitative research about "intercultural communication and conflict between immigrant/refugee tenants and their property owners/ managers." This research consisted of interviewing immigrants, refugees, property managers/ owners, and service providers who work with them. I used anthropological methods to view the situation from multiple perspectives. The main themes I looked at were the types of landlord/tenant relationships, miscommunication, and conflict. I obtained a range of results. Some tenants and landlords/property managers talked to each other often, and were at least civil. Some tenants found landlords/management to be nice and understanding. There were also instances of communicational difficulties and conflict, especially in communicating the housing contracts. I hope that this research sheds light on what occurred.