Registration

Please join the HRC Migration Studies Lab for a transformative day of dialogue, research, and discovery at the Migration Studies Research Symposium, a groundbreaking gathering of scholars in Latino/a studies and migration studies from across Virginia and North Carolina.

The symposium will specifically focus on public humanities/history and community engaged scholarship. Scholars from VCU, JMU, UVA and other campuses will present their research, including the Latino Virginia Project; Immigrant Success Stories; Spanish Language, Language Variations, Cultures and Responsibility and Educational Resources (OER). There will be open dialogue regarding migration, with a keynote presentation by Mireya Loza, Ph.D. 

The end of the symposium will be a tour of We the People, a new exhibit about immigrant communities, and a cultural showcase in the evening.

Agenda

9:50 a.m. | Breakfast: pasties, coffee

10:00-10:20 a.m. | Introductions and Agenda

• Dean Catherine Ingrassia, College of Humanities and Sciences
• Daniel Morales Co-Director of Migration Studies Lab

10:30- 11:15 a.m. | The Latino Virginia Oral History Project

• Gabriela Leon-Perez, Karen Bjork, and Research Assistants, Virginia Commonwealth University

11:15-11:25 a.m. | Break

11:25 a.m. -12:10 p.m. | The Spanish Language, Language Variations, Cultures and Responsibility: JMUs International Journal of Responsibility & DECIR Scholarship Showcase

• Fawn-Amber Montoya, James Madison University
• Yenisei Montes de Oca, James Madison University
• Dianna Meza, James Madison University

12:10-1:30 p.m. | Lunch: fajita buffet (note the keynote portion overlaps with lunch)

12:30 - 1:20 p.m. | Keynote: Beyond Braceros: How Temporary Labor Shaped Industrialized Agriculture in California and Across the Nation, 1942–1965

• Mireya Loza, Georgetown University

1:30 - 2:15 p.m. | Immigrant Success Stories: The Positive Deviance Project

• Saltanat Liebert, Virginia Commonwealth University
• Grant Rissler, University of Richmond
• Helga Staalhane, Virginia Commonwealth University

2:15 - 2:25 p.m. | Break 

2:25-3:05 p.m. | New Work by Scholars Panel

• Brianna Nofil, College of William and Mary
• Estela Diaz  Knott, The Lua Project, “Los Appalachianos” 
• Fawn-Amber Montoya, JMU, “Hispanas at the Ludlow Massacre”

3:05-3:15 p.m. | Break

3:15-4:15 p.m. | “We the People: Our World and Our Commonwealth” at VMHC

• Julie Maio Kemper, Daniel Morales, Centering Immigrant Voice in Exhibit Development
• Guided tour of “We the People”