Immigration Topic of Fall Symposium

Complex social, economic and political issues resulting from U.S. immigration law will be the focus of a symposium Sept. 17-18 at the University of Wyoming.

The UW American Heritage Center’s Alan K. Simpson Institute sponsors the symposium, “Where Are We Now? Immigration Policy and Its Impact from a Wyoming and a National Perspective,” that will take place at the UW American Heritage Center and the UW Conference Center/Hilton Garden Inn.

“The Simpson Institute’s mission is to facilitate study of the roles and impacts of various individuals and groups that have put their stamp on our region and the nation,” says archivist Leslie Waggener. “Immigrants have certainly shaped, and continue to influence, policy and culture on a local, state and national level. Immigration touches on crucial issues of our changing workforce, the role we want to play in the world, and our cultural identity.”

The symposium events will, among other things, explore the themes of nationhood, citizenship and belonging; values and social otherness; borders; questions of social justice; individual, national and cultural identities; the ways in which people reinvent themselves, their cultures and their worlds in new contexts; and the role language plays in controversial conversations such as assimilation and education.

The AHC and the UW student organization Movimiento Estuduantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA) will host an event Wednesday, Sept. 17, that examines immigration through different angles: culture, art, music, activism and personal testimony.