The Record interviewed Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) Gregory C. Mitchell about his experiences traveling and teaching. Mitchell’s email responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Dilay Kalınoğlu (DK): What first motivated you to pursue political and humanitarian work, particularly in conflict zones?
Gregory Mitchell (GM): I first stumbled into human rights work [in 2015] while studying the economics of tourism in Brazil and seeing issues of sex worker rights and trafficking. I was on a research leave and explored how the conflict in Syria was driving sex trafficking of refugees into Lebanon.
During that time, a trafficker turned me over to Hezbollah who held me for a day against my will. Realistically, I was not in much danger. They were fighting ISIS on one front and Israel on another, and I was not that important to them. Hezbollah has an odd habit of giving you a T-shirt upon release, which I’d heard about from friends who had worked for the [United Nations] and been similarly held. So I do have that T-shirt in my office — not because of anything remotely close to sharing an ideology with them. Instead, it’s a reminder of the importance of doing ethically-informed work for refugees.
DK: What are some of those other ways students can make an impact?
GM: I once had an undocumented Williams student who was brilliant. He thought he had to go to Wall Street to support his family before DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] could be stripped back. He did not feel he could make an impact within academia but realized even graduate students do asylum cases and decided he could maintain status for longer in grad school while also helping people in his community get their papers. I continue to run workshops with colleagues at other schools on how to do pro bono legal work. There are also local organizations in the Berkshires that need help with translation and things students can do right now, even without formal training.
DK: Earlier, you mentioned working on the issues of sex-worker rights and trafficking in Brazil, as well as researching how the Syrian conflict was driving the trafficking of refugees into Lebanon. Could you elaborate on these experiences? How did they influence your trajectory?
GM: In Syria, the trafficker wanted to take me from Beqaa to Damascus and tried to sell me to Hezbollah. He usually served Russian girls to the Saudis and had connected me with brothels in Jounieh, [Lebanon]. He had given me dozens of hours of interviews for days and, sadly, these are the kinds of people I interview… It helps unravel the knotty nature of human rights and reveals routes and patterns police don’t even know. Hezbollah didn’t have much use for me. After they robbed me, a woman from the Australian embassy and her parents took me to a winery by Baalbek to get me fed and home to Beirut where I had friends (who promptly told me how stupid I had been).
DK: How have your travels influenced your approach to research?
GM: I’ve been able to visit over 50 countries, and I’ve seen how important it is to understand cultural context before beginning research. Every country is different, but I look for global patterns in terms of policing and legal policies around sex work. Despite consistent patterns, political and economic differences shape experience. So, for example, Sweden is seen as feminist but is one of the worst places in the world for sex workers. Amsterdam is notorious for legalization [of sex work] but excludes immigrants and won’t let women collectivize or even share childcare. Men are cut out of the [childcare] process. Meanwhile, Denmark is remarkably progressive. We can’t generalize by region.
DK: How do you see your teaching as engaging with questions of identity with political and cultural realities? How do you bring your field experiences into the classroom?
GM: Right now, I’m offering courses on popular culture and film because it gives me a bit of a break and is a fun way for students to enter into WGSS content, but I’m also teaching my “Race, Gender and Sex in Brazil” class which includes a Winter Study travel course after the fall seminar. [Assistant Professor of History René] Cordero and I will bring students to work with vulnerable communities there and meet with Brazilian activists and scholars. Some students are already planning to return to Brazil to pursue projects there.
