Newest Americans chronicles the immigrant experience from the vantage point of the most diverse campus in the United States, Rutgers University-Newark (RU-N), according to U.S. News & World Report. Recognizing Newark as a bellwether for the demographic future of the entire country, this project generates fresh narratives about our emerging majority-minority population and the nation it is transforming.

Newest Americans reaches across media formats: documentary film, photography, fiction and nonfiction essays, podcasting and interactive storytelling. Since 2014, we have produced a digital magazine, mounted gallery and museum exhibits, and hosted numerous public humanities events that engage audiences in in-depth conversations about the challenges and opportunities presented by immigration. We generate both hyper-local stories and documentaries on the wider impact of people connected to the city, making this a project with both Jersey roots and a global reach.

Newest Americans is a collaboration between Talking Eyes Media (an award-winning social documentary production company), VII Photo (an internationally renowned collective of photojournalists) and Rutgers University-Newark. Professional journalists, media-makers and artists work alongside RU-N faculty and students to create stories that reframe the immigration experience in America.

Newest Americans is a collaboration of journalists, media-makers, artists, and academics who work together across media formats.

The three partner organizations:

Talking Eyes Media is a nonprofit production company whose work stimulates public dialogue and advocates for positive social change. Based in New Jersey, Talking Eyes Media has produced films, books and essays that have appeared on MSNBC, PBS, National Geographic, Discovery, The New York Times, The Washington Post and many other major media outlets.

VII Photo represents 20 of the world’s preeminent photojournalists whose careers span 35 years of world history. Renowned for the quality of its photography, the group’s collective archive of over 100,000 images has been built in collaboration with the world’s leading magazines, including TIME, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Newsweek, Stern, The Sunday Times Magazine, GEO Germany, Paris Match and Le Monde.

The Center for Migration and the Global City (CMGC) is an incubator for multidisciplinary scholarship, public humanities and civic engagement that addresses the local and global effects of migration. CMGC is based on the campus of Rutgers University-Newark.

This project is made possible by generous support from Rutgers University-Newark and the National Endowment for the Humanities.