Introducing the Roma Peoples Project
Hello and welcome to the Roma Peoples Project at Columbia University!
Thank you for visiting our page. As initiator of the Roma Peoples Project, I am thrilled to share our ideas, activities and updates via the launch of our blog. However, first thing’ first—what is RPP all about?
The Roma Peoples Project is a start-up initiative that aims to create a space at Columbia University for academic research on the Roma people—commonly, known as “Gypsies”. However, “Gypsy” is a misnomer that has long been used to refer to the Roma people, who first entered Europe about a thousand years ago. It arose because of a misconception that the Roma came from Egypt, when, in reality, they are believed to have emigrated from North India. In time, this label Gypsy has been charged with both negative connotations, such as vagrancy, savagery, criminality and eternal Otherness, and with romantic ones, such as such as travel, freedom, passion, and creativity–themes associated with “Bohemians”, which the Roma were once called by the French.
The project will facilitate the study of Roma identity, history and culture in order start a dialogue about the Roma’s unique place in the world as a people without a specific nation-state or a religion, who have lived on the fringes of societies worldwide and faced isolation, rejection and discrimination for centuries.
Certain figures place the number of Roma in Europe at around 12 million, making them the largest European minority. Also there is a significant Roma population worldwide as well. In the U.S. alone, there is an estimated one million Roma, with more arriving each year. However, the exact number of Roma people remains unclear and is most likely higher, as many hide their identity for fear of being stigmatized and excluded.
These common stereotypes and images about Gypsies have little to do with Roma history or their day-to-day realities. The Roma Peoples Project seeks to remedy this lack of authentic visibility and address both how the Roma have been represented by others and how the Roma have represented themselves. One of the project’s core initiatives is the creation of a Roma Digital Archive that will identify, analyze, and centralize compelling scholarly material about the Roma. This archive will serve to spotlight Roma issues within academia and give Roma voices a space in the public consciousness. This blog will share information on the archive’s development and collections.
In addition to the archive, the Roma Peoples project will also include other endeavors, such as the launch event in partnership with the Heyman Center for the Humanities. This event is on November 14th, 2017. Similarly, many of the themes mentioned in this introductory blog post will be explored in greater detail along the way.
The RPP is hosted within the Center for Justice at Columbia University and shares the Center’s mission of empowering vulnerable people who suffer from criminalization and exclusion from mainstream society. With the center’s key support, the Roma People’s Project seeks to connect topics relevant to Roma to those of other disenfranchised groups.
Here on our blog, the Roma Peoples Project will post frequent updates related to these goals, and we are so excited to begin sharing our work and writing with you. We are most excited, however, to hear from you and learn about any material or stories that you may have on the Roma or a related topic. So, please stay tuned, and please contact us to romapeoplesproject@columbia.edu with any thoughts that come to mind. We look forward to working together toward a more open and accepting world–for the Roma and for all.
Warmly,
Cristiana Grigore