Conference 2015

Race, Ethnicity, and Migration:
An Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference

Columbia University in the City of New York
Thursday, February 26, 2015

Maison Française/Buell Hall
515 West 116th Street
New York, NY 10027
(see map for location)

Background
In disciplines and sub-fields across the social sciences and humanities, graduate students are exploring similar questions as to the meaning, influence, and impact of race, ethnicity, and migration on historical and contemporary social life. This conference brings together graduate students from a wide range of disciplines, including history, sociology, public health, social work, anthropology, English, and related disciplines to discuss these key topics, promoting interdisciplinary dialogue, strengthening critical thinking, and supporting deeper engagement with these complex issues. This conference creates space for interdisciplinary conversations among graduate students and faculty from universities in the New York metropolitan area.

Conference schedule in PDF: here.  Conference poster in PDF: here.

Schedule
8:30-9:00 a.m.:          Arrival and breakfast

9:00-9:15 a.m.:          Welcoming remarks

      Mae Ngai (Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies and Professor of History, Columbia University)

9:15-10:45 a.m.:          Session 1: Racial and Ethnic Identity in Historical Perspectives

      Presider: Tina Jiwatram-Negrón (PhD Candidate in Social Work, Columbia University)

      Judah M. Bernstein (PhD Candidate in Hebrew Judaic Studies and History, New York University)
      Zionism from Below: Immigrants and Jewish Nationalism in Early Twentieth Century America

      Sean P. Fraga (PhD Candidate in History, Princeton University)
      “Chinese Birdmen”: Aviation and Race in the Transnational American West, 1895-1919

      Jessica H. Lee (PhD Candidate in History, Columbia University)
      The Italian Vote: Local, National, and International Politics in an Immigrant Community

      Discussant: Jose C. Moya (Professor of History, Barnard College/Columbia University)

10:45-11:00 a.m.:          Coffee break

11:00-12:30 p.m.:          Session 2: The Global Construction of Race and Ethnicity

      Presider: Bailey Brown (PhD Candidate in Sociology, Columbia University)

      Nathanael Shelley (PhD Candidate in MESAAS, Columbia University)
      Earliest Ethnicities: Concepts of Social Differences in Antiquity

      Douglas de Toledo Piza (PhD Candidate in Sociology, New School for Social Research)
      Chinese Sellers: A Story of Globalization as Told by Downtown São Paulo

      Pedro A. Regalado (PhD Candidate in American Studies, Yale University)
      Bodegas y Colmados: 20th-Century Dominican Vernacular Space across Borders

      Discussant: Margaret M. Chin (Associate Professor of Sociology, CUNY-Hunter College & Graduate Center)

12:30-12:45 p.m.:          Lunch break

12:45-2:00 p.m.:          Luncheon Keynote Address

      Presider: Van C. Tran (Assistant Professor of Sociology, Columbia University)

      Speaker: Philip Kasinitz (Presidential Professor of Sociology, CUNY-Graduate Center)
                     Comparative Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Migration: New Directions for Research

2:00-2:15 p.m.:         Transition break – Afternoon panels will reconvene in Fayerweather 411

2:15-3:45 p.m.:          Session 3: Transnational Involvements in Comparative Perspectives

Presider: Nicol Valdez (PhD Candidate in Sociology, Columbia University)

      Rachel G. Newman (PhD Candidate in History, Columbia University)
      A Biography of Transnational Mexicanidad in the Borderlands: Education and Identity in the Life of Filiberto Gómez

      Sung-Choon Park (PhD Candidate in Sociology, New School for Social Research)
      Transnational Lives of International Students and Transmission of Race to Their Country of Origin

      Cathi Choi (MA Candidate in International History, Columbia University)
      Protection against Good Intentions: The Ban of Proxy Adoption of Korean Children

      Discussant: Dan J. Wang (Assistant Professor of Management & Sociology, Columbia University)

3:45-4:00 p.m.:          Coffee break

4:00-5:30 p.m.:          Session 4: Deportation, Displacement, and Return Migration

Presider: Kathleen Griesbach (PhD Candidate in Sociology, Columbia University)

      Irina Levin (PhD Candidate in Anthropology, New York University)
      Every Bird in Its Nest: Return and the Long-Term Aftermaths of Forced Displacement

      Shirley Leyro (PhD Candidate in Criminal Justice, CUNY-Graduate Center)
      The Fear of Deportation as a Barrier to Assimilation and Integration

      Daniel Morales (PhD Candidate in History, Columbia University)
      The Counted and the Uncounted: Mobility in Mexican Migration 1910-1930

      Discussant: Rebecca A. Kobrin (Russell and Bettina Knapp Associate Professor of  American Jewish History, Columbia University)

6:30-8:30 p.m.:          Group Dinner

Conference co-organizers:                                         
Angela Aifah (Social Work)
Bailey Brown
(Sociology)
Andrea Dixon (Communications)
Kathleen Griesbach (Sociology)
Tina Jiwatram-Negrón (Social Work)                                    
Jessica Lee (History)
Dialika Sall (Sociology)
Nicol Valdez (Sociology)

Faculty co-sponsors:
Mae Ngai (History)
Van Tran (Sociology)

Conference co-sponsors:
Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race
Department of History
Department of Sociology

Recent Posts